[Ram]

Friends:

I am sure some of you might have already heard about, even seen the
Volkswagen Gläserne Manufaktur (Transparent Factory) at Dresden, Germany.

This is the factory where the premium class Volkwagen Phaeton is put together.

The Volkswagen Phaeton

Among the severe specs of the car are:
It should be capable of being driven all day at 300 km/h in hot 50°C weather, with the climate control maintaining 22°C inside the cabin.

We are painfully aware of our Japanese and Korean origin cars
developing squeaks and rattles in Mumbai's roads potholed by the southwest monsoon. The VW Phaeton has a specified torsional rigidity of 37,000 Newton-meters per degree.
You read it right -- it takes 37 kiloNewton meters of torque to stress-twist the Phaeton body by one degree !!!

About the factory in Dresden
The Phaeton is hand-assembled in an eco-friendly factory with a glass exterior.

Location


North face


South face

Attached is a small presentation on the transparent glass factory.
Enjoy the pdf presentation.

Ram

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Ram

Among the severe specs of the car are:
It should be capable of being driven all day at 300 km/h in hot 50°C weather, with the climate control maintaining 22°C inside the cabin.
We are painfully aware of our Japanese and Korean origin cars
developing squeaks and rattles in Mumbai's roads potholed by the southwest monsoon. The VW Phaeton has a specified torsional rigidity of 37,000 Newton-meters per degree.
You read it right -- it takes 37 kiloNewton meters of torque to stress-twist the Phaeton body by one degree !!!
About the factory in Dresden
The Phaeton is hand-assembled in an eco-friendly factory with a glass exterior.
Attached is a small presentation on the transparent glass factory.
Enjoy the pdf presentation.

Sir, an excellent post. Would give five stars to this thread. Thoroughly enjoyed reading what you have posted and equally enjoyed the pdf file too.

Phateon is well engineered that is what I have read, but never knew that the car is so capable. The entire car structure even though based on old A8 is quite capable. But the numbers are simply to big to digest. I think the number/force required to twist chassis by one degree is even higher for Muslane ( saw this on TV i.e. some discovery channel programme ).

The worker can take as much time as he like to ensure quality, this is unique.

Thanks for posting this up.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Sir, an excellent post. Would give five stars to this thread. Thoroughly enjoyed reading what you have posted and equally enjoyed the pdf file too.

Glad you enjoyed it aaggoswami.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Phaeton is well engineered that is what I have read, but never knew that the car is so capable. The entire car structure even though based on old A8 is quite capable.

There I beg to differ, sir.

The Audi A8 is built on the all aluminium monocoque Volkswagen D4 platform. It combines an aluminium Audi Space Frame structure with the Modularer Längsbaukasten(MLB) component matrix. MLB-based vehicles have a longitudinally-mounted engine and transmission.

On the other hand, the VW Phaeton is based on the stand-alone steel Volkswagen D1 platform. This was specifically developed for the Phaeton and Bentley Continental.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

But the numbers are simply to big to digest. I think the number/force required to twist chassis by one degree is even higher for Mulsanne ( saw this on TV i.e. some discovery channel programme ).

On the subject of torsional rigidity, the car with the highest torsional rigidity in the world today, is the Rolls-Royce Phantom at 40,500 Nm/degree.

Second comes the VW Phaeton at 37,000Nm/degree.

The Mazda RX-8 has a super high torsional rigidity of 30,000 Nm/degree, as good as a Porsche 911.

The Lamborghini Gallardo is 23,000Nm/degree.

The Ferrari 360 and the new Saab 9-3 are at 20,000 Nm/degree.

A VW Golf is around 18,000 NM/degree.

A lighter car needs less stiffness since there are less bending torques due to the lighter weight - hence the Lotus Elise can get by with a relatively puny 12,000 Nm/degree since it only weighs 700 kg.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Ram

1) There I beg to differ, sir.

2) The Audi A8 is built on the all aluminium monocoque Volkswagen D4 platform. It combines an aluminium Audi Space Frame structure with the Modularer Längsbaukasten(MLB) component matrix. MLB-based vehicles have a longitudinally-mounted engine and transmission.

