Category: Audi

Categories
Audi WEC

Audi previews 2014 LMP1 challenger

2014 Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Audi has just released this image of its 2014 LMP1 racecar which will defend its WEC title and Le Mans crown. Clearly Audi has put all the good ideas into the car itself because it’s still called the R18 e-tron quattro. That’s despite some significant changes to the LMP1 category for 2014.

The new R18 is undergoing testing at Sebring International Raceway in Florida and full details of the car will be released on 18 December.

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Motorsport boss, says the team is aiming to get some development miles into its new R18.

“The tests are mainly focused on achieving high mileage, coordinating the highly complex hybrid drive systems and working out an efficiency-optimized total package that has never before been as complex as this one,” Ullrich said.

Continue reading “Audi previews 2014 LMP1 challenger”
Categories
Audi

New Audi concept previews next TT

Audi compact sports car concept

Audi has given advance warning of a new “compact sports car” concept that will be gracing the halls of the Detroit Auto Show next month. Oddly, aside from that descriptor this concept doesn’t yet have a name.

All we have is a brief press release and a few sketch drawings. Forget the bits about its being a “sports crossover” with “high ground clearance” and focus on the bits that say “further development of the quattro design language“.

We think we’re being given a teaser of the next TT. Inspiration for the front-end styling of the new TT is likely to come from the singleframe grille treatment and dual headlights you see here.

If you’ve got a good imagination; picture a couple of upper case Ts stacked on top of each other, tip them on their side and there you have it, the dual headlights of this concept. You can’t fool us Audi!

It’s expected the TT will be released in the first half of next year. So, we’ll get this concept in January, followed by a bona fide TT preview at the Geneva show in March and voila, your new TT is here.

Continue reading “New Audi concept previews next TT”
Categories
Audi

Audi to launch Q1 in 2016

Audi Q1 sketch

Audi has continued the inexorable march of SUVs by announcing it will launch a Q1 in 2016. Judging by this sketch it looks like we can refer back to the Crosslane concept from last year to get a better idea as to how Audi might style the baby Q.

The Q1 will be built at Ingolstadt and is part of a model expansion which Audi hopes will result in sales in excess of two million units per year by 2020. By that time Audi will have increased its portfolio from the 49 model variations we have today to beyond 60.

More, more, more!

Continue reading “Audi to launch Q1 in 2016”
Categories
Audi

VIDEO: Audi S3 and Sport Quattro eat some dust

Audi S3 v Sport Quattro

Audi has dusted off former rally aces Hermann Müller and the real Stig—Stig Blomqvist—and given them a new Audi S3 and an old Ur-Quattro to play with. The result is predictable and presented in a manner which lacks the inspiration and passion the subject matter warrants. But it’s still nice to see a Quattro in action, in this instance on the gravel roads of San Remo.

Continue reading “VIDEO: Audi S3 and Sport Quattro eat some dust”
Categories
Audi

100,000 reasons to build the Audi Sport quattro

Audi Sport quattro

While not all of our readers were impressed with the 515kW V8 petrol-electric hybrid Audi Sport quattro revealed at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, we thought it was pretty bloody special. So too does Audi Communications who have released a new video featuring the car.

The reason for the video? In the six months since Audi AG launched its Facebook page it has attracted 100,000 likes. Enough to persuade Audi to build the car this time?

Continue reading “100,000 reasons to build the Audi Sport quattro”
Categories
Audi

2014 Audi TT spied wearing heavy camo

2014 Audi TT prototype

You’re looking at the third generation Audi TT, expected to be released some time next year. The camouflage might be heavy but the general shape is unmistakable. It’s the first time the new TT has been seen in its new sheetmetal, which probably explains the lengths Audi has taken to ensure we’re not seeing too much too soon.

When the new TT does arrive you can expect its equipment and engine line up will continue to draw on the A3. Of course, both cars will share the seemingly ubiquitous MQB platform.

It’s also interesting to note Audi made sure the TT prototype wasn’t lonely during its test, bringing competitors from Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Peugeot along for the ride.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Continue reading “2014 Audi TT spied wearing heavy camo”
Categories
Audi

Is Audi cooking a hotter R8 GT?

Audi R8 GT

We bring you a tasty one minute video of what appears to be an Audi R8 GT circulating at the Nürburgring. The limited run of 333 R8 GTs was launched back in 2010 so it would stand to reason if Audi was going to release a new version based on the since facelifted R8.

And yet this mystery car lapping during an industry pool session is running pre-facelift headlights. Although, you can see the rear wing is bigger and reportedly the rear diffuser was different too.

While you’re speculating on what this R8 may or may not be you can enjoy the sounds of its V10 at work and also spot a few other prototypes doing their thing.

