BEGIN INTERVIEW:
Fourtitude: Can you give us a little bit of your background with Audi or even prior to Audi?
Michael Dick: I have been with Audi since 1977. I began in quality assurance and had several functions within the quality department. I changed to the Volkswagen Group in 1995 with Dr. Winterkorn. The first one and a half years I was the head of the group Quality Department and then I changed into the Research and Development and was responsible for total vehicle development within the Volkswagen Group. In March 2003, I came back to Audi and I am responsible for chassis development, for total vehicle development, for the prototype workshop, and for leading all projects within the technical engineering in context with the project management within the Audi group.
Fourtitude: Will you explain to us the process of developing a new product. For instance, if you start working on a project, how far out is that car and how does that go from initial research and development to where they are putting it into production?
Michael Dick: It depends on whether it is a completely new generation or it is a successor of an existing car. You can say that the first concept investigations we make five years before the start of production when it is a completely new car. When it is a successor, it is 3 to 4 years. Then it is a little bit easier because the definition of the car is relatively clear; lengths, widths, and what the customer wants.
But, when we make a completely new definition, it is a little bit more difficult because we have to make investigations with our customers… what they want. We have to define the characteristics of the car very exactly. We must have a clear image of what we want to tell our engineers what they have to do. Therefore, in recent years we have made a lot of theoretical work before we go into the physics. We conduct a lot of simulations. We make virtual prototypes before we make real prototypes. We make a lot of simulations in engine characteristics, in cooling characteristics, in suspension characteristics, and so on.
For example, today we can simulate 95% of the characteristics for an ESP system. We need 5% to make refinements and to get the loss potential, but today it is possible to make this hardware in the loop. Definitions for an ESP system go into the first physical prototype and the system works so that everybody can drive this car. Ten or even five years ago, it was possible only for specialists to drive the prototypes, because it was too dangerous. In the simulation, we would only get 50% of the testing. This gives us the ability to make more models at the same time with the same personnel, because from design phase to start of production, we only need 22 and 26 months.
Fourtitude: Do you find that the amount of time needed is less and less every year?
Michael Dick: We make it shorter and shorter but we have natural limits. At some point, we can find no more time. We need a certain amount of time to perform the testing, to make sure that the reliability is okay, to make sure quality is okay. When we make a crash simulation we simulate all the characteristics, but we have to do every test in hardware so that we can tell the lawyer the assurance that it works. We have to do this once in prototype phase and once in series production to give the lawyer the assurance that we will meet all the laws we have to meet in Germany, the United States, and Japan.
We have numerous laws to meet and we have to perform, for each body version, between 35-50 crash tests needed to make it ready. This, with all the simulations we have, gives us the possibility to meet the requirements and makes it possible to analyze crashes up to 99%. We have seen the simulation of the A pillar and that it is strong enough to take the forces of an offset crash at 62 miles per hour, but the difficulty for us is that each country has its own crash management.
You know NCAP for example. The ADAC in Germany make certain tests. Several institutes in the USA make their own test and so on and so on. We have to look for all that to have the assurance that we can meet all of them. It is very difficult and not very cost effective in the development phase to make sure all the crash things are working. But I think we have the potential to reduce development time today, but then we have reached the end in my opinion.
Fourtitude: With additional testing on the drivetrain, how many miles or kilometers does a particular drivetrain test before you will put it into production?
Michael Dick: We make durability testing with each combination of body, engine, transmission and suspension with three cars for 100,000 km. It is a special test where we can simulate the equivalent of 300,000 kilometers of customer use. Like I said, we make this with three cars of each combination. For example, sedan, wagon, coupe, roadster and with each engine, transmission, and front-wheel drive or quattro.
Fourtitude: That is a lot of testing.
Michael Dick: Lots of testing.
Fourtitude: We’ve been seeing a lot of what are probably B8 test mules with various modified B7 bodies or heavy disguising. What happens to these test mules and prototypes? I assume that you can just put a body on a given components set for a mule, but what happens to these cars when you are done testing? Are the destroyed or are they kept somewhere?
Michael Dick: When the cars are tested, we make analysis. We look for each part of the car, we look at the engine, if everything is within the tolerances. We look at the body, if there is any damage. Normally, when the car has fulfilled the testing needs, we destroy it afterwards.
Fourtitude: We’ve heard rumors that Dr. Winterkorn would have whatever he might be driving fitted with a new powerplant. What happens to one of these cars? Are any of those cars ever considered for preservation. Do you ever say, "maybe we should hold on to this?" Or is that simply the process… they are destroyed. Is there an insurance issue?
Michaeld Dick: The prototypes we make are only for test purposes. Only we can drive the cars or Dr. Winterkorn can drive the cars. For example, when we have an engineering vehicle that never goes into series production because it is too expensive or the technique does not work, we put it into the shredder after we do not need the car because it is not possible to certify such cars. Certification we can do when we are ready with development and when we give the assurance that all of our internal laws have been fulfilled and when there is the series release. Then we have the release for series production and then soon you can buy the cars. Only then. Not before.
