2009 Audi Eora & Espire concepts

A competition intended to show the cars of tomorrow has come up with designs both sleek and hideous.

Remember the time-travelling DeLorean DMC-12 that featured in the Back to the Future movies?

Well, imagine it’s just pulled up in your driveway and the film’s wild-haired scientist, Emmett Brown, has offered to take you on a trip 21 years into the future.

You step inside and with a snap of the gullwing doors and a surge of the flux capacitor you arrive in the year 2030. What do the streets and cars look like? What are young people now driving?

Some of the world’s top automotive designers have tried to answer those very questions (without the use of a time machine) and have come up with some seriously out-there answers.

The LA Auto Show, which this year is being held from December 4, features an annual design challenge in which leading brands are asked to submit visions for how the vehicles of the future will look.

This year the American design divisions of companies including General Motors, Toyota and Nissan were given the theme Youthmobile and asked to create renderings of vehicles that young people would be driving 21 years from now.

At the outset they were reminded of the key role cars played in young people’s lives today and were likely to play in 2030. Vehicles provide freedom and the ability to socialise and they’re also an important means of self-expression.

The designers were asked to consider the impact growing up with mobile phones, online communities and webcams would have on consumers two decades from now.

“Automotive designers have always been fascinated with the next generation of drivers,” the director of the Design Los Angeles segment of the motor show, Chuck Pelly, says.

“This year’s design challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talents to revisit the concept of ‘the car’ with new eyes, using the hottest technologies to both explore and fulfil the needs of young people.”

The submissions from the brands varied widely, although there were common themes. Electric vehicles, cars that were able to morph their shape and cars that leant themselves to clever youth marketing were recurrent motifs.

So too were vehicles that allowed connectivity to social networking sites. A winner will be picked by a panel of experts during the show and while it’s unlikely any will ever go into production, they at least show where designers believe we’re heading.

So what did the individual companies pitch? Honda sees increased interaction between cars and humans in 2030.

“Emerging technologies, such as genetic integration and advanced adaptive polymers, will shatter the current paradigm of what is now considered ‘personally’ unique,” it says in its pitch.

The company proposes shape-shifting vehicles that could modify their size and wheelbase depending on the constraints of the environment around them.

Nissan sees a rosy 2030 in which electricity has replaced petrol as the main propellant for cars and US highways have been electrified to create an ultra-efficient, high-speed network called the GRID.

The company’s electric offering is the crab-like V2G and it suggests consumers would be able to buy access to the electricity grid in the same way they subscribe to mobile phone plans.

General Motors sees a blurring of the lines between gaming, learning to drive and driving. It proposes cars that could drive themselves to destinations when a passenger puts an address into the on-board sat-nav device.

Young passengers would be encouraged to compete with the sat-nav on a driving simulator. When their skills developed they would be allowed control of some features. Advanced drivers would be able to modify vehicles for increased power.

Mazda envisions a 2030 where personalisation and customisation of cars is all-important.

It sees young people designing their own vehicles online based around a platform called Souga, with the company then fulfilling these requirements.

It paints a future where it costs young people just $US2000 to buy the physical car.

Digital communication and information devices, it predicts, will be integrated into fashion apparel, eliminating the need to include these systems in cars.

Toyota’s offering for 2030 takes into account that education levels are rising in the US and young consumers are increasingly well educated and proactive.

It proposes LINK, “an affordable, customisable, mass-transit vehicle for students with high social-networking demands and continuously evolving preferences”.

These small personal vehicles would be kept at central hubs. They would allow users to tap into social networking sites, trade music and compare class schedules.

Finally, Audi went beyond the brief and created two concept cars’ a performance vehicle and an affordable, entry-level car. Both blend lightweight metals and composite materials and feature wheels without hubs.

The company says its low-profiled eSpira would be a “technological tour-de-force” performance car. An advanced logic system would allow drivers to steer the vehicle with body movements and gestures, making motoring a more organic experience.

Perhaps a more realistic option for (typically impoverished) young motorists is the company’s eOra, which it envisages would share the logic control system with the eSpira but be more of a city car with a small footprint and good agility.

V2G
Maker Nissan
Features The company envisages a 2030 in which national highways are electrified (like a dodgem track) to provide power to electric cars.Young consumers would buy access to the system in the way they buy mobile phone credits today.

Hero
Maker General Motors
Features This is a selectively self-driving car that allows new drivers to assume full control only after they have proved themselves on on-board driving simulators. As driving skill increases, so do power options.

Helix
Maker Honda
Features Honda proposes vehicles that can morph to suit their environment. In built-up city areas the vehicle has a small footprint, whereas on the open road it has a larger,more stable platform capable of high speed.

Souga
Maker Mazda
Features Young people are able to design their dream cars online and have them built on the Souga platform. One example is the minimal, lightweight sports coupe (pictured above).

