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Audi's retooled A7 erupts in flames during Alps testing
June 2, 2017 @ 11:06 am
Larry P. VellequetteTwitter RSS feed
Photo credit: CHRIS DOANE PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO GALLERY: Audi A7 test mule fire PHOTO GALLERY >>
Engineers learn from every failure -- except perhaps those in which the evidence of what happened isn't burnt to a crisp on the side of the road.
Audi engineers in Europe on Thursday were pulling a dead weight trailer in the thin air and steep climbs of the Austrian Alps with a new A7 sedan when a fire started under the hood. Spy photographers captured the scene as the test crew turned the car around and into a nearby pull-off, then scrambled to remove equipment from the test car.
One team member tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the blaze with a hand-held fire extinguisher. The car was soon engulfed in flames and was destroyed within 15 or 20 minutes, witnesses said. A local fire crew arrived and eventually extinguished the remaining flames.
The redesigned 2019 A7 is to debut this fall in Europe.
It seems odd that they would be testing a new model with no camoflouge. It really just doesn't look right to me in general. It flames are extremely vivid in colors and are very large for a car fire where the engine or fuel tank are not involved.
It seems odd that they would be testing a new model with no camoflouge. It really just doesn't look right to me in general. It flames are extremely vivid in colors and are very large for a car fire where the engine or fuel tank are not involved.
Check out the rest of the photos. The car was reduced to ashes. All the aluminum panels melted leaving the steel frame, roof and rear quarters.
It seems odd that they would be testing a new model with no camoflouge. It really just doesn't look right to me in general. It flames are extremely vivid in colors and are very large for a car fire where the engine or fuel tank are not involved.
Depends where they are in the program. Our company used to keep camo on as long as possible on development vehicles, but when doing cooling or NVH final validation testing, camo was an interference and we sought out low-travel locations for testing without camo and with design-intent exteriors. Apparently, that did not work as well in this case.
My biggest concern with the picture is that like other new Audi's of late, it looks virtually just like the current A7. I guess that's why they didn't waste their money on camouflage for the car.
06-02-2017, 12:34 PM
The A7 is HOT!
