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Audi: No More Fake Exhausts Under Large PPC Based Models
With the arrival of the new generation Audi A5, a lot has changed for the brand from Ingolstadt. The A4 family has been transferred to the A5 series; the A5 Limousine is no longer a sedan but a liftback; the A5 Coupé and A5 Cabrio will not get successors; and Audi is now done with fake exhausts under its larger models.
The Audi A4 Limousine and A4 Avant have been succeeded by completely new models that will now go by the A5 umbrella. The A4 Limousine and the A5 Sportback have been merged into one model: the A5 Limousine. This is, despite its name, not a sedan but a liftback. The A5 Coupé and Cabriolet will not have successors. What is also changing is that Audi will no longer use imitation exhaust tailpipes on its larger models with combustion engines.
According to report, all models that will be based on Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) (such as the new A5) will always get exhaust tips that have a function. Audi is supposedly responding to customer reactions. Not everyone was happy with the imitation exhaust tips that you occasionally find at the bottom of the rear bumper of the Q5, for example.
For example, if you stand behind a current-generation Audi SQ5, you will appear to be looking at a sporty SUV with four large exhaust pipes. Nothing could be further from the truth. All four examples are fake and only serve an aesthetic purpose. So don’t be surprised if you see steam rising from the bottom of the rear bumper on a cold morning. The actual exhaust pipes end in a less visible place under the bumper when viewed from the rear.
We don’t expect to see any more examples of this type in the next generation of the Q5, which, like the A5, will be based on the PPC platform, not under the sporty S models and not under the milder engineered versions with S-Line optics. The brand-new Audi S5 also has four exhaust tailpipes, but they are actually functional. The same goes for the two examples at the bottom of the rear of the new Audi A5 with S-Line trim. Whether Audi will apply this exhaust tailpipe policy—a nice word for Scrabble—to its MQB-based models remains to be seen.
Fake exhaust tips
A6 with real exhaust pipes