LINK
Maker Toyota
Features Toyota proposes a network of small motorised vehicles, which would be kept at central hubs and personalised by young users.Access to social networking sites is a given.

eOra and eSpira
Name Ora commuter vehicle and eSpira performance car.
Maker Audi.
Features Both incorporate on-board computers that allow them to be driven using subtle body movements and gestures.

BMW Australia says it is ready to repel a local sales assault by rival German car Audi, which has stated its intention to become Australia’s leading luxury brand by 2015.

BMW again considers Audi a competitor, with recently appointed managing director Stavros Yallouridis declaring he would “have to keep an eye” on the ‘third’ German brand that’s been catching its compatriots on the sales charts.

Just months after joining the top job, BMW Australia’s new boss – fresh from a six-year stint as the head of BMW in Greece where he almost tripled the sales of the luxury brand – has gone against the comments of his predecessor, who declared Audi was not on his radar and the only competitors for the brand here were Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.

Despite obvious similarities between the two German brands, the then BMW Australia boss Gunther Seemann suggested Audi was heavily discounting, which was not in keeping with a luxury brand.

But as he pushes towards BMW selling more than 20,000 cars in Australia, Yallouridis admitted the ambitious Audi brand – which has declared it will be the best selling luxury brand in Australia by 2015 – is in the competitive mix.

“I think they are a competitor,” he said, adding it Audi was “less important” than the other big German luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz.

“We are the leaders in the world and we are the leaders in Australia. So let them chase!”

Despite Audi’s recent growth spurt – the brand has doubled its market share since 2004 and increased sales by more than 150 per cent – Yallouridis is adamant BMW will remain the most prevalent luxury brand in Australia.

He plans to take “calculated risks” to build sales in a highly competitive segment that’s reliant as much on quality vehicles as it is on brand image.

“There’s no way in the world they’ll knock us off [the number one position],” he said. “We can sell 20,000-plus … I really don’t think that 20,000 [sales for BMW Australia] is too far away.”

Last year in Australia BMW sold 17,263 new vehicles, eclipsing rival Mercedes-Benz (once you remove the commercial vehicles that make up a significant chunk of Benz sales).

BMW will next year further grow its ever-expanding model line-up with the addition of the X1 small soft-roader and the crossover-style Gran Turismo, which aims to blend performance with space and light-duty off-road ability.

The two new models will take the number of BMW body styles to 19, which currently includes a hatchback (1-Series), four sedans (3-Series, 5-Series and short and long wheelbase versions of the 7-Series), three coupes (1-Series, 3-Series and 6-Series), four convertibles (Z4, 1-Series, 3-Series and 6-Series), two wagons (3-Series and 5-Series) and three 4WDs (X3, X5 and X6).

Yallouridis, who says he has not set targets yet for the brand’s growth, is putting the entire BMW Australia business under the microscope, questioning each part of the business with the view to making changes to streamline the operations.
He is even looking at the brand’s sprawling head office – BMW owns the land – in the south eastern suburb of Mulgrave, with the view to relocating it.

“It’s one of the things we’re evaluating … we’re thinking about the whole business,” said Yallouridis, adding a decision had not been made. “Relocation is something that might happen … in three or four years.”

“Logistics wise it doesn’t make sense to be at Mulgrave when people are flying all over the country,” he said, suggesting being closer to the airport may be more logical.

Yallouridis says the head office sends an important message to dealers, staff and potential BMW owners so it was important to have something befitting of the luxury brand.

No doubt he’s noticed Audi’s $50 million head office that doubles as Sydney’s flagship dealership not far from the airport.

Audi has added a V10 to its R8, making it a more respected member of the supercar club.

Three years ago Audi took its first, bold step into supercar territory and introduced its mid-engined, V8-powered R8.
Now the German luxury brand has introduced a V10 version that soars even closer to the rarefied air normally breathed by the likes of Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
Cynics have been suspicious that Audi put the original R8 on a leash for fear of treading on the toes of sister brand Lamborghini. However, the new R8 shows this ambitious marque is clearly no longer afraid.
The R8 is already based on the Lamborghini Gallardo but now the range-topping variant uses a slightly modified version of that supercar’s V10 for elevated performance.
Audi Australia sold 103 R8s in 2008 (to outsell the A8 limo), though the economic meltdown has curtailed sales to 32 so far this year.
The R8 line-up will expand next year with an open-top Spyder model.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
A $73,800 premium over the V8 R8 takes an Audi past the $400,000 barrier for the first time (once on-road costs are added). About a third of that extra cost is for standard equipment that’s optional on the base model, including Bang & Olufsen audio, (world first) all-LED headlights, nappa leather seats with heating, hill-hold assist and folding, auto-dimming side mirrors. Otherwise, the 5.2 FSI shares with the 4.2 FSI the likes of Bluetooth, sat-nav, metallic paint, cruise control and parking sensors with rear-view camera.
You can still spend another $70,000-odd on further options and, surprisingly, the carbon-fibre “sideblades” and engine cover are not a way of distinguishing the V10 from its smaller-engined brother – they’ll set you back another $13,664.
That means besides a small V10 badge on each flank, it’ll take an anorak-cloaked passer-by to notice the 5.2 R8’s wider side air intakes, chrome cross-hatch grille, alternative front and rear bumper treatment and dual oval exhaust exits (though they’re fake – peer through them and you’ll find a similar quad-pipe arrangement to the V8 R8). 

