Tag: Audi

End of Audi TT (1998 – 2023)

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 11, 2023

The Audi TT has been discontinued as Audi decided to halt its production after 25 years. To be honest, I’m not surprised; these days, people seem to prefer any type of SUV, making sports cars like the TT too niche. The shift in demand from sports cars to SUVs has ultimately led to the end of the Audi TT era. Once a design icon in 1998, desired by millions, it now appears that no one wants one.

Personally, I was only a fan of the first-generation Audi TT without the spoiler, losing interest after that. While the Audi TT became an alternative to the Porsche Cayman or Boxster, it’s not a Porsche, so I find myself tempted by a Porsche over a TT.

Returning to the first generation of the Audi TT, with and without the spoiler, in short, there was a tendency for loss of control over 180 km/h due to aerodynamic issues. This led to accidents where cars would fly and harshly land. However, this landing was not like your landing in Ibiza; it was harsh. Audi addressed this by installing a bizarre spoiler, making ESP standard, and improving suspensions.

The second and third generations (the current one) were impressive cars, featuring the Quattro all-wheel-drive system with an understeer tendency. The second generation even had a diesel engine, reflecting the peak of the diesel fetish in the automotive industry during the early 2010s. Companies were eager to put diesel engines in anything with four wheels. They probably considered diesel-powered baby strollers. This trend led to the creation of the Audi TT diesel, but I strongly advise against purchasing a used diesel TT.

Over the years, the Audi TT evolved, leaving competitors like the Mercedes-Benz SLK (now SLC) and making the BMW Z4 seemingly invisible. Porsche enthusiasts, however, remained loyal to the brand and didn’t opt for an Audi. Sadly, we won’t be seeing any new TTs on the streets in the near future. Instead, the roads will be filled with more and more SUVs. Perhaps we’ll even witness the birth of an Audi Q TT? Sounds like the beginning of a quirky automotive love story!

Photos // Mine and Audi UK

Tags Audi, Audi TT

Cars

Latest Electric Cars of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date May 3, 2021

Mercedes-EQ, EQS 580 4MATIC

Over the last few months, we experienced one of the highest numbers of electric car reveals. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi released a substantial number of electric vehicles to market, and here is a list of them.

Mercedes EQA (electric version of GLA), EQB (electric version of GLB), and EQS (electric version of S-Class). Soon to be EQE (electric version of E-Class).

BMW iX (electric version of X5), iX3 (electric version of X3, with only rear-wheel drive) and iX4 (electric version of 4-Series Gran Coupe, coming soon).

Audi RS e-tron GT (Audi version of Porsche Taycan), Q4 e-tron & Sportback (electric version of Q4 and based on VW platform with rear drum brake), and soon to be A6 e-tron (Electric version of A6).

Don’t worry; it’s not the end of the internal combustion engine, but the end is within sight. As far as I can tell from the press releases, VW Group, Daimler, and BMW will not be developing new internal combustion engines, and they will revise their existing ones. Honestly, this is a great way to improve the internal combustion engines (ICE); these engines are efficient, and improving them will help to increase efficiency levels.

Mercedes-Benz’s electric car range is a carbon copy of their existing ICE cars. Audi and BMW are following the same strategy. This means one thing: we will be moving from petrol to electricity without even noticing. The range anxiety is still here, but the ranges are getting better than better. Mercedes-Benz offers a 770-km range for a single charge, and that’s good. Also, we have many charging points.

The only issue is that electric cars are expensive, but their prices will go down eventually.

Recently, Rory Sutherland mentioned how cool electric cars are, noticing that they have motivated people to talk about their cars again. Honestly, if you own a petrol/diesel-powered car and talk about it all the time, it makes you a bit weird nowadays. The era of car-based status or showing off is gone, but if you buy an electric vehicle, you have a brand-new experience that people would love to hear about. I feel like electric cars will make cars cool again.

Will I buy an electric car? Yes. I am especially interested in the Mercedes-Benz EQS.

Mercedes-EQ, EQB, 2021 — Mercedes-EQ, EQB

Audi A6 e-tron concept — Audi Q4 e-tron & Sportback

Photo // Audi, BMW, Daimler

Tags Audi, BMW, Electric Cars, Mercedes

Cars

What I think about the new Audi A7?

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date February 17, 2019

I know I was supposed to be writing this blog article months ago, such as May 2018. However, I have postponed it with no reason other than being lazy. Interestingly, during this time, the Audi Mayfair dealer has closed down and the place is now a Metro Bank branch.

To avoid any confusion, Audi did not become Metro Bank and introduce a competitor to Apple Pay; Audi Pay, where you need to drive your Audi car to the card reader to make a payment.

Anyway, let’s go back to the Audi A7. It is brand new! It shares the same modular platform as the MLB Evo and its interior is exactly the same as the A8, although with less wood. The Audi A7 offers similar driving assistance systems to the A8 and by the time you read this article, it will be offering AI-based level-three semi-autonomous driving feature. This is a rather useless feature, because it is only enabled when you are on a highway (autobahn).

The interior of the Audi A7 is a squeezed version of the A6; you need to make yourself shorter to have comfortable long journeys on the rear seats. However, it is not like a coupe car, and the rear leg room is better than the previous version.

As you may expect, the A7 may tend to understeer, because the engine sits too far away from the front-axle. Also, the Quattro and the transmission moves the weight balance into the front and you understeer.

Everything is controlled by touch screen, which is really annoying. Audi have applied an oleophobic coating to the glass touchscreens and it looks really bad when you use them. Also, you have to stop the car to change a minor setting.

Overall, it is a new car, it has new engines, and lots of tech. But it shares lots of things with the other VW Group vehicles. If you have a family and do not wish to have a traditional family car, go for an A7.

Tags Audi, Audi A7

Cars

The Audi Q8

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date August 22, 2018

Audi have recently revealed a brand new SUV, the Q8. You might be thinking, how is it different from the Q8 and Q7? Basically, the Q8 looks better and is a bit shorter. The Q7 is for families, while the Q8 is for people who have an active lifestyle. This is because the Q8 is a coupe SUV. This is a pointless cliche from the automotive PR industry.

Basically, the Q8 is a bit more luxurious than the Q7. It is tidier thanks to its smaller size. It shares the same interior touches with the Audi A7 and A8. It has two massive touch screens!

The Quattro is still here with a mechanical centre differential and the capability to transfer the ‘majority’ of the power to a single axle. That’s a really diplomatic way of saying that their locking differential is not capable of 100% locking, so don’t try it for heavy off road.

Overall, I really like the Audi Q8. It offers a much better exterior design than the Q7 and you can see some resemblance to the Q2, whose design I really like. The Q8 is not a heavy off road vehicle and it is promoted as a coupe SUV with a four-door layout. And, for the first time, I really like the Audi SUV.

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Photo Credit // Audi

Tags Audi, Audi Q8

Cars

Audi City Mayfair, London is Closed Down

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date July 30, 2018

Audi London City has closed down. On 30th June, 2018, the iconic London Audi dealer in Mayfair closed its doors for good. I didn’t know that it was going to happen and it happened all of a sudden.

This dealership has been there for more than 20 years and was one of the first digital Audi dealers. I had many good memories there and took hundreds of photos.

Closing down such as an iconic dealer was a big shock.

Therefore, I wanted to write this post and share the photos I took ovet the years at the Audi Mayfair dealership.

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Tags Audi

Cars

The New Audi A8

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date August 21, 2017

Audi has recently revealed the new Audi A8, the fourth generation. The Audi A8 may not be able to capture the interest of Mercedes-Benz S-Class fans. Literally, S-Class fans don’t even consider the A8 as a competitor. However, things have changed a lot! To be fair, the Audi A8 was always the third option after the BMW 7-Series, people were just not super-willing to buy an A8. Now, with the new A8, things will change very dramatically! The fourth generation Audi A8 is overtaking both the S-Class and the 7-Series in terms of technology!

