Established in 1909, Audi is a world-famous car brand representing luxury vehicles. Since its beginning, the German auto manufacturer has come a long way. If you are an Audi fan, we totally understand why – and we have compiled a list of some interesting Audi facts and history. Let’s go through them.
Interesting Audi Facts
The luxury branch of Volkswagen Group, Audi is a popular luxury brand. Audi vehicles are unique, stylish, consist of technical features and are competitive. The car brand has been around for a long time but when it comes to manufacturing and keeping up with the latest technology in the automobile industry, Audi is always up to date. Following are some fascinating Audi facts to enhance your knowledge about the world famous car brand.
1. Over a Hundred Years Old
Audi is over a hundred years old, 112 years old to be exact. That’s a very long time, but the car brand has proved itself throughout its tenure. Audi’s name can also be found among the popular used German car makes in the UAE.
2. History Behind The Name
As Audi history has it, automotive pioneer August Horch founded the August Horch Automobilwerke in 1909 in Germany. After a short duration, he changed the car brand’s name to Audi. Audi is the Latin translation of Horch, his last name. In the German language, Horch means to hear or listen, and the Latin word for Horch (hear) is Audi. This is how the Audi Automobilwerke came into being.
3. The Four Rings
Audi’s four rings represent the merger of four companies that led to the formation of the Auto Union: Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer. The four rings in Audi’s logo stand for the collaboration of the aforementioned auto companies.
The first ring represents Audi, the second one represents DKW, the third ring represents Horch and the fourth one represents the Wanderer. Here are some more interesting car logos and their meanings.
4. Audi was the First Company To Crash Test Their Cars
Another one of the fun facts about Audi is that it was the first car brand to crash test their vehicles way back in 1938. The crash tests carried out in those days were different from today’s sophisticated tests. No dummies, advanced impact sensors or dummies existed in those days. Instead, Audi engineers as a standard practice used to roll down an Audi F7 car from a hill in front of spectators and demonstrate car safety.
5. Audi was the First to Use a Dual-clutch Gearbox
Today, most high-performance cars, including Audi vehicles, offer quick-shifting and dual-clutch automatic gearboxes, but did you know that it was actually Audi that first used a dual-clutch gearbox in one of their vehicles. To be exact, the prototype dual-clutch gearbox used by Audi Quattro S1 E2. This gearbox made the most of the car’s powerful 600bhp output long before it was popular in cars.
6. Audi was the First German Carmaker to introduce left-hand drive
Audi introduced the Tyke K in September 1921 at the Berlin Motor Show. The Tyke K was the auto manufacturer’s first post-war design. To date, Audi uses pre-war designs only on all its vehicles. Type K is considered as a technically sound and advanced vehicle of that time.
The car had a top speed of up to 95 km/h. That said, the most important feature of the Tyke K car was that it made history as the first German left-hand drive car. This was a revolutionary feat. With time, because of its popularity and functioning, the feature became standard on all cars from the 20s.
7. Audi’s Quattro four-wheel-drive cars revolutionised rallying
Just when Audi Quattro was all set for its release, the World Rally Championship was changing its rules making way for four-wheel-drive cars. In 1980, Audi introduced the Quattro system and won numerous rallies between 1981 and 1986. Moreover, the Quattro also won numerous championships between 1983 and 1984. Between 1982 and 197, the car also won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb six times
8. Audi was the first auto manufacturer to win Le Mans with Diesel and Hybrid powered cars
Every competitor that participated at the 24 hour Le Mans was defeated by the R8 racer by 2005. In an attempt to prove itself as a thoroughbred racer car, Audi engineers built a diesel-powered car that would have the ability to champion the Le Mans. In 2006, exactly a year later Audi introduced the R10 TDI turbocharged vehicle. The car powered with a V10 engine won at Le Mans on its first time out.
Later, in 2012, Audi won the Le Mans 24 Hours using hybrid technology. An interesting Audi fact is that it won the Le Mans 13 times.
Those were some fascinating Audi facts you did not know. If you want to be an Audi owner, explore these used Audis for sale in the UAE.
Stay tuned to your favourite car blog for more on car facts, car generations and car history.
Related Posts
