Audi will mark 20 years of 'Audi Space Frame' at Frankfurt this year
At this year's Frankfurt Auto Show, Audi's 'lightweight' technology will come a full circle. 20 years ago, in the same auto show, the German manufacturer came with a shiny concept car and offered the audience an insight into its innovative aluminum build concept that would revolutionise automotive construction. This was the 'ASF' (Audi Space Frame). When the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show takes place next week, there will again be a car based on the ASF platform, the new Audi A8.
The new A8's body frame
Technically, the ASF is a lightweight construction principle in which the body of the vehicle is completely or partially built up of aluminium. Floor panel, roof, pillars and other panels that are integrated in the vehicle's structure provide increased stability. The individual components exhibit various shapes and cross-sections depending on their task. Just like in a beehive, where only as much material is used to make the honeycomb as is necessary to achieve optimum results, the ideas behind the ASF were derived from nature.
In 1994, Audi made the first volume-production car with unitary aluminum body, the Audi A8. Panels accounted for most of its 336 individual components, followed by the sections and cast nodes. Assembly was performed roughly 75 per cent by hand. Other Audi models based on the ASF include the Audi A2 (2000), the Audi A8 (2002), the Audi TT (2006), the Audi R8 (2008) and the Audi A8 (2010). More than 750,000 cars based on the ASF have been built since 1994.
Owing to the ASF technology and a mix of aluminum and high-strength steel, the new Audi A8 3.0 TFSI Quattro's body weighs just 231 kilograms. The same body made entirely from steel would be around 40 percent heavier. This ASF principle makes the new Audi A8, the lightest model with all-wheel drive in its segment.
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