As usual, the new A8 is still based on the lightweight modular platform and offering the Quattro. If you can’t afford to buy a Quattro Audi, don’t buy an Audi. Anyway, let’s go back to our main topic. The new Audi A8’s latest party piece is its safety and autonomous driving systems.

The new Audi A8 offers a Level-3 autonomous driving system up to 60 km/h. You might be thinking, the Tesla and the Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volvo offer a better autonomous driving system that is capable of running at higher speeds. The key difference is that the Audi A8’s laser scanners send data to the A8’s AI computer to decide the next move. Unlike other systems, the A8 can make a decision based on various external factors that change constantly. Literally, the A8’s computer will think while driving and decide ‘shall I do this or not?’. The other systems unfortunately are quite straightforward and sometimes they fail.

Will Mercedes-Benz and BMW catch up soon? Yes, that’s possible, but it won’t happen in one day. Audi has invested a serious amount of R&D on this system over a very long time. The competitors may not be able to catch up soon!

The other party piece of the A8 is the suspension. It is now controlled by electric actuators instead of air. As a result, the A8 can do really eye-catching suspension moves to impress passengers. The most important feature is the tilt function that can lift the car, if a side-impact is unavoidable. In this way the crash will be absorbed by the frame of the car instead of the passenger doors.

As the suspension can be controlled by electric actuators, the response time is much quicker than is the case with a conventional air suspension system. You can easily turn A8 into a sports car on a long journey. Also, the suspension system can detect road imperfections and adjust the suspension to improve the comfort of the ride. This is already offered by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the new Rolls-Royce Phantom. However, their systems are based on air suspension. This new suspension system works with a 48-volt system which is how it can make these moves!

Overall, the new Audi A8 is a ground-breaking car. Unlike in the previous generation, Audi has pushed the limits of innovation and has revealed a car that is years ahead of its competitors. However, there are some drawbacks such as the full touch screen infotainment, navigation and climate control buttons. The touch screen makes everything really hard to manage whilst driving. Will these technologies help to increase Audi’s market share? Yes and no. There are some customers in this segment who are obsessed with the S-Class and can’t see the reality. They will never ever change their minds. However, there are lots of younger generation customers who prefer a car with better technology than its competitors. Also, Audi’s subtle design is an attractive unique selling point. For some customers, a subtle car is a must.

Photo credit / Audi

Tags Audi, Audi A8

Cars

Audi Lunar Quattro

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 25, 2016

Audi is ready to explore the Moon with the Audi Lunar Quattro. A few years ago, Audi released a concept vehicle that looked like an alien device. However, it was only a concept. They decided to land this alien mobility solution on the Moon to help aliens enjoy the Quattro experience.

I thought that Audi would send the Lunar Quattro without any modifications, and that the vehicle would be evaporated when the sun was shining. However, Audi did their homework really well. The Lunar Quattro has been redesigned for the low gravity and for extreme heat changes.

Audi is trying to prove that their Quattro system will be able to cope with any terrain and any conditions. The Lunar quattro is designed to travel for 500 metres on the Moon. After that trip, the Lunar Quattro will be a part of the lunar space park next to the Apollo mission vehicles.

Or, the aliens will take a look at the Quattro and see how primitive human beings are :) By the way, the top speed of the Audi Lunar Quattro is only 3.6-km/h, so it can’t run away from aliens!

Audi Lunar Quattro

The Audi lunar quattro

Audi Lunar Quattro

Photo Credits | Audi

Tags Audi, Audi Lunar Quattro

Cars

The New Audi R8 Spyder in London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 18, 2016

I saw the new Audi R8 Spyder in London recently. To be honest, I have never been an R8 fan. I never really liked the design. But that doesn’t mean that the first generation R8 was not a good design. I never managed to like the E36 BMW 5-Series but it still looks new.

