THE AUTO UNION AUDI

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31142, 19 August 1966, Page 9

THE AUTO UNION AUDI

'pHE German Auto Union company is now a union of Daimler-Benz. D.K.W. and i Volkswagen. Few Auto Union cars have been seen in New Zealand, but a recent arrival is the Auto Union Audi, also a comparatively new model on overseas marI kets.

The Audi is a four-cylinder 11695 c.c. car with frontI wheel-drive and a four-door j body. In New Zealand it costs j £1595 without overseas funds, and is available for immedij ate delivery. The car is German-assembled. The Audi is a four to five jseater with individual front j seats and a bench rear seat, !the absence of a transmission j tunnel permitting a nearly ■ flat floor. Under the bonnet i all service points are accessible, although the air j cleaner would need to be removed to permit best access |to the distributor, and fuses are in a neat box of clear plastic where any blown fuses can be seen quickly.

The radiator is set to one, side of the engine, which is tilted and well forward against the grille. Standard (equipment includes a windI screen washer, fresh-air heater, and reversing lights. I The boot is very large, but I has a very high lip which | makes loading bulky or heavy [objects difficult, it is also I difficult for a woman to remove the spare wheel, which is secured against the bulkjhead almost out of reach unless one climbs partly into I the boot.

VISIBILITY Inside the car, visibility in all directions is good, and all four corners can be seen from the drivers seat, which allows easy manoeuvring. Headroom and legroom are good front and rear, even with the front seats well back. The test car's wipers did not sweep far enough to the windscreen pillars, but this could be remedied by adjustment. The horn was too weak to be effective on main roads.

X novel idea is the shape of the front windows: the top edge has a dip in it which permits fresh air to enter silently when the window is opened slightly. Openings under the back seat extract air from the car into the boot, and then vent it outside. The front seats have four adjustments for the angle of the backrests, but three of these positions are very upright. Most drivers will want the seat well back on its slide

also, otherwise the steering wheel comes rather close to the body. All seats are comfortable.

The pedals are slightly offset towards the centre of the car. The instruments (an electric clock, fuel and water gauges, speedometer, warning lights for choke, alternator charge, oil pressure, indicators and main beam) are set in two round dials in front of the driver. Knobs control lights, choke and instrument rheostat and a large rubber-covered knob is turned to operate the twospeed electric wipers, or the rubber is pumped to operate the washers. There is a cigarette lighter near the centre of the fascia, and in the centre are the slides which control the heater.

It is not possible to adjust the heater so one has warm air on the feet and cold air on the face. The blower has variable speeds, of which the faster speeds are rather noisy. Nonetheless the heater is efficient, and the blower is not necessary over about 30 m.p.h. The four-speed all-synchro-mesh gearbox is controlled by a lever on the left of the steering column. The lever has rather long movements and comes too close to the dash in the third-gear position, but the gearchange is very smooth, light and positive and the synchromesh is completely effective and quite unobstructive at all times, which permits very fast changes for a column lever

in spite of the relatively long movements.

The clutch is light with moderate travel. effective travel being quite short, and the brakes are firm but not heavy. The accelerator is a little sudden in the first part of its travel. The short lever on the right of the steering column controls the indicators and when pulled towards the driver flashes the lights. If, however, the lights are already switched on, the lever acts as a dip switch.

ENGINE The Audi’s engine does not idle particularly smoothly but becomes much smoother as revolutions rise. It endows a fairly heavy car with good performance for a 1700 c.c. engine, and one can easily credit the top speed of more than 90 m.p.h. The gears are well-spaced and performance is good both on the flat and on hills. In town the engine is very flexible and happy to pull away from quite low speeds in the higher gears. The steering is not particularly direct with four turns from lock to lock, but the turning circle is good and one soon becomes used to having to shuffle the wheel a little. The steering is fairly light. The brakes are excellent and showed no distress of any sort during the fade test. Disc brakes are mounted inboard at the front, and drum brakes are fitted at the rear. The handling is very good. At first one particularly notices the marked understeer, but one rapidly becomes accustomed to this and

discovers the Audi can be hustled around corners surprisingly fast with complete stability and remarkable freedom from roll. The suspension, although firm, gives a comfortable ride over both rough and smooth going. When cornering fast the Audi understeers noticeably but not excessively, and easing off on the accelerator results in the usual front-wheel-drive dive-in. On the Audi the tightening in the turn is quite noticeable but not too sudden. The car is just as stable on shingle as on seal, and the handling soon gives the greatest confidence. The German radial-ply tyres fitted to the test car gave excellent grip but squealed very easily and may also have been responsible for the considerable amount of road noise on coarse chip surfaces. Wind noise is low. The Audi is a well-finished and well-equipped four to five-seater with very good handling, a high standard of comfort and excellent brakes. It must be a strong competitor in its class, particularly when its good engine performance is considered. TECHNICAL Engine: Four-cylinder, bore 80 mm., stroke 84.4 mm., 1695 c.c., o.h.v. by pushrods, compression ratio 11.2 to 1: 72 b.h.p. at 5000 r.p.m., torque 941 b ft. at 2400 to 3200 r.p.m. Transmission: Four-speed all synchro gearbox, spiral bevel final drive. Suspension: Front, independent torsion bars and wishbones: rear, dead beam axle, trailing arms, torsion bars, Panhard rod. Steering: rack and pinion, 16in diam, wheel. Brakes: Inboard discs at front, drums rear. Fuel tank: Holds 11.7 gallons.