Audi A4 DTM from last season

Audi Sport will be keen to defend its title against Mercedes newcomer Ralf Schumacher in the DTM touring car championship this season, and on March 4th at the Geneva Motor Show, it'll give us a chance to see the car with which they aim to repeat last year's success. At that time, Audi's two-time champion Mattias Ekstrom will unveil the new A4 DTM, codenamed R14, along with Audi Motorsport chief Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich..
Ingolstadt's touring car engineers have been hard at work on the new A4 DTM for a year now, and following its unveiling to the press, the car will be rushed back to Germany to prepare for the DTM test at the Mugello track in Italy. We'll be on hand to get all the details and angles, so stay tuned, racing fans.
[Source: Audi]

PRESS RELEASE
Sneak preview of the new Audi A4 DTM
Audi Sport engineers and technicians have been working feverishly behind closed doors on the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 for twelve months. Now the time has arrived to present the fruits of their labour to the public for the first time: On Tuesday, 4 March defending champion Mattias Ekström and Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich unveil the new Audi A4 DTM at the Motor Show in Geneva.
The exclusive "Sneak Preview" for the media is held on the second press day in Geneva from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. on the AUDI AG stand in Hall 1 (stand number 1061). Immediately after the world premiere the new Audi A4 DTM, which bears the project name "R14" internally at Audi Sport, is taken back to Ingolstadt. In the following week at the official DTM test at Mugello (Italy) the new A4 DTM meets the competition for the first time.
"The new Audi A4 DTM looks fantastic and feels good on the race track," reveals DTM Champion Mattias Ekström, who has already intensively tested his new machine. "I can hardly wait for the first race at Hockenheim on 13 April."
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Few people seem to care about DTM. If that would have been an F1 car, the booth would have been absolutely packed and crowded.

Well i think DTM is a great series, the only letdown with it is that it's too much germany focused.

I think it's a great series too, but there are enough manufacturers... if BMW went into the fray with the M3 and if Porsche had a competitor somehow, it would make it much more interesting.

now thats a nice car but dont you think they added too much details to it

Now all Audi has to do is to quit throwing tantrums and doing the sissy thing and pull all their cars into the pit because they can't take the aggressive driving dished out to them by Mercedes. The Audi drivers also drove very aggressively against the Mercedes drivers in the previous races.

Moreover, in the last race of 2007. Audi ordered its drivers to stay out on the track to block the championship-contending Mercedes drivers to the point where the Audi ran out of fuel and had to stop on the track.

Audi won the 2007 DTM drivers championship but it was tainted victory. If Audi can't take it as well as they give it, then go back to race in lesser categories where they only have themselves to beat.

Shame on the Audi DTM team!!!

To make a championship winning car even better – the Audi Sport engineers and technicians faced this delicate task when the job of developing the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 arose. From the visual aspect they certainly succeeded: The new A4 DTM, which was publicly unveiled for the first time at the Motor Show in Geneva, spontaneously appears even more dynamic than the successful predecessor model with which Mattias Ekström won the DTM title last year.

The fourth-generation Audi A4 DTM, which bears the project name "R14” internally at Audi Sport, is also futuristic from the technical aspect. With the help of state-of-the-art CFD calculations (Computational Fluid Dynamics) particular attention was paid to the air flow running around and through the car. "In doing so we completed what we had already started last year with the R13,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "We are convinced that we have achieved the most logical optimisation of the aerodynamics allowed within the framework of the regulations.”

During the twelve month development period, which started in March 2007, a predominantly new DTM car differing in many details to its predecessor was created in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. "Ground breaking technical innovations on a par with quattro, FSI or TDI are not possible owing to the restrictive nature of the regulations,” says Dr Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Audi Sport Technology. "In the DTM it’s more a question of the logical interpretation and implementation of the technology allowed.”

In the process it was possible to reduce the car’s centre of gravity height and to further reduce the dry weight, which in turn gives the race engineers more flexibility to set the car up to suit specific race tracks and the weight distribution.

The technicians even found development potential in the four-litre near 460 hp V8 engine used in the Audi A4 DTM. The internal friction was further reduced which in turn benefited the power produced and torque curve.

The basic principle of the vehicle, which is stipulated by the regulations, remains the same: The A4 DTM is a thoroughbred race car with the silhouette of the new Audi A4. The chassis has a hybrid concept. It consists of almost 31 metres of steel tube of the type also used in the aerospace industry. The driver sits in a carbon fibre safety cell that actually resembles a Formula 1 monocoque. This combination guarantees the highest torsional stiffness and safety.

The bodywork is made from carbon-fibre composite and is – in spite of all the aerodynamic gadgets – immediately identifiable at first glance as an Audi A4. The distinctive brand styling-elements like the Single Frame grille and the white LED daytime low-beam lights ensure that the face of the A4 DTM has the same unique look like the road going model.

The most important components of the new DTM were tested immediately after the end of the 2007 DTM season. The first R14 prototype completed its roll-out shortly before Christmas at Le Castellet (France). Before its race debut on 13 April at the Hockenheimring, the new Audi A4 DTM will have spooled off several thousand test kilometres – including endurance tests.

"The new road going A4 has already won many international awards in a very short period of time,” says Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "We aim to do these awards justice with the new DTM. We are convinced that the new Audi A4 is an excellent base for a successful DTM car.”

Defending champion Mattias Ekström, who unveiled his new company car in Geneva together with his boss, prefers not to make any predictions at the moment: "If the new A4 DTM is as quick as it looks then I’ll be satisfied,” says the Swede diplomatically.

The new Audi A4 DTM meets its future opponents for the first time at the official DTM test between 10 and 12 March in Mugello (Italy).


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^ This car makes me want a B8.

While I think the normal B8 A4 looks better than the normal C class, I think the DTM C Class looks way better than the DTM A4.