The main issue with the R8 is that it is a bit Audi and a bit Lamborghini Gallardo. I know Audi has a very rich heritage of performance cars but I never managed to associate the R8 with the brand. I think that this is due to my approach to its design.

Despite my negative attitude to the Audi R8, it performs really well in terms of financial figures. It is really fast and ‘way more affordable than the Porsche 911. Even so, the first generation Audi is still favoured by many people.

Audi wanted to keep the momentum going with the second generation, and they have done a great job. The second generation Audi R8 is an amazing car. Audi combined performance, design and technology perfectly with the second generation. Another important fact about the second generation R8 is the engine. There are only atmospheric engine available on a super or a hyper car. Nowadays, all performance cars are turbo or supercharged. This makes the second generation Audi R8 a very special car.

Will I buy an Audi R8 over a Porsche 911? That would never happen. Porsche fans will always go for a Porsche. This is like asking an Apple fan to try a Samsung phone.

Audi R8 Spyder

Tags Audi, London, New Audi R8, New Audi R8 Spyder

Cars

The New Audi SQ7 in Mayfair, London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 27, 2016

The Audi SQ7 is finally here in Mayfair, London at the Audi City dealer. This is a big SUV, a very big SUV! The second generation Audi Q7 followed in the footsteps of the first generation Audi Q7 and needed to look larger to attract the attention of people with families. From what I can see, they did it really well!

Now they have decided to freak out the family members with Audi SQ7! By saying freak out, kids will not be scared by the exterior design of the SQ7. It looks really subtle and does not show off its power.

However, the 4-lt V8 diesel engine is powerful enough to freak out the family ride with 435 HP and 900 nm of torque!

The Audi SQ7 is not the ideal car if you are single or newly married. It is massive. It will be like carrying your house with you everywhere you go. However, if you have a large family, or you have carry many things when you are on the go, the SQ7 will probably be a great option.

Yes, it is big and relatively heavy, and can’t act like a Cayenne, but its driving assistance function, very well made interior, the tempting interior design and driving comfort will make the SQ7 a perfect companion for your journeys.

Audi SQ7 in London

Tags Audi, Audi Q7, Audi SQ7

Cars

The New Audi Q5

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 2, 2016

Static photo, Colour: Florett silver

Audi recently revised its brand identity and positioned the brand as your latest gadget. You can understand this by looking at the flat design of the Audi logo that was revealed on April, 2016. It was a sign of Audi’s future approach, a mobility solution rather than a car manufacturer. Ford is doing the same, by the way.

The new Audi Q5’s campaign also shared the new approach. The Q5’s new technologies were heavily emphasised during the digital campaign which highlighted the idea that Audi is your new gadget. To be honest, I am happy to buy an Audi as a new gadget, but the problem of understeering found with the Quattro models is an issue for me. In addition, the front-wheel drive Audi is not an option for me. I know I have very strict rules. If you buy an Audi, you buy an all-wheel drive Quattro Audi, not a front-wheel one.

Anyway, the new Q5 has lost 90kg in weight and shares the VW Groups’ MLG Evo platform, which is used by the new A4 and the new A5. Analogue displays have by digital ones. I really don’t like the digital instrument panel system, but that’s the future.

Porsche and Bugatti have created a great harmony when it comes to digital and the analogue displays. Literally, what you see inside an Audi Q7, you will find inside the new Q5.

Personally, I really liked the new Q5. I don’t think it could do any serious off-roading like a Jeep, but it is still good enough to tackle snowy conditions.

Static photo, Colour: Florett silver

Static photo, Colour: Garnet red

Interior

Cockpit

Dynamic photo, Colour: Garnet red

Static photo, Colour: Garnet red

Photo Credits | Audi

Tags Audi, Audi Q5