Audi celebrates 25 years of TDI

Audi AG is celebrating a special anniversary today. Twenty-five years ago, the company unveiled the TDI engine, which has since proved to be the most successful efficiency technology on road and track. 

To date, the German carmaker has sold about 7.5 million cars with TDI and has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times since 2006 with the TDI engine. The two most recent developments from the company are the new, fuel-efficient 3.0 V6 TDI generation as well as the Audi RS 5 TDI concept with electric charge.

"The TDI is a pioneering effort with which we bring efficiency millions of times on the road," says Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi AG. "More power with lower fuel consumption and emissions, which is the original idea of the TDI and the success formula with the customer, we continue to develop permanent."  

"Twenty-five of TDI mean a quarter-century of impressive technological progress", says Prof Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for Technical Development at Audi AG. "We can look back with pride at this time, because the TDI has contributed significantly to the rise of our brand in the premium segment. Today we are taking the next big step and start its electrification. " 

With the electric Biturbo, Audi says it makes diesel technology more emotional and sporty. In the current study, the RS 5 TDI concept for the first time is driving a diesel generator to a high-performance RS model. The combination of the V6 TDI biturbo with an additional electrically driven turbocharger, the RS reaches 5 TDI to an output of 283 kW (385 PS) and up to 750 Nm of torque. The electric turbocharger ensures particularly rapid, almost rudimentary loose power structure even at low speeds – the energy consumption is obtained for neutral for the most part by recuperation.

Another milestone in terms of fuel efficiency is the new-generation 3.0 TDI. For the 200 kW (272 hp) power in the new A7 Sportback, the 3.0 TDI is even cleaner and consumes around 13 percent less fuel than its predecessor. Even with the Audi ultra-models, the most efficient engine of a model, TDI clean diesel also plays a major role. At present, TDI technology in the A3 ultra consumes only 3.2 litres of fuel for 100 kilometres. This corresponds to a CO2 equivalent of 85 grams per kilometer.

Germany, the UK and Italy are the top global markets for Audi’s TDI sales. In 2013, in the home market of Germany, more than two-third customers ordered a diesel. Worldwide almost 40 percent of what Audi produced last year were powered by a diesel, and around 593,000 TDI-powered cars left the production line.

The initial spark for the breakthrough of the diesel engine in the car series production was the IAA 1989: After more than 13 years of development work, TDI was introduced there in the Audi 100 TDI before the first turbo-diesel with direct injection and fully electronic engine management. Today, the carmaker has an extensive range of over 150 diesel-engine-transmission model versions.

Photograph: It’s 25 years of TDI between the Audi 100 2.5 TDI from 1989 and the current study RS 5 TDI concept.