HOW SAFE?
There are front and side airbags to protect the maximum two occupants. Stability control is standard and the V10 gains hill-hold assist over the V8 model.
Super-expensive supercars don’t get slammed into concrete barriers for the sake of NCAP testing, so the R8 has no crash rating.
WHAT’S INSIDE?
You feel cocooned in the two-seater R8 but not cramped (it’s surprisingly spacious). A spot-on low and sporty driving position is complemented by a ring of carbon fibre surrounding the main instrument cowl and steering wheel to form a driver’s zone.
Another optional cabin pack adds further layers of leather to various parts, though the interior is still not without its vices. Many of the switches and dials are generic Audi and hard plastics are used for the centre console.
The latter forms part of the limited storage options available. Audi says the R8 has 190 litres of luggage space, most of which is under the bonnet – though you’ll have to pack economically even for weekend trips.
UNDER THE BONNET
So here we are to the crux: the new V10. And what an engine. The 5.2-litre revs even higher (8700rpm) than the 4.2-litre V8 and delivers its peak power of 386kW at 8000rpm and peak torque of 530Nm at 6500rpm.
It takes just one gear change (first to second) accelerating flat-out from standstill to break Australia’s draconian freeway speed limits. The R8 V10 reached 100km/h in just 4.1 seconds (two-tenths slower than Audi’s claim), according to our GPS-based timing equipment during testing at Eastern Creek in Sydney.
The V10 is always remarkably smooth and refined yet delivers an unrelenting surge through its rev range all the way to that stratospheric red line. An intoxicating exhaust note and guttural roar from the engine bay behind the driver add another thrilling layer to the V10 experience, though the V8’s soundtrack was far from lacking.
The engine is also flexible, happy to saunter along at 50km/h in top gear.
Buyers can option an automatic R-tronic that also includes a launch control function, though we had the standard six-speed manual.
It makes a refreshing change to all the fancy, newfangled dual-clutch gearboxes that are threatening the future of stick-shifts. It’s not the slickest manual around yet the need to skilfully guide the milled lever from slot to slot makes gear changes all the more satisfying when perfected.
While Audi is among those car makers downsizing engines for improved fuel economy, the 10-cylinder R8 is less efficient than the V8 (14.7 litres per 100 kilometres against 13.9L). Our trip read-out ranged from 13.0L to 21.5L/100km, with the lower figure benefiting from some extensive freeway time.
You can even stand and admire the V10 through a rear glass hatch. (It’s illuminated by engine bay lights.)
HOW IT DRIVES
The bigger engine contributes half of the new R8’s extra 60 kilograms, which takes it a bit further away from the perfect 50:50 weight distribution but doesn’t detract from the supercar’s ability to offer finely balanced handling and prodigious amounts of grip.
The R8 5.2 embraces the most challenging of winding roads with its responsive front end and rear-biased all-wheel-drive system. The latter provides limpet-like traction out of the tightest corners, even in first gear, and the steering and pedals are all perfectly weighted. The progressive brakes would welcome some more bite, though hand-of-God ceramic stoppers can be ticked for the price of a Mazda3 ($25,422)!
Standard magnetic dampers give drivers the option of an even firmer suspension, though this is best left for smooth race tracks. The standard set-up is sufficient for road use, while it also shares the V8 model’s very un-supercar-like forgiving ride on all surfaces. Visibility is also good in a supercar context, while the seats guarantee comfort and support.
VERDICT
The R8 5.2 FSI could be considered as an Audi that’s out of its depth price-wise, though an alternative viewpoint is that it’s a bargain supercar still $124,000 more affordable than the cheapest Lamborghini (which is not much faster). Our time with the R8 certainly proved there’s no question it has the requisite jaw-dropping looks that can make pedestrians walk into lamp posts.
One query that does need answering, however, is whether the V10 version is worth $74,000 more than the V8. We’ll leave that one for those with super-wallets. What we will say is the V10 gives the R8 the stunning performance that now makes it the more complete supercar.
Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro
Price From $351,000
As tested $384,857.
Country of origin Germany.
Engine 5.2L V10.
Power 386kW at 8000rpm.
Torque 530Nm at 6500rpm.
Transmission 6-sp manual, AWD.
Fuel consumption and emissions 14.7L/100km and 351g/km CO2.
Weight 1620kg.
Safety Front and side airbags, stability control, tyre-pressure monitor.
Pros Awesome engine; rapid pace; easy to live with; forgiving ride; stunning looks.
Cons Still an array of expensive options; should differ more visually to V8 version; limited practicality; does Audi brand have the cachet for a circa-$400,000 supercar?
Stars Rating: 4/5