On the other hand, the VW Phaeton is based on the stand-alone steel Volkswagen D1 platform. This was specifically developed for the Phaeton and Bentley Continental.



3) On the subject of torsional rigidity, the car with the highest torsional rigidity in the world today, is the Rolls-Royce Phantom at 40,500 Nm/degree.

Second comes the VW Phaeton at 37,000Nm/degree.

The Mazda RX-8 has a super high torsional rigidity of 30,000 Nm/degree, as good as a Porsche 911.

The Lamborghini Gallardo is 23,000Nm/degree.

The Ferrari 360 and the new Saab 9-3 are at 20,000 Nm/degree.

A VW Golf is around 18,000 NM/degree.

4) A lighter car needs less stiffness since there are less bending torques due to the lighter weight - hence the Lotus Elise can get by with a relatively puny 12,000 Nm/degree since it only weighs 700 kg.

Sir,

1) Sir-ing me..? I am nothing when compared with your extensive knowledge. Feeling proud while discussing with people like you who have very vast knowledge.

2) Looks like I need to search back on net for more information. Thanks for updating me.
Is my understading now correct ? -> To the best of my knowledge components were shared with D3 platform that underpinned the second generation A8. I might be wrong as material used could be different. A8 and S8 were on monocoque construction utilizing space frame to deploy the monocoque construction where as the Phaeton was conventional steel body unitary construction.

3) Excellent amount of info! Where do you get all this information from ? My source is Nat Geo channels and google, but rarely I end up in an informative site.

4) Pardon my ignorance, but do we mean here that the lighter car will have less kinetic energy associated to it and that why overall the momentum carried will not be much ?

[vinmechanic]

here's video of VW - phaeton factory tour.

YouTube - ‪VW Factory - Germany‬‎

[SirAlec]

Ram Sir, Thanks for sharing.

I never understood Car company boasting all around in their marketing campaign about "Hand Building"
Take for instance Phaeton. Annual Production is about 6000 cars. Roughly taking out Sundays and holidays we are left with say 300 working days. So the guys at the factory with say 8 hours shift have to churn out about 20 cars a day. Thats making 2.5 cars an hour or 1.25 cars an hour if worked upon with double shifts.

Same goes with Mercedes boasting that they build their each and every AMG engine with bare hands (oops glove hands).

[Akki_5]

A Phaeton drove past me near the VW Chakan plant. Mistook it for a Audi A8 first, then saw the VW badge and i was like, "Damn! They have one of these here."
Anyways, i was driving and didn't get a chance to click any pictures.

[jaguar.runs]

@SirAlec

AMG engine final assembly is done by one specialist and each engine carries the signature of the person who assembled it. Below is an example from a 6.2 liter V8 Engine from a C63 AMG

[SirAlec]

Originally Posted by jaguar.runs

@SirAlec

AMG engine final assembly is done by one specialist and each engine carries the signature of the person who assembled it. Below is an example from a 6.2 liter V8 Engine from a C63 AMG
Attachment 403907

I know this badge man and its highly overrated. The number of engines that they produce for themselves and others, this is practically impossible.

Its like, Does President of India personally sign each and every citation, Answer is no! they have a ready-made stamp made for his/her signature.

[jaguar.runs]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

I know this badge man and its highly overrated. The number of engines that they produce for themselves and others, this is practically impossible.

Its like, Does President of India personally sign each and every citation, Answer is no! they have a ready-made stamp made for his/her signature.

Sorry, I have to disagree on your assumption.

Mercedes-AMG GmbH plant in Affalterbach has more than 900 employees. For AMG, the policy from the begining has been: One Man - One Engine. One AMG technician is responsible for everything from the installation of crankshaft in the engine block, to completing electrical wiring and topping of the engine oil. One individual spends about 2 1/2 hours assembling an AMG powerplant-then signs his creation. That means a single AMG technician produces atleast 2 engine a day.

Other than for their assembly line, AMG supplies 7.3 litre V12 engines to Pagani for their Zonda.

@Ram, Sorry to hijack your thread and discuss AMG production details.