Clean driving pleasure, on and off road Drive technology in the Audi Cross Cabriolet quattro

The power output of the three-litre diesel engine with common rail direct injection is 176 kW (240 bhp) and its maximum torque is an impressive 500 Nm. It accelerates the Cross Cabriolet quattro from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 7.2 seconds and enables it to reach a top speed of 240 km/h – with fuel consumption averaging no more than 7.3 litres per 100 km. The 3.0 TDI is coupled to the quattro permanent four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. If the driver wishes to change gear manually, they can do so by using the shift paddles mounted on the steering wheel or use the selector lever with integrated control wheel.

To realise the ultra-low emission system, Audi’s engineers combined a whole package of innovative measures. A new common rail system with piezo injectors operating at a pressure of 2,000 bar, high-efficiency exhaust gas recirculation and further optimised turbocharging join forces to achieve a significant reduction in untreated emissions. The exhaust aftertreatment system operates with the additive AdBlue, small amounts of which are injected ahead of the DeNOx catalytic converter. Thanks to their extremely low emissions, Audi will from 2008 be able to sell its clean direct-injection diesels all over the world, even in the US states of California, Massachusetts, Maine, New York and Vermont, where extremely stringent emission limits apply.

The Audi Cross Cabriolet always transmits its power to the road through the quattro permanent four-wheel drive. The key element in the quattro driveline is its centre differential. It is a purely mechanical unit and therefore responds without the slightest delay. In normal driving conditions, 40 percent of engine power is directed to the front wheels and 60 percent to the rear wheels, permitting sporty handling with a rear-driven emphasis. When needed, the differential redirects most of the torque to the axle that is achieving better traction.

The Audi drive select system makes it possible to preselect three highly individual configurations for the engine, transmission characteristic and adaptive shock absorbers. The “dynamic” mode is the basic setting. The “sport” mode gives the Cross Cabriolet quattro an emphatically sporty driving feel. The shock absorbers are set firm, the engine responds more spontaneously to the throttle and the tiptronic transmission’s shift points move higher up the engine speed range. If the driver switches to the “efficiency” mode, the engine and S tronic respond gently – the perfect answer to relaxed driving with high potential for effectively lowering fuel consumption, and therefore emissions too.

As a true SUV, the Audi Cross Cabriolet quattro displays impressive off-road talents. These include its innovative electric ride height adjustment, which varies ground clearance by a total of 40 millimetres at the touch of a button. The height of the vehicle body can be adjusted to make getting in and out that bit easier and also – as already seen in the Audi Q7 – the rear can be lowered separately for easier loading of the luggage compartment.