Continue reading “Is Audi cooking a hotter R8 GT?”
Categories
Audi

Further confirmation the Audi RS3 is on the way

2011 Audi RS3

We already know the next-gen RS3 is coming and that it will be powered by Audi’s charismatic inline five cylinder turbo. Yet in these early stages it’s still nice to see such things reconfirmed, as Autocar reports:

Audi has confirmed a successor to the current RS3 will be launched. Quattro GmbH chief Stephan Reil confirmed the decision to Autocar, saying the new model would rival the Merceded-Benz A45 AMG and would retain its predeccessor’s 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine.

[Source: Autocar]

Continue reading “Further confirmation the Audi RS3 is on the way”
Categories
Audi

Audi RS Q3 landing down under for $81,900

Audi RS Q3

Audi Australia has announced initial pricing details for the RS Q3, which is due here in February 2014. And, in a roundabout way, we can thank Mercedes-Benz for Audi’s sharp pricing which will start at $81,900.

The RS Q3 is powered by a 228kW/420Nm version of the inline five cylinder turbo used in the 250kW/450Nm TT RS. The baby RS SUV can reach 100km/h in 5.5 seconds, thanks also to its quattro system and 7-speed S tronic transmission.

Audi Australia proudly boasts this is the cheapest RS model you can buy and say it’s already holding 70 orders for the car.

Preliminary specifications show the RS Q3 won’t be cynically stripped of goodies forcing buyers to tick lots of options, too. Satellite navigation, including a 20GB hard drive, and RS-specific nappa leather seats are a couple of the items included as standard equipment.

What we’re excited about though, is what this may mean for the new RS3, which we’re expecting to be sold in Australia for the first time. You can pencil in the five-pot engine, but you’d reckon it’s key stat will be north of 250kW.

As for the purchase price of the RS3, well, we’re a lot more comfortable now that there will one day be two RS models being sold for less than a hundred grand than we were yesterday.

Continue reading “Audi RS Q3 landing down under for ,900”
Categories
Audi

2014 Audi RS3 spied in Nürburg

Audi RS3 prototype

This otherwise regular looking Audi S3 is said to be an early RS3 prototype. At first glance it’s hard to find much to support such a theory, but on closer inspection the front brake rotors are cross drilled and those calipers look very meaty as well.

The honeycomb grille beneath the foglights were open offering air flow to the brakes, whereas the same area on the S3 is blocked off. But the kicker to building the case that this is an RS3 is the reports from those snapping the pics who said the engine note sound much more like Audi’s beloved inline five cylinder turbo than any old 2.0 litre four pot.

Last year we heard the 8V RS3 is likely to come to Australia. Now, with more powerful offerings on the market from BMW and Mercedes-Benz we reckon Audi’s hand has been forced somewhat.

It’s expected the RS3 will be on Audi’s stand at the Geneva Motor Show next March.

[Source: CarScoops | Pic: CarPix]

Categories
Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Chevrolet Citroen Ferrari Infiniti Jaguar Lamborghini Mercedes-Benz Motor Shows Nissan Porsche Rolls-Royce Seat Skoda Subaru Tesla Volkswagen

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in pictures

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The lights have been turned off at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show and the mammoth task of dismantling the huge displays has begun. To recap what you may have missed here’s a selection of 120+ pics reminding you what was on show.

Continue reading “2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in pictures”
Categories
Audi

Please Audi, just build it this time

Audi sport quattro concept

Word going into the Frankfurt Motor Show said Audi could very well make its new sport quattro concept a production reality. And the word coming out of Frankfurt only heightens that expectation.

Audi boss Rupert Stadler said Ingolstadt could sign off on production plans for the sport quattro and that he would like to see that happen. “But we have to fix some numbers first,” Stadler added. “I think the car is really terrific and it’s worthwhile to think about.”

Wolfgang Egger, head of Audi design, gave a more sterile answer, “With every design concept we do we are thinking about everything becoming reality.”

Interestingly, Egger, hasn’t ruled out reviving the original 2010 quattro concept as the one to be sent down the production line. “We have done one (designed for MQB platform) and now we have done the other (on larger MLB platform) so now we need to make a decision.”

A choice between a 300kW turbocharged inline five cylinder, or a 515kW petrol-electric hybrid with a 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8? Remember the 2010 model was seriously looked at for production before being ruled out.

Egger also reminded us that whatever happens, the latest concept will influence future Audi designs, including, “The C-pillar, the sexy blisters on the wheelarches and the interesting front.“We wanted to clean up the interior by removing buttons and functions. It is a complete reduction, designed to make it feel lightweight.”

[Source: Auto Express & CarAdvice]