Andrew McCredie

Autometive Editor
andrew@nsnews.com

H.G. Wells speculated
that cars of the 21st
century would hover
and fly.

The celebrated futurist
wasn't wrong very often with
his vision of what lav ahead,
but as we stand on the
doorstep of the new milleani-
am it would seem Mr. Wells
mised the mark on this one,
(Of course, his prediction stilt
has a shelf lite of 100 years, so
itean't be said he was torally
wrong for a centiry or so}.

Despite the fact cars aren't
zooming around the lower
atmosphere, automakers are
unveiling some new and revo-
lutionary technologies into
the year 2000,

One, in Get, has boldly
gone where no car company
has gone before. Call it alu-
minum for the new millenni-
um.

Audi has broken the mold
of your typical mass-produc-
tion car chassis by using: abu-
minum, not steel, in the con-
struction of the 1999 Audi
A8, dubbed by the company
as “the first luxury cat of the
21st century.” Audi engineers
didn’t stop there — the A8’s
body panels are also aiu-
minum.

The unique use of the
lightweight metal in the super
smooth A8 is the culmination
of a 10-year development
Program) Audi undertook
with aluminum industry giant
Alcoa.

According to the
automaker, the A8’s Audi
Space Frame technology uses
seven new aircrait-grade alu-
minum alloys and empioys 40
new patents.

advantage of using
aluminum in a large sedan
such as the A& is twofold: it is
light and it is strong, factors

=

Friday. February 26, 1999 ~ North Shore News -~ 45

Audi Canada photo

THE 1999 Audi A8 quattro is billed as “the first luxury car of the 21st century”, and the German automaker might have a case for such
marketing hyperbale. The use of aluminum in both the chassis and body is a first for a mass produced automobile, and employs many
production techniques perfected in tne aerospace industry.

which pay direct dividends ior
the lucky souls who find
themselves behind the wheel
of this remarkable car.

Piloting the A8 quattro
with a 4.2-liire V8 reveals the
vast potential of using alu-
minum in high-performance
luxury automobiles,

Iz doesn't take a metallur-
gist to cell you what will hap-
pen when you take a car
weighing less than svo tons
and drep in an engine pro-
ducing 300 horsepower.

AM

183 Pemberton Ave.

Zero to 80 kav-h in under
tive seconds, a quarter-mile
time of 14.9 seconds; and a
top speed of 208 km-h.

And this in a luxury car.

However, unlike it's direct
competitors (the Mercedes S-
class and the BMW 7-series),
the Audi A8’s appearance is
understated. No garish grille-
work or opulent flares mar
the A8’s sleek silhouetie.

A company press release
calls the car’s esthetic “ele-
gance without arrogance,” a

TALKING

985-7195 laa.

decent description.

That's not to say the A&
doesn’t come with all the toys
those tooling down casy
street. expect.  Five-speed
Tiptronic transmission, loads
of interior room featuring

Nappa leather and burled
walnut; l4-way adjustable
{and heated) seats with power
safety belt shoulder heights; 2
trip computer, cight-speaker
Bose sound system with six-
pack CD changer in’ the

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trunk; dua! zone climate con-
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roof which powers the vent-

See Understated page 46

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