2003 Audi A2

2003 Audi A2

The Audi A2 is a premium supremini produced by Audi from 1999 to 2005. The last cars left the Neckarsulm plant in July 2005.Design and constructionThe A2 is considered to be ahead of its time in design terms—but the avant-garde styling has not won favour with customers.Audi was reported to be disappointed with the level of sales; The final production is estimated to be 175000 units. In comparison to rival Mercedes-Benz' A-Class sales of 1 million, this unhappiness on the part of Audi is not surprising.

The A2 is built using considerable aluminium alloy content, providing significant weight advantage over similar sized cars. This helps the car to be significantly more economical than vehicles using traditional chassis; under certain circumstances, consumption of just over 2 l/100 km (128 mpg, imperial gallon) is possible. The Audi A2 won the Nordic Countries EcoRun economical driving race in 2005 with consumption of 2.62 l/100 km. Even the normal petrol engined versions are capable of 5 l/100 km.The A2 uses a space frame design: the outer panels of the body have no structural function - similarities exist with the original Renault Espace—and the "space frame" bears the forces working on the car.

Due to the decision to create "knots" instead of welding the space frame, improvements in shell stability, shell durability, lower weight, and better interior space are evident. Unfortunately, the cost of working with aluminium, particularly with small production runs, meant that the A2 was more expensive than its competitors. This may have contributed to the relatively slow sales in conjunction with the dearth of marketing from Audi.Audi was the first manufacturer to try and incorporate lightweight building concepts using Aluminium and associated alloys into a "mass market" vehicle; the previous efforts at using a Space Frame were limited to the rather more expensive A8. As a guide to the mass involved: the entire shell weighs so little that two people can easily pick it up; the side panel over the doors including the A and D-Pillars weighs approximately 2 kg (4.5 lb).

A 2002 Model A2 with standard equipment has a mass of 895 kg (1970 lb).The A2 can, however, thus be considered a trailblazer for various newer aluminium-based vehicles, such as the present A8, forthcoming Nuvolari and TT and the present Jaguar XJ and XK8 series.

Technical Information

Three cylinder diesel engines1.2 TDi (3L), 1191 cm³, 45 kW, 140 N·m, Semi-Automatic Transmission1.4 TDI, 55 kW, 1422 cm³, 195 N·m1.4 TDI, 66 kW, 1422 cm³, 230 N·mPetrol engines1.4, 55 kW, 1390 cm³, 126 N·m1.6 FSI, 81 kW, 1598 cm³, 155 N·mAcceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) / Top SpeedsTDI 55 kW: 12.6 s , 173 km/h, 106 mphTDI 66 kW: 10.9 s, 188 km/h, 116 mphFSI: 9.8 s, 202 km/h, 124 mph1.4: 12.3 s, 176 km/h, 106 mph3 L: 14.9 s, 168 km/h, 102 mph

2003 Audi A2