THE COMPETITORS
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4
Price $475,000.
Engine 5.2L V10, 412kW, 540Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 14.7L/100km and 351g/km CO2.
Safety Front and side airbags, stability control, optional rear-view camera.
Pros Blistering speed; mesmerising engine; quintessential supercar looks.
Cons Restricted visibility; limited luggage space; half-a-million-dollar price tag.
Rating: 4/5
PORSCHE 911 TURBO
Price From $361,100.
Engine 3.6L twin-turbocharged 6-cyl, 353kW, 620Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 12.8L/100km and 311g/km CO2.
Safety Front, side and head airbags; stability control; tyre-pressure monitor.
Pros Confidence-inspiring AWD handling; brilliant twin-turbo engine; relatively frugal.
Cons Updated version here next year; restricted back seats make more sense as extra cargo space; more gear should be standard.
Rating: 4.5/5
FERRARI F430
Price From $434,150.
Engine 4.3L V8, 360kW, 465Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 18.3L/100km and 420g/km CO2.
Safety Front airbags; stability control.
Pros Great looks; terrific performance and handling; clever electronic differential.
Con About to be replaced by 458 Italia; thirsty for a supercar.
Rating Not tested
* Star ratings are out of five.
All prices are recommended retail and exclude dealer and delivery costs. Three years ago Audi took its first, bold step into supercar territory and introduced its mid-engined, V8-powered R8.
Now the German luxury brand has introduced a V10 version that soars even closer to the rarefied air normally breathed by the likes of Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
Cynics have been suspicious that Audi put the original R8 on a leash for fear of treading on the toes of sister brand Lamborghini. However, the new R8 shows this ambitious marque is clearly no longer afraid.
The R8 is already based on the Lamborghini Gallardo but now the range-topping variant uses a slightly modified version of that supercar’s V10 for elevated performance.
Audi Australia sold 103 R8s in 2008 (to outsell the A8 limo), though the economic meltdown has curtailed sales to 32 so far this year.
The R8 line-up will expand next year with an open-top Spyder model.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
A $73,800 premium over the V8 R8 takes an Audi past the $400,000 barrier for the first time (once on-road costs are added). About a third of that extra cost is for standard equipment that’s optional on the base model, including Bang & Olufsen audio, (world first) all-LED headlights, nappa leather seats with heating, hill-hold assist and folding, auto-dimming side mirrors. Otherwise, the 5.2 FSI shares with the 4.2 FSI the likes of Bluetooth, sat-nav, metallic paint, cruise control and parking sensors with rear-view camera.
You can still spend another $70,000-odd on further options and, surprisingly, the carbon-fibre “sideblades” and engine cover are not a way of distinguishing the V10 from its smaller-engined brother – they’ll set you back another $13,664.
That means besides a small V10 badge on each flank, it’ll take an anorak-cloaked passer-by to notice the 5.2 R8’s wider side air intakes, chrome cross-hatch grille, alternative front and rear bumper treatment and dual oval exhaust exits (though they’re fake – peer through them and you’ll find a similar quad-pipe arrangement to the V8 R8).

THE COMPETITORS
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4
Price $475,000.
Engine 5.2L V10, 412kW, 540Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 14.7L/100km and 351g/km CO2.
Safety Front and side airbags, stability control, optional rear-view camera.
Pros Blistering speed; mesmerising engine; quintessential supercar looks.
Cons Restricted visibility; limited luggage space; half-a-million-dollar price tag.
Rating: 4/5
PORSCHE 911 TURBO
Price From $361,100.
Engine 3.6L twin-turbocharged 6-cyl, 353kW, 620Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 12.8L/100km and 311g/km CO2.
Safety Front, side and head airbags; stability control; tyre-pressure monitor.
Pros Confidence-inspiring AWD handling; brilliant twin-turbo engine; relatively frugal.
Cons Updated version here next year; restricted back seats make more sense as extra cargo space; more gear should be standard.
Rating: 4.5/5
FERRARI F430
Price From $434,150.
Engine 4.3L V8, 360kW, 465Nm, 6-sp manual.
Fuel consumption and emissions 18.3L/100km and 420g/km CO2.
Safety Front airbags; stability control.
Pros Great looks; terrific performance and handling; clever electronic differential.
Con About to be replaced by 458 Italia; thirsty for a supercar.
Rating Not tested
* Star ratings are out of five.
All prices are recommended retail and exclude dealer and delivery costs.