This is the latest campaign from Audi of America to stick it to its more established rivals. This time, they’re taking on the grand daddy of all luxury saloons, the Mercedes-Benz S Class. Sure enough, the ad is well executed, but is the concept right? Is the latest A8 the right car, at the right time to tackle the mighty S Class head on?
Check out the ad and let us know what you think.
Pirelli has just finished up its private testing program ahead of the 2011 Formula One season. The latest round of testing took place in Abu Dhabi on the Yas Marina F1 circuit and was the first time Pirelli’s new tyres had been run in the wet and at night.
Pirelli has now covered 13,000km of testing, using an old Toyota TF109 chassis. Former F1 drivers Nick Heidfeld, Roman Grosjean and Pedro de la Rosa have been at the wheel during Pirelli’s test regime.
In addition to Yas Marina, development sessions have been run at several tracks including, Mugello, Monza, Barcelona, Valencia, Jerez, Le Castellet and Bahrain.
Further testing of Pirelli’s new rubber will take place in the official sessions for the F1 teams, with the first session scheduled in Valencia from 1–4 February. Shortly after that the F1 circus moves to Jerez, from 10–13 February. The final test days are set for Barcelona, from 18–21 February.
The 2011 Formula One season will begin at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 13 March.
More after the break, including pics, video and two detailed press releases; make sure you download the PDF too.
Here is part 2 of the Aston Martin Rapide film True power should be shared. There’s one more part to go. Let’s hope things get better in the final segment of the film.
Volkswagen has claimed back-to-back Wheels Car of the Year awards, Australia’s most prestigious COTY honour. Last year it was the Golf, this year the award goes to the new Polo.
The Polo has followed in the path of its bigger sibling abroad, too, by winning the European and World COTY titles. No surprise it’s very hard to get your hands on a pocket rocket GTI version, then!
Wheels editor Bill Thomas said, “It’s the depth of engineering skill applied to the Polo and the very obvious quality of the car that impresses most – if you were to pay it the right compliment, you’d say it feels like a scaled-down Golf. That means it brings new standards of refinement and comfort to the super-mini class.
“Two Car of the Year victories in a row for Volkswagen reflect the skill of the engineers involved and the ambition of the company as a whole.â€
This is the fourth Wheels COTY award for Volkswagen, following earlier wins for the Mk1 Passat (1974) and the Mk1 Golf (1976).
The official press release from Volkswagen Australia is available after the break.
The on-again, off-again Audi S1 is currently enjoying a promising run in the on-again hemisphere, a place it is now likely to remain. Indeed, Auto motor und sport reckon the S1 will be launched in 2013.
Other nuggets of information from our German friends include:
In other A1-realted news, it’s expected a 5-door Sportback version will debut next year, with a convertible version to follow in 2013. A not-quite-an-e-tron hybrid A1 is also being planned.
[Source: Auto motor und sport via The German Car Blog]
Normally, getting engine photos of manufacturer’s hero car is not too hard. But for the Audi quattro concept it has proved a little difficult. Until now. French website AudiPassion managed to stick its camera under the bonnet of the stunning concept and has recently published the results.
Revealed, as expected, is the TT RS engine. However, you can also see things are a bit untidy there and not to the usual level of Audi refinement. This is most likely the reason they have been reluctant to show off the car’s beating heart.
When mounted longitudinally, as opposed to transversely in the TT RS, the 2.5 litre inline five cylinder is taller and longer than Audi’s V10. No wonder it’s a tight squeeze requiring a few shortcuts here and there.
Follow the AudiPassion link below for more pics.
[Source: AudiPassion via Fourtitude]
Word from Autocar tells us that Mercedes is ready to join Porsche in the performance hybrid market. Herbert Kohler, Daimler’s future mobility and advanced engineering guru, said, “In the future AMG will still offer high performance models but there will be hybrids there. AMG needs to reduce fuel consumption.”
