21 Interesting Audi Facts For Car Enthusiasts
Audi is the crush of all car lovers, and that is the truth. It is in fact one of the most well-known and well-recognized car brands in the world. While most car owners acknowledge that Audi cars are pricey, there are more interesting things around this vehicle. To be more specific, there are more to those compelling Audi commercials and the 4-ring logo of the German luxurious auto manufacturer. We have compiled here 21 of the most interesting Audi facts that will change the way you viewed the company till now. Everywhere in the world, the enthusiasm about Audi is at its peak. So, be a part of this craze by knowing more about the carmaker through these 21 Audi facts.
The Origin Facts of Audi
The Creator of Andi
August Horch is the founder of Audi. His previous job was a blacksmith and he worked under Karl Benz, the founder of Mercedes-Benz. He stayed there for three years before starting his own company. August Horch had an engineering degree. He also had practical knowledge in the automobile industry.
In the year of 1899, he founded a car company called A.Horch and Cie. with a friend. However, due to copyright issues,he started a new car company that he named August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. He had to remove the word Horch and use his surname. In German, the surname meant ‘hear’ and in Latin meant ‘listen’.
The Meaning of the Word Audi
Audi has an interesting history behind its naming. The name of the Audi founder is August Horch, where the latter part of the name means “listen” in German. If we translate the meaning into Latin, the word that we find is “Audi”.
To sum up, Audi is the Latinization of his surname ‘Horch’.
This Audi name was the idea of the son of the family friends of August Horch.
The Meaning of the Four Rings in the Logo
Before being branded as Audi, the company was the melting pot of four separate car companies under the name: Auto Union. Many people mistake the rings for a symbol of the Olympics, still.
The Logo Rivalry
The world famous Audi logo consisting of four rings faced fierce opposition from the International Olympic Committee. The organisation even sued Audi in 1995, but the verdict was in Audi’s favour.
The Companion and Its Race Car
The Auto Union
Auto Union is the united of three German Car manufacturers, and they are Wanderer, DKW and Horch Car company. August is the one who created this union. The four rings that you see on an Audi represent these four car manufacturers that formed the Auto Union.
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The Aim of This Company
From the beginning, the Auto Union has the purpose for each company. To be more specific, the Audi company aims to focus on mid-size deluxe cars, while the Horch on luxury automobiles. Along with that, Wanderer focuses on normal mid-size cars, and DKW with motorcycles and small cars.
The Defunct Date
1 January 1969, the Auto Union no longer existed. Before that, three car manufacturers were already defunct. To be more specific, Horch defunct in 1932, Wanderer in 1945, and DKW became defunct in the year of 1966.
The Successor
From the year of 1985 till present date, Audi AG is the successor of the Auto Union.
The Race Car of Auto Union
It may be hard to believe, but Auto Union did have a race car, and it is really fast. In the year of 1938, Auto Union produced a race car called V16 which had a speed of 268 miles per hour.
Along with the help of Ferdinand Porsche, Auto Union made this automobile.
The Audi Facts
The First Winner of Le Mans
Audi is the winner of Le Mans for both diesel-powered cars and hybrid powered cars and diesel-powered cars.
Unmanned Car
Scaled Pikes Peak in the year of 2010, this Audi vehicle was an unmanned car. The name is Shelly, inspired by Michele Mouton, the first woman driver to win the Pikes Peak Hill Club as well as a WRC.
The Pride of Audi
R8 is the answer. In order to build an R8, only the Silverliners, the most skillful and experienced builder, are allowed to build one. And even with all of the Silverlines, it takes 70 hours to build one. To be more specific, the car is the combination of nearly 5000 parts.Talking about the car features, the R8 goes can reach to 100 kmph in just 3.2 seconds. It also has a top speed of 330 kilometers per hour.
The Prove of Safety
In order to prove the safety of the cars of Audi, the car manufacturers used to roll down Audi F7 from top of a hill in front of a group of people.
The First German Automaker to Have Introduced a Left-Hand Drive
Audi achieved a unique feat when the company released the Type K in 1921. It was the first left-hand drive by any German carmaker. Gradually the idea gained large popularity and became the standard in the 20’s.
The Russians Wreaked Havoc on Audi
During WWII, all the auto manufacturing plants were turned into military hardware production facilities. So, they became the prominent targets of the Allied forces, mainly the Russians. The severely bombed and damaged plants of Audi, however, got over this destruction of whatever was left.
Volkswagen Owns Audi
One of these facts about Audi will surprise you for sure: it was not available in the US market until 1970. Before the Volkswagen takeover, Daimler-Benz owned the world famous car company.
The First Company to Have Performed a Crash Test
The first crash test in the history of car manufacturing took place when Audi arranged for a series of tests in 1938. Today, crash tests are standard practice for all car companies.
Porsche Primarily developed the RS Models
The German car manufacturers often prefer to do it hand in hand to produce the finest machines. The original Audi RS was established in 1994 with the direct association of Porsche, another car manufacturing maestro. The RS2 even had the Porsche logo on the tailgate, brakes, and grille.
Audi Sponsors the Yankees
Like other big companies, Audi sponsors different sports teams in skiing, soccer and much more. However, they made it to the headline by getting into a sponsorship deal with the controversial New York Yankees.
The ‘Quattro’ Project Was Aimed at Breaking the Conservative Image
Until the 70’s, Audi was all known as conservative. So, they decided to get rid of this unenviable fame for good with an all-wheel rally car. From then, the “Audi Quattro” had emerged as a successful car on the rally course.
