- Automakers like Audi have been trying to reduce aerodynamic drag on their cars for years.
- For Audi, those efforts lead to excellent range estimates for the new A6 e-tron.
- Some of the breakthroughs include a stall in the undercarriage that reduces turbulence.
Battling wind resistance is something that automakers do every day. That fight goes back several decades. In a new film with Top Gear, Audi shows off what it did years ago and how that technology trickled down into the new A6.
Notably, the new A6 e-tron has an impressive drag coefficient of just 0.24. That’s pretty good though it’s not a leader at this stage, as the Tesla Model S, Hyundai Ioniq 6, and Lucid Air all claim better figures. Still, the road to 0.24 was paved with historic cars for Audi.
More: This Is The New Audi A6 E-Tron Sedan And Avant
For instance, it began testing aerodynamics back in the 1930s. The 1937 Auto Union Type C leveraged a supercharged V16 to provide propulsion and a body that looks shrink-wrapped onto the chassis and drivetrain. That enabled it to travel at 250 mph, an impossible speed for the vast majority of cars almost a century later.
Audi also set the record for the most aerodynamic production car in 1982. The Audi 100 had several small touches that cheated the wind. Hidden wipers, aerodynamic mirrors, and a cleaner greenhouse all made a big impact.
All of this leads us back to the new A6 e-tron, which leverages everything Audi has learned through the years. For instance, small gaps that bookend the front bumper allow the car to create a uniform curtain of air that reduces drag on the front wheels. The camera side mirrors (not available in the USA) slice through the wind too and add seven kilometers (4.3 Miles) of range on their own over traditional mirrors.
The undercarriage is completely sealed off to prevent additional unnecessary drag but there are little tricks there too. Some areas channel air to cool the battery and at the rear is an active stall that can reduce turbulence at the back of the car. All of this helps it achieve what Audi claims is 447 miles (720 km) of range after WLTP testing. I sure wish I had that kind of range the last time I drove an electric Audi.