The Geneva Motor Show is still underway over in Europe and while we’re sure almost all of our readers would love to be there we’re doing the best we can to bring you a little closer to the action. Here is the first installment of over 250 pictures from the show, from Alfa Romeo to Lamborghini, which includes some of the great and not so great models on display.
That Lamborghini’s not getting any prettier is it.
Ahead of the 2013 DTM season Audi has rocked up to Geneva with its new weapon of choice, the RS5 DTM. Astute readers will know that DTM regulations prevented any major technical developments during the off-season, so is the move from the A5 badged racecar to the RS5 anything more than a marketing exercise?
There were around 4000 parts that could be scrutinised and optimised within the strict regulations, but has Audi achieved anything meaningful? Naturally, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi’s motorsport boss, wasn’t giving too much away on that front saying only, “Our technicians proved to be quite resourceful in the process.”
In an attempt to justify the new naming regime Ullrich added, “The abbreviation ‘RS’ stands for the sportiest Audi models. The performance data of the current RS5 and RS5 DTM are very similar. This is why we are of the opinion that both fit perfectly to one another.â€
There will be eight RS5 DTM machines fighting for honours with BMW and Mercedes when the season starts on 5 May at Hockenheim.
The new MINI John Cooper Works GP has arrived in Australia and it might be about to kick a few goals down under. That’s certainly the case if this video from Evo magazine is anything to go by. Perhaps for local relevance the cars they tested the GP2 against are not very worthy, but as an outright measure of capability this surely has to stack up.
Against the MINI we see two former greats tackle two new hot hatches. From Ford we have the awesome looking Focus RS 500, while Renault provides the track-day special Megane R26.R. Two excellent cars that serve to provide a handy benchmark. To see if they can beat the old timers the MINI was joined by the limited-edition Audi A1 quattro.
Okay, we’ve probably already given away the result but it won’t make the clip any less enjoyable. And you can have the GP2 in your garage for around $60K. Not bad, huh?
[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
A couple of weeks back Audi Australia launched the B8 RS4 Avant to the local market. It’s priced from $149,400 and for that you get a lovely sounding 4.2 litre V8 pumping out 331kW/430Nm.
If you floor your right foot the 7-speed S tronic and quattro all-wheel drive system will get you to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds. Which, incredibly, is hot hatch territory these days. Fuel consumption is rated at 10.7l/100km; good but not spectacular.
We can’t help but wonder if the previous-generation B7 RS4 was the high point for this model. Although, if anyone wants to give us one of these new RS4s we’ll take the keys without any protest.
There’s some very nice photos taken by Easton Chang after the break along with Audi Australia’s full complement of press material.
Audi has released information on the production-ready RS Q3, which will debut in Geneva next month. It’s the first of Audi’s Q series to wear RS badging and overall it looks pretty good, that’s if a balls-out smallish SUV floats your boat.
The RS Q3 is powered by Audi’s noted 2.5 litre inline 5 cylinder turbo, also found in the TT RS. Although in Q3 guise the five-pot has been reined in to produce 228kW/420Nm, down from 250kW/450Nm in the TT.
Despite a porky 1730kg kerbweight Audi says the RS Q3 can reach 100km/h in 5.5 seconds and, if you potter about slowly in front of your child’s school showing off to the other mums, you can sip fuel at just 8.8l/100km. That task will be made a bit easier, too, thanks to the standard 7-speed S tronic.
Last year Audi presented the RS Q3 concept and sadly from that model we’ve lost an exhaust tip and some power. The single oval tip doesn’t work as well in our opinion. Having said that, the styling of the RS Q3 is smart and straight from the Audi RS playbook. It’s squat appearance, accentuated by the 25mm drop in ride height, gives the RS Q3 a sense of purpose; even if it may not actually have one.
The RS Q3 is coming to Australia early next year and while Audi Australia is keeping mum about the price they have revealed it will be the first RS model sold here for less than $100,000.
Pencil in a starting price of $99,990 then.
We never did get around to finishing that review on the Q3 2.0 TFSI quattro we drove last year (shame on us), but up to about seven tenths the Q3 surprised with its general handling capabilities. Beyond that things became a little mushy. We expect the engineers from quattro GmbH will have sorted those issues to a degree, let’s hope it hasn’t come at the expense of general comfort.
In case you haven’t noticed the Geneva Motor Show is just around the corner; the bright lights and smoke machines will be switched on in early March. That means manufacturers are releasing pics and text on the models they’ll be putting on the stage. This time it’s Audi showing us their new S3 Sportback.
We’ve already seen the new 8V A3 in three-door hatch, five-door Sportback and S3 (three-door) form, so there’s no surprises with what we see here.
However, for those who may be interested in buying a new S3 pay attention, because this is the only model we’ll be seeing in Australia. It is expected to be in local showrooms sometime after October.
Since the introduction of the 8P S3 Sportback in 2008 three-door sales have dropped to a trickle and so it has been canned in Australia, which is a shame.
Making use of the Volkswagen Group’s adaptable MQB platform has allowed Audi to shed 70kg from the S3 Sportback; it now weighs 1445kg. And with the new 2.0 TFSI motor producing 221kW/380Nm it can reach 100km/h in 5.0 seconds when coupled to a 6-speed S tronic transmission.
A 6-speed manual box is available, although we’re not sure if that will be the case in Australia, and takes an extra 0.5 seconds to reach 100km/h. Which is rather interesting given that’s roughly the same as the time required for the heavier, less powerful 8P model. Hmm.
