Letters.(Letter to the Editor)

The unbearable lightness of Audi

Read your Sept. 2 Audi A8 ode to lightness and believed it until I saw the weight at just under two tons. (I'm from an age when that weight required a truck tag.) Then I read about the $20,000-less-expensive Infiniti M45 with the same power-to-weight ratio, and it was characterized with somewhat less dramatic hyperbole. To even call a 3924-pound automobile light only proves you've been exposed to way too many 5000-pound SUVs.

Daryl Murphy, Irving, Texas

Being the proud owner of an '02 Audi A8L, I read with great interest Michael Harvey's article on Audi's latest flagship sedan. I was surprised to learn the NSX was the only other aluminum-bodied production car not wearing an Audi badge. Last time I checked, my '00 Modena was crafted entirely of aluminum as well.

Sam Shamansky, Bexley, Ohio

I am in the business of making cars for GM, and our metal fabricating division does a great deal of aluminum manufacturing that maybe Mr. Harvey is unaware of.

Between all the aluminum hoods and liftgates that we produce, I suspect we use more aluminum than Audi's entire vehicle production. The implication that domestic manufacturers' use of new materials lags the competition and that domestic engineering is somehow inferior to that of Audi is insulting to me.