Interestingly, where Porsche has used hybrid technology to add power, AMG will be taking a different approach. “Hybrids can boost, but AMGs will use stop-start and recuperation technology,” said Kohler.
No timeline has been given on the likely introduction of hybrid AMGs, so let’s take a guess at 2-3 years from now.
[Source: Autocar]
First filed 15 January 2011.
Top Gear Season 16 fires up on UK screens next weekend (Sunday 23 January). We’ve already told you about some of the cars that will be featured, now you can click below for a look at some of the hi-jinks.
[via Top Gear]
UPDATE 19 January: You can now view the series preview after the break. A photo gallery from Series 16 can also be seen on the Top Gear website.
There aren’t many better sights in the automotive world than a WRC weapon in full tarmac trim. The low ride height, big wheels and flared body kit. All finished off in race paint. This Fiesta RS WRC is no exception, it looks fantastic!
Ford’s latest WRC hope will make its competition debut at the Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland next week. The event will cap off four days of testing in Sweden starting later this week. Timely, as the WRC season kicks off at the Rally Sweden in February.
More pics after the break. Do yourself a favour and make sure you download the 2000px super image versions, okay.
A copy of a dealer bulletin for the 250kW 1M Coupé, produced by BMW Australia, has arrived at AUSmotive HQ. We thought it was only fair to share it with you and a screen grab of the email is shown in full after the break.
Included in the bulletin is the standard specification and options pricing for the entry-level M model. The official list price is not included in the email, however we understand BMW will price the 1M Coupé from $99,900 (plus delivery and statutory charges).
We expect BMW Australia to announce a limited run of 100 1M Coupés for local sale.
According to the email BMW Australia has kitted out the 1M Coupé with a comprehensive list of standard goodies. Just a handful of the included standard equipment reads Professional Navigation, Adaptive Headlights, harman/kardon Surround Sound, Voice Control and Internet.
The most notable item on the options list is metallic paint which will apply to two of three colours in the 1M palette. Only Alpine White is a no-cost option, while Valencia Orange and Black Sapphrie will attract a $1700 charge.
It looks like Audi will be giving BMW a free kick by not bringing in its comparable RS3, is BMW’s $100K price tag low enough to allow them to kick a few goals?
Despite winning the 2009 International Engine of the Year award speculation is rife that Volkswagen will be discontinuing its twincharged 1.4 litre engine. While the clever use of supercharging and turbocharging offers excellent access to power right through the rev range it’s believed Volkswagen considers the engine to be too complex and expensive.
Until Volkswagen makes a public comment we won’t know for sure if that is their official stance. However, reliability seems to be a real concern for this otherwise charming and efficient engine, too.
At least, that’s the case based on anecdotal evidence posted to our user-based Golf VI 1.4 TSI Tried & Tested review. Of the 16 comments posted to date, half relate to engine complaints. A quick google search of “VW 1.4 TSI engine problems” will also yield many more results than Volkswagen would care for.
So, it’s probably a case of watching this space to see how Volkswagen responds. What effect this news may have on the new Polo GTI or A1 1.4 TFSI is also unclear.
[Source: Autocar via Car Advice]
Autosport brings word that Pirelli expects its tyres will make a significant contribution to the excitement of races in the 2011 Formula One season. Pirelli Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, said, “We hope to have at least two tyre changes in every race. We want to try to create more of a show.”
Pirelli’s goal of making tyres that cannot last a majority of race distance might seem like a backward step, but last year’s Bridgestone tyres were heavily criticised for being too durable. It was felt this aspect made for long and boring races. In theory, the Pirelli approach makes sense. Let’s hope it works that way in practice, too.
Hembery was trackside at Abu Dhabi for the company’s first day of wet weather testing. There’s one more day to go and you can see pics over at the Autosport gallery.
The first race at Bahrain is under two months away now (13 March) and the F1 teams will start revealing their cars later this month and in early February. We’ll bring coverage of those events as they happen.
[Source: Autosport]