We think the A3 range has one of the best interiors of the new baby Germans (see BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A Class), which is par for the course really. What Audi will be hoping for with the range-topping S3 is that they can start making inroads into BMW’s reputation for dynamics, without losing ground to the A Class.
Audi has rocked up to Detroit with a brand new addition to its RS model range. This time it’s the RS7 Sportback on show, powered by the same 412kW twin turbo 4.0 V8 as found in the new RS6 Avant.
The RS7 Sportback uses its power, 700Nm of torque, 8-speed tiptronic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive system to great effect, too. It’s able to reach 100km/h in only 3.9 seconds and while its top speed is limited to 250km/h, if you ask nicely, Audi will remove the limiter allowing a v-max of 305km/h.
Australian buyers will have to wait until early next year to get their hands on the RS7. Full details from Audi can be read after the break.
Sometimes sporting promotions work well. And sometimes they don’t.
Here’s an example of the latter, featuring tennis ace Novak Djokovic and an Audi R8 LMS filmed on the main straight at Sandown. It is so lame and has so many flaws we can’t even be bothered to point them all out.
A round of applause for Australia’s car buying public who achieved an all-time record of 1,112,032 sales in 2012. It’s only the fifth time Australians have bought more than 1 million cars in a calendar year. Last year’s results represent an overall increase of 10.3% (103,595 sales) compared with 2011.
FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, explained demand for a wider range of vehicles helped to fuel the record result. “Reduced tariffs as well as changing consumer preferences have contributed to making the dynamic and innovative automotive industry that we have today,†he said.
“The 2012 sales result bears that out. Customer demand has been high and the industry has responded with a wide range of vehicles powered by a range of different fuels.â€
When you read the material after the break it seems that almost everyone’s a winner except Holden and Ford. The General returned a 9.1% drop in sales compared with 2011, but managed to hold its position as the country’s second-best seller. Although, Mazda is snapping at its heels. Meanwhile, Ford held station, to a degree, returning a 0.9% drop in sales against 2011.
However, when you consider market-leader Toyota increased its annual sales by 20.1%—coupled with strong improvements from other top 10 selling brands like Honda (+18.9%), Mazda (+17.6%), Nissan (+17.4%), Subaru (+18.2%) and Volkswagen (22.6%)—we can’t imagine there’s too many smiles in the boardrooms at Fisherman’s Bend and Broadmeadows.
Individually, the Mazda3 managed to top the charts for 2012, notching up 44,128 sales. Close behind were Toyota’s HiLux (40,646) and Corolla (38,799).
It used to be that one in every four cars sold in Australia was either a Commodore or a Falcon. Not anymore. The Commodore was the fourth-best selling model (30,532 sales), while the Falcon didn’t even make it into the top 10.
Despite 2012’s record result Tony Weber expects a small drop in annual sales for 2013. “During this election year, and with production now having caught up with back orders, FCAI forecasts a national automotive market of 1,075,000 for 2013,†he said.
Audi is proposing to create a new model that would sit above its R8 supercar (pictured). Not only that, according to quattro GmbH boss, Franciscus Van Meel, if it gets built it will be better than the yet to be released McLaren P1 hypercar.
Expected to be powered by a diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain it will be a technological showpiece for Audi. Van Meel explains, “If we make this car it will be the absolute best supercar, and completely different in concept to the R8. It will be very Vorsprung Durch Technik, very innovative.”
When asked directly by Auto Express if it would be better than the P1, Van Meel replied with an emphatic “Yes.”
Firm details on the car at this stage are unsurprisingly sketchy. For a car with such bold hopes suggestions of a combined power output of 700hp/1000Nm seem a little underwhelming.
Seeing as the McLaren P1 is not yet a production model on sale we don’t really know what Audi is aiming to better. But, a diesel hybrid with an Audi badge that can take it right up to McLaren’s latest hypercar? Or even the Porsche 918 or Ferrari F70? We’d like to see that.
No, really, we would!
[Source: Auto Express]
We wonder, have you ever thought of comparing the limited-edition Audi A1 quattro (188kW/350Nm) with the all-conquering Nissan GT-R (404kW/632Nm)? No, neither had we.
Thankfully, or not as the case may be, Autocar did dream up this odd-ball comparison. Moreover, throw a soaking wet track into the equation and what you may have thought would be a simple walkover for the GT-R becomes a little bit closer than you might think, even though both cars have all-wheel drive.
After you’ve watched the clip, we’d love to hear your thoughts below. Do you reckon it was a fair comparison? Or do you think it was an entirely pointless exercise?
Audi has reacted quickly to the emergence of leaked RS6 Avant images by publishing their official word. Here’s their quick rundown before you sink your teeth into the full press release and 16 images after the break:
The new Audi RS 6 Avant stands for groundbreaking performance. It is lighter and more efficient than the previous model, and performance has been improved once again. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) takes just 3.9 seconds, and top speed is 305 km/h (189.52 mph). The 4.0 TFSI develops 412 kW (560 hp), but is content with an average fuel consumption of just 9.8 liters per 100 kilometers (24.00 US mpg).
UPDATE: Audi Australia has confirmed with us they plan to launch the RS6 Avant locally late next year in MY14 spec. Wagon haters will have to make do as there are currently no plans for an RS6 sedan.