Category: Audi

Word on the e-street says the five-door Audi A3 Sportback could join the impressive list of debut models heading to the bright lights of the Paris Motor Show next month. A little early perhaps? We’ll see.

If nothing else it’s a good opportunity to share this new rendering showing the five-door layout. We reckon it’s a fair effort, too.

Aside from riding on a slightly longer wheelbase, we don’t expect the A3 Sportback to differ too greatly from the three-door A3 we saw at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.

[Source: Carscoop via TMR | Rendering: Khalil B]

Audi Australia has just released official info on the facelifted RS5 Coupé. The biggest news is the drop in price of around $14,000 compared to the model’s original launch back in late 2010. That means Australian RS5 pricing now starts at $161,400.

Mechanically speaking the RS5 is much the same as it was before and still packs a 331kW punch, thanks to its free-revving 4.2 litre V8. However, changes to the car’s electromechanical power steering are said to benefit driving feel and fuel economy.

Modest gains of 0.1 second and 0.3l/100km have been made to the 0–100km/h time and fuel economy respectively, resulting in key figures of 4.5 seconds and 10.5l/100km.

Visually the refreshed RS5 gets the makeover treatment first seen on the A4 facelift, which includes the new-look LED daytime running lights.

Finally, you can now get a flat-bottomed steering wheel on the RS5. Indeed, the new steering wheel headlines the revised standard equipment, along with 20″ rotor-style alloys.

Sadly, we’re just not as keen on the RS5 as we used to be. It’s got a peach of an engine, and while we’ve not had a chance to test one for ourselves just yet, we reckon the TT RS would provide just as much drama and driving enjoyment, in fact possibly more. Leaving you with enough change to pocket a Polo GTI for daily duites.

Perhaps, more pertinently, if you wanted a well sorted coupé—and with Audi asking the best part of $180K—wouldn’t you be duty bound to visit your nearest Porsche Centre?

Audi and Ducati have returned safely from their honeymoon and have finally come together in public. Their first appearance as a couple was at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

To celebrate their public debut a motorsport themed RS5 and a Multistrada 1200 tackled Pikes together in a special promo video (see below). Awww, don’t they make a nice couple?

Hang on a minute, where was Lamborghini?!

[Source: Facebook]

Any thoughts of a truce in the unofficial power war waged by the big German manufacturers has been put to rest with reports suggesting the all-new Audi RS6 will have 420kW. That’s slightly more than the current BMW M5 and also tops the competitors wearing a Mercedes-Benz AMG badge.

Power for the next RS6 will come in the form of a 4.0 litre V8 with a pair of turbochargers. In the S8 luxo-express the same engine is good for 382kW, so it shouldn’t prove to tricky for quattro GmbH to turn up the wick and find an extra 30-odd kW or so.

We expect the RS6 will be a fair chance to use the new 7-speed S tronic now found in the facelifted R8 range. Although, it’s worth noting the best the normally aspirated R8 can come up with is 404kW/540Nm in the 5.2 litre V10 Plus model. The RS6 will top that torque figure by a healthy margin—the S8 has 650Nm—so if the S tronic isn’t up to the task, expect to see an 8-speed slush box used.

Word is we’ll be seeing the RS6 debut at the Geneva Motor Show next March.

[Source: Autocar | Pic: Car]

When Audi launched its latest generation A3 at the Geneva Motor Show back in March they only gave us the three-door layout. Word is we won’t ever see a three-door A3 in Australia again (we hope our info is wrong, by the way), so aside from getting a good look at the general style and the interior, it wasn’t much use for readers down under.

Now, though, a new A3 Sportback has been spied for the first time and we can see that, as you’d expect, Audi has played it by the book. With virtually no camouflage on the prototype photographed, the styling clearly follows suit from its three-door sibling. Indeed, at first glance, the side profile view doesn’t look a lot different to the 8P Sportback.

Thanks to the adaptable nature of the car’s MQB platform the five-door A3 will have a slightly longer wheel base than the three-door. We should be seeing official pics of the new Sportback sometime in 2013.

[Source: Auto Express]

The versatility of Volkswagen’s MQB platform will be on display when Audi uses it as the basis for a new MPV due in 2016, Autocar reports. The article quotes Audi’s sales and marketing chief Peter Schwarzenbauer as the source and says the Audi MPV could have seating for up to seven people.

There should be no surprises with the MPV’s mechanicals. So expect Audi to employ the usual mix of front-wheel drive and quattro drivetrains with the company’s familiar engine lines.

Also worth reporting here is the suggestion the MPV range could usher in a new naming regime using the letter V. That would mean the A3, A4 and Q3, Q5 ranges, for example, could be complemented by a V3, V4 or even V5.

[Source: Autocar]

With this new commercial Audi shows it’ll be a case of fastest finger first when controlling the new A3.