Fourtitude: What I am asking is, lets say you build a test mule of a Bentley twin-turbo W12 in an A8 and Dr. Winterkorn drives it around a little bit. Then you decide it is too expensive to build. Do you destroy a car like that or perhaps put it in the museum?
Michael Dick: When it is a very interesting project and there is only one of it, we give it to the museum, but it must be an interesting project.
Sarah Hayden (Audi Public Relations): So there is no secret warehouse? I think that is what he was getting at. He wants you to tell him there is a secret warehouse in Ingolstadt with all these crazy cars that no one can drive.
Michael Dick: In my time at Volkswagen we once made a Lupo, the smallest Volkswagen at the time, with the 225-horsepower 1.8T engine and with quattro. It dove perfect. It was only a single unit car and we gave it to the museum.
Fourtitude: I would think the enthusiast would go to Wolfsburg or Ingolstadt to see this. I would imagine that this sort of car is just as interesting, if not more, than the cars in the museum that everyone knows about.
Sarah Hayden: You are not going to break him.
Fourtitude: I had to ask. He’s a tough one.
Michael Dick: I think you would like to buy one of these cars.
Fourtitude: Sure. Or even just to see it, whether it was a new car or a ten-year old car.
Michael Dick: You want to see our prototype garage?
Fourtitude: I would love to see your prototype garage.
Sarah Hayden: It doesn't exist.
Fourtitude: Yeah, what prototype garage? I am curious about the cars. To our readers who are hyper-aware of Audi, to see a mule of a B3 that maybe had been an experiment of some sort is just as interesting as an A5.
Michael Dick: No experimental car ever goes on the roads for normal customers after we have finished the development work. Only the engineers or Dr. Winterkorn drive them. When we have finished the project, the car will be destroyed.
Fourtitude: Destroyed?
Michael Dick: Yes. I have one such car at home and fought for one year with the company to get this car. I must give the assurance that I will never ever give it away. I must take the car for my own and when I don't need the car I must destroy it.
Fourtitude: May I ask about the car? What kind of car?
Michael Dick: I cannot say.
Sarah Hayden: Hey you got that much. That is pretty good.
(Laughs)
Michael Dick: There is another one I can show him. I have it on the display.
At this point, Mr. Dick pulled out his mobile phone and showed us a modified first-generation TT coupe painted in Gulf racing livery. We’d seen the car before and have since seen his matching second-generation TT shown in this article.
Fourtitude: I have heard about this car. A friend told me about this car. Beautiful.
Sarah Hayden: What is this car?
Michael Dick: It is a TT in Gulf colors with a special engine.
Fourtitude: What's so special?
Michael Dick: It is a 1.8 turbo, 5-valve engine… the old one. 260-horsepower and 400 Newton Meters.
Fourtitude: Was that a prototype engine?
Michael Dick: We had a series production for this car, only in Germany. We built 1000 cars with 2 colors. Each car a black roof and the body red, blue, white and so on (the TT quattro Sport). This is one version with a special color, with special seats, and with a special engine and brakes. I drove it as a company car and I have since bought it.
Fourtitude: That is a series engine then. You don't have to destroy it?
Michael Dick: The basic mechanics from the engine are series but the engine management is tuned.
Fourtitude: Speaking of tuning, I ran into you at SEMA this past year. Did you enjoy SEMA?
Michael Dick: Yes.
Fourtitude: Do you think there is a place for Audi at SEMA?
Michael Dick: We are working on it. Not this year, perhaps the next year. We are thinking about this because we are working on a lot of after sales parts for our cars. We began with the Q7, you know, the off-road parts we make for this car. For the new TT we have a special spoiler for the rear, front and the sides. We are trying to make a business case for these parts in the after sales for our dealers, to make individual cars for our customers… those who want individualization. This would be a typical theme for SEMA.
Do you know the Essen Motor Show?
Fourtitude: I have been to the motor show in Essen… slightly different from SEMA, but very much the same.
I take it you have put plenty of driving time with the Q7 V12 TDI, how do you like it? Can you describe the driving experience?
Michael Dick: It is difficult to describe. It is fantastic. It is like a driving experience you have never ever had before because the characteristics of the car performs,….you must drive yourself to make this experience. It is difficult to explain it.
Fourtitude: I have driven the Continental Flying Spur and one of the things that struck me in that car is when you hit the accelerator in that car. The physics cannot keep up with the engine. It is all-wheel drive, but the wheels spin on dry pavement. I would imagine it is even more so in the Q7 V12 TDI.
Michael Dick: A little bit, but the grip is very high on the Q7. The spin is only in the beginning. For such a car, you don't believe it. You must drive it then you will believe it.
Fourtitude: If you say so, then I must at some point.
That is about all I have. I thank you very much for your time.
Interview: Michael Dick, Member of the Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG
