Audi gives thumbs-up to fingerprint technology

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Don't expect to be able to open the door of your expensive car with fingerprint recognition technology - not for another decade or so anyway.

German carmaker Audi has introduced the digital technology to control interior functions in its latest flagship, the all-aluminium A8.

But it concedes it could 10 years before the technology replaces the key - mostly because of fears that professional thieves might chop off the owner's finger to steal the car.

The new Audi A8is the world's first mass-produced vehicle with the fingerprint option.

The function is expected to be an optional extra when the car goes on sale in New Zealand next year.

The system memories the fingerprint impressions of up to four drivers, storing their preferred seat position and air-conditioning settings, favourite radio stations and often-used used phone numbers.

To activate the settings, the driver touches a small plastic screen on the centre console.

German company Siemens developed the technology and is adapting it to replace personal identification numbers for ATMs.

Audi says it has no immediate plans for fingertip security on its cars.

"If we fit the touch-screen pad to the outside of the car there are problems with humidity, rain and heat," said Dr Willibert Schleuter, Audi's chief electronics engineer.

"It can be more easily damaged on the outside. We are concerned that if the system were fitted to the outside and failed, it might not let the owner in." However, a car fitted with such technology would doubtless come with a special key for such emergencies.

The new Audi has just gone on sale in Europe and replaces the first-generation A8 launched in 1994.

It is expected to arrive here next April, priced upwards of $200,000.

"We can say goodbye to the days of a such sophisticated aluminium car like the A8 costing under $200,000," he said.

"The new car is less expensive to make, due to improved aluminium casting methods, but it carries much more equipment and is considerably stronger than the previous model."

Audi is making much of the new A8's strength. Like its predecessor, the new car features an aluminium body built using space frame tecnnology.

But the carmaker says technical advances have improved the torsional rigidity of the A8's body by 60 per cent.

First drive reports from Europe say the new A8 is quieter and handles and rides much better than the previous A8, launched in 1994. One magazine in Britain rated it a better vehicle than either the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 7-Series.

The A8 for New Zealand will be powered by a 4.2-litre V8 petrol engine developing 246kW (335 bhp) at 6500 rpm and 430Nm of torque at 3500 rpm.

Audi says it will propel the car from zero to 100 km/h in just over six seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.

A new, six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission will direct power via steering wheel-mounted gearshift paddles to all four wheels.

Also new to the A8 is air suspension, Multi Media Interface, its answer to BMW's controversial iDrive operating system, an electro-mechnical parking brake and an automatic tyre-pressure monitor.