Audi Debuts: the Nose Team?!
Every once in a while, a manufacturer sends out a press release that details precisely how a car is made. For example, Lexus sent out an entire release about the thumb exercise regimen of their LS model line’s painters. Complete from calisthenics to mandatory filings and tests, each painter’s thumb must be the epitome of accurate if they’re to accurately assess the smoothness of each car’s paint job.
And now Audi has released something similar, albeit about the importance of their leather sniffers. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, since 1985, Audi has employed a “Nose Team” to evaluate potential interior trims for unpleasant odours. The six-member Nose Team cuts small pieces out of the materials to be tested – for example wood inlays and the leather upholstery used for the seats. Leather specimens are each placed in a standard canning jar equipped with an odourless gasket. An oven heats the sealed jar to 80 degrees Celsius for two hours. Each tester briefly sniffs the contents of the jar, reseals it and passes it to his or her colleague. Each team member writes down their grade in secret. The Audi Nose Team also examines complete components such as dashboards and also a car in its entirety. The "professional sniffers", who analyse approximately 500 different components from the passenger compartment for each model, are chosen by virtue of their particularly sensitive noses. Smoking is prohibited for these valued experts, while a cold, for example, can stop a team member from working. These experts also must not give off any scents of their own during testing – whether it be perfume, shower gel, after shave or maybe even garlic.
Definitely the result of some very serious attention to detail, the Nose Team only tests bull leather for fitment within their automobiles, saying cow leather is too small and irregular for use in Audi’s automobiles. Commended for producing some of the nicest interiors ever, it’s always interesting to get some more insight on precisely how Audi has gone about earning that title.