Audi A5 2.0T Ethanol: Test mule driving report

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Audi A5 2.0T Ethanol: Test mule driving report

In case you are into alternative fueling, consider this a must read: a test drive report with an Audi A5 2.0T Ethanol test mule which will hit the road in 2009.

Among them, there was an Audi A5 that ran on ethanol and another that made use of engine start-stop technology with a ‘micro-hybrid’ system using energy regeneration during braking and free wheeling for improved efficiency.

Thanks in part to the use of bio-derived fuel in the ethanol A5, the first coupe was good for 75% better CO2 emissions than a typical A5 road car. Even more applicable in daily use, the start-stop equipped A5 with its regenerative brake system is good for 40 mpg. Sources at Audi say the ethanol variant was more a show of what can be done, but hardware such as the regenerative braking and start-stop technology are more likely to see near-term production.