History of Audi

This now world famous company was born in 1910 under the decree. Considered the case of the charge in August Horch (August Horch) of his former colleagues from the company Horch. As a result of disagreements with partners wayward Horch was forced out of his own company, which he founded in Zwickau in 1899. Some time later, he created in the same city, a new company, of course, giving it its name. Short-lived in the same small town of two firms with the same name: the second court was given a new name Audi, which in Latin means the same thing as the Horch in German - "listen." The first Audi was equipped with 4-cylinder engine in the 2612 cm3, similar to the previous design Horch, which he created for the company Horch. But soon it was followed by new engines working volume in 3562, 4680 and 5720 cm3. All were so-called balanced valves: intake was below and exhaust directly above them "upside down." The tenacity with which August Horch cars exhibited in various competitions, but was rewarded in 1911, when he was in the Audi with an engine capacity of 2.6 liters in the race for the Cup of the Alps in Austria went the full distance without penalty points. With all the shortcomings Series "B" in 1913, has developed a new model from Audi, equipped with a 4-cylinder 3.5-liter engine, which the crankshaft rotates on three legs, and was slightly shifted to the side of the cylinder axes. Normal cone clutch friction surface was leather. Wooden box on the chassis with the base 2900 or 3200 mm was open with a long and pointed rear, which, according to its creators, provides better streamlining and gave rapid appearance. In 1912-1914 this car has achieved great success in the competition at the Alpine Cup. Therefore, it is known as Alpensieger - "Conqueror of the Alps." Before the war also created a small car such as "8/28" with the motor in the 2071 cm3, which continued to produce after the establishment of peace. But the most popular in the 20's became the 50-strong "Audi-K" with overhead valve engine of 3.5 liters. The first six-cylinder was "Audi-M", released in 1924. Its working volume was 4655 cm3, and for the first time moved the camshaft up. The crankshaft has seven pillars, and the cylinder block is made of aluminum alloy, while the cylinder liners were steel. Overhead camshaft directly acted on the valve stems. Brakes on all wheels were equipped with vacuum booster. Its top speed reaches 120 km / h The first eight-cylinder engine in the 4872 cm3 appeared in 1928 in a car Series "R", which received a big name Imperator. It was the last own design Audi, which was soon annexed by another automobile firm DKW. Jorgen Rasmussen Skafte (Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen), the founder of DKW, decided not to create a new range of Audi own engines, and bought from the bankrupt U.S. company Rickenbacker all its equipment and development. The regular Audi models appeared in 1929. It was 6-cylinder Dresden and 8-cylinder Zwickau. In 1931, Audi became the gamut light model "P" on DKW chassis with 4-cylinder engine in the Peugeot 1122 cm3. In 1932, four German firms DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer merged to automobile concern Auto Union. The first result of the joint work for Audi was the front-wheel series Front 6-cylinder overhead valve engine Wanderer in 2257 cm3, followed by a rear-drive Audi 920 with a 6-cylinder engine in the 3281 Horch cm3. The front-drive Audi Front was "the product of the collective" all belonged to a group of companies Auto Union: the idea of ​​a forward drive for mainstream cars belonged to the founder of DKW Rasmussen, its 6-cylinder engine has been developed and produced at the Wanderer Horch, and the finished car was wearing a brand Audi. Despite the difficulties of developing a new design, the car worked well and was produced until 1938. The front suspension was on the wishbone and transverse leaf springs and is a lot like the design Alvis. Unlike most of the front-wheel midget cars Front belonged to the middle class. Machines supplied by various bodies multiplace and reach speeds of over 105 km / h In 1937 at the Berlin Motor Show was presented elegant triple sports version Front. After the war, in Germany, where the city of Zwickau, became part of East Germany. The former Audi factory was nationalized and it produced no less famous cars Trabant. Audi brand temporarily disappeared, because after the war the company produced only Auto Union cars DKW. Only in 1957 there was only one model called the Auto Union 1000. The following year, Auto Union came under the control of Daimler Benz, and in 1964, when he became a transition to the production of front-wheel drive, has become the property of concern Volkswagen. In 1965, the Audi brand has revived. At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi was featured front-wheel drive 1700 with very economical development of Daimler Benz, have the compression ratio 11.2 and 72 hp power In 1969, it merged Auto Union and company NSU - new company was named NSU Auto Union. Recent organizational changes have occurred in 1984, when NSU Auto Union was renamed to an Audi. After 1965, the family began to expand Audi models - the beginning of the 70's there were a series of "60", "75", "80" and "100." Created in 1980, quattro all-wheel drive versions often had success in international rallies, earning Audi brand of high authority. Initiated release wheel drive cars Audi was the engineer Ferdinand Piech (Ferdinand Piech), who considered the process as natural as the transition from the installation of brakes only on the rear wheels to the brakes on all wheels. Emergence of massive four-wheel drive Audi is a revolutionary step in the development of the automotive industry. The basis for the all-wheel drive versions were standard cars with front-wheel drive. The unit with the gearbox put the transfer case with differential distributes torque almost equally to both axles. There is at first to have a mechanism to enable or disable the rear drive. The first all-wheel drive Audi were primarily intended for sporting events, where it was possible to check the reliability of new designs. They were powerful 5-cylinder turbocharged engine. Under the influence of all-wheel drive Audi was included in the creation of a new trend as production vehicles for the sport, and for normal operation. Audi now produces a wide range of high-quality front-passenger cars with engines of all classes of capacity ranging from 1.2 to 6 liters.