7/28/2019 Audi V8 Autoweek 1987

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Shifting emphasis for Audi VS--I [ - Ingolstodtk idiot-proofautomaticshifter spiedI e s t S e l e c t l o n of P e r f o r m a nT i r e s & Wheels in A m e r i c ;

Only I W v . n d hoodd l s l l n g u i s h u V8 hornb m udis, re l t y le Is e x w t d . Shmer(right) is gated;not. shlftmode relector

he A u d ~ 8-powered sedan+lubbed 300T . '.dun ng its development-is pcrhaps twoyea n away from U.S. intnxluction but theinfluence of the tirm's recent problems maybe retlected in a new, gated automatic trans-mission shifter seen in a spy photo.Similar to the Ford Scorpio gear selector(designed when Ford was countering cumplaints that an automatic transmission wo uldslip into Reverse from Park). the Audi V8'slever musl be pushed down. pushed rightand back to eel out o f Park. I t uses a Mer-cedes-like gale to select gean .

I t may also incorporate a "shift-lock"that prevents engaging Driv e or Reverse un-less the hrake peda l is depressed. Au di h a%similar mcchanisn~ n its current U.S.-mar-ket 5000 and is retmfitting i t to earlier carsto address complaints of "unintended accel-eration." Au di sales nosedived by 60.80percent after the CBS television news pro-gram 60 Minurps aired an investigative storyabout unintended accelera t ion. Salesshowed signs of recovery toward formerlevels in April. thanks in pa n to more ag-gressive marketing and a $5000 rebate toowners of o lder 5000s.(Audi U.S. officials are worried about arerun of the show. advising dealers recentlyto be prepared for a second broadcast afterreceiving no response to its request that

Decision by Decemberon Ford-Nissan ventureVeh icle to be bu ilt in the U .S .

m a n and Ford hope to conclude a jointN'evelopment study by the end of theyear. Nissan president Yutaka Kum e said inJapan recently. When the firms announcedthe discussions in early Ma y. they projecteda f inal decision no sooner than spring.1988. They are negotiating terms of a pro-posed project to jointly develop and manu-facture a new vehicle in the U .S .

CBS not rerun the controvenial segment).Yet another feature of the VX's transmis-sion been in our spy photo i n pnrtotype limnis a B M W Seven-Series-like electronic con-trol that yields manual, spnn or normdlshift characteristics.Prototypes shown to European dealerselicited complaints that the car lw ke d t msimilar to the Audi Io IZ 0 0 (S~XK)n U.S.).Indeed. only a louvered hood clearly distin-guishes i t fro m the five-cylinder cars, so the

VH.5 introduction has been delaycd torsome restyling. The 1001200 itself i s alsoexpected to get a facelift soon.Other changes. both near-term and long-range. from Audi: A higher horwp~wer . 3liter (vs today's 2.2 liter) engine for theCoupe debu ting June I. a 4wd Quatml vari-ant of the no n- er k~ ha rg ed (WS wi th inthe model year. debut of the Audi 80190replacement l i ~ rhe 40(N as a I988 modelthis fall. and coupe variants of bo th the new80190 and the V8 sedan.

The multipurpose vehicle has been ru-mored lo be a replacement for Nissan'sStanza wagon. but somewhat larg er than thecurrent car. The vehicle would be built a1 anas-yet unspecified Nonh American factorybeginning in the early 1990% n volumes o fup to 200.000 per year.I t would be sold with both Ford and Nis-san nameplates. much as U.S.-built Chevy

Novas and Toyola FX models built in Cali-fornia are split between the joint venturefirm's ownen. The pmponion o f h e plant'soutput to be allocated to each company isnot yet determined.AUTOWEEK lUNt I . 1987