audi

Audi RS3 Sportback

Bigger isn't always better. Case in point: the new Audi RS3 Sportback. Based on the compact A3, the RS3 Sportback is a five-door premium sport hatch that packs a whopping 340 horsepower from its turbocharged five-cylinder engine – through to all four corners via Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive system and seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission – to rocket to 60 in just 4.6 seconds.

The RS3 Sportback's nearly 50,000 euro pricetag in Germany would put it around $68,000 in the United States. Unfortunately, like the rest of the top-shelf RS range, Audi does not appear to be planning to bring this model to America, so this is one more European model we'll just have to admire from afar.

Source

Tags: a3, aiudi s3, audi, audi a3, audi rs3, audi rs3 sportback, rs3, s3, sportback

Audi TT RS by MTM

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Most aftermarket modifiers looking to reach headline top speeds crank up the horsepower as high as they can get it. With its rich background in high-speed testing, MTM knows all about that. But they decided to go a different route this time.

Instead of emphasizing overall engine output, they took an Audi TT RS – already one of the fastest vehicle in the Audi stable this side of an R8 – and tuned it to "only" 472 horsepower. And with it they hit a top speed of 312 kilometers per hour (194 mph), a speed previously thought unattainable with anything less than 500 horsepower.

The best part? They'll set yours up the same way. All it'll cost you is €14,500 for the engine mods and another €9,973 for the upgraded tires, wheels and brakes you'll need to keep it under control...plus a stock Audi TT RS to start off with. Oh, and if you really had your heart set on that 500-hp mark, they're working on that, too.

Gallery: MTM Audi TT RS

Source

Tags: aftermarket, audi, audi tt rs, mtm, mtm audi tt rs, mtm tt rs, tuner

Audi Debuts the New R8 GT at the Paris Auto Salon

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

As far as mainstream production automakers go, few have managed to impress the way Audi has with the R8. Then the German carmaker kicked things up a notch with the V10-powered R8 5.2 FSI. But for those looking for something even closer to the razor's edge, Audi has now unveiled the new R8 GT at the semi-annual Paris Auto Salon.

The GT model packs the same 5.2-liter V10 as the existing model, but boosts its power up from 525 hp to a full 560. To further unburden the powerplant, Audi has also trimmed 229 lbs off the curb weight, thanks mainly to lighter windows. Only 333 examples will be produced, each carrying a €193,000 ($256k) price tag.

Source

Tags: 2010 paris, 2010 paris auto salon, 2010 paris auto show, 2010 paris motor show, audi, audi r8, audi r8 5.2 fsi, audi r8 gt, audi r8 v10, paris, paris auto salon, paris auto show, paris motor show, r8, r8 5.2 fsi, r8 gt, r8 v10

Audi Celebrates 30 Years of All-Wheel Drive with the Quattro Concept

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

All-wheel drive has proliferated across the industry, but lest we forget one of its originators, Audi unveiled the stunningly muscular Quattro Concept at the Paris Auto Salon.

Created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Audi's iconic traction system, the Quattro Concept draws its inspiration from the legendary 1980 Audi Ur-Quattro. Like the original, the new concept keeps its weight under 3,000 lbs and is powered by a turbocharged five-cylinder engine. Based on the Audi RS5, the Quattro Concept delivers 408 horsepower through a six-speed manual transmission (in place of the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox) to all four wheels with a power-to-weight ratio equal to that of the top-of-the-line R8 5.2 FSI.

Unfortunately this is just a show car for the time being, but if this is a sign of where Audi is heading, color us excited.

Source

Tags: 2010 paris, 2010 paris auto salon, 2010 paris auto show, 2010 paris motor show, audi, audi quattro, audi quattro concept, paris, paris auto salon, paris auto show, paris motor show, quattro, quattro concept

Audi Unveils the e-tron Spyder in Paris

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Over the past few years, Audi has arguably been working as arduously on electric power as any of its rivals. The German automaker calls its electric prototypes "e-tron", and unveiled its latest concept to use the moniker at the Paris Auto Salon.

The e-tron Spyder is differentiated from its predecessors by its open-cockpit body-style, but its unique qualities don't stop there. The drivetrain couples a conventional twin-turbo diesel V6 with 300 horsepower to a pair of electric motors, distributed evenly across the chassis for optimum weight distribution. If this is the future of hybrid electric vehicles, the future is looking very bright indeed.

Source

Tags: 2010 paris, 2010 paris auto salon, 2010 paris auto show, 2010 paris motor show, audi, audi e-tron, audi e-tron spyder, audi e-tron spyder concept, audi etron spyder, audi etron spyder concept, e-tron, e-tron spyder, etron, etron spyder, paris, paris auto salon, paris auto show, paris motor show

Luxist Drives the Audi R8 V10 Spyder, the World's First Unfair Droptop Supercar

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Chas Murphy, until recently the U.S. product manager for Audi's TT, R8 and RS sports cars, said of the R8 V10 Spyder: "You have to drive the car. It can't be put into words." Well, we drove it over the hills and through the woods of the Cleveland (Cali, not Ohio) National Forest, and we can put it into words. Rather, we can put it into one word: unfair.

The ways in which the R8 V10 Spyder is unfair leave us thoroughly taken with this open-air supercar and yet a little melancholy. You see, as good as the R8 V10 Spyder is – and there's no doubt about that – when you look at it, what you behold is the dumbing down of driving civilization. On the upside, this particular kind of dumb is among the most rewarding, outstanding kinds of idiocy you could ever hope to achieve. Find out what we mean after the jump.

Gallery: Luxist Drives the R8 V10 Spyder

Tags: 2011 audi, 2011 audi r8, 2011 audi r8 v10, 2011 audi r8 v10 spyder, audi, audi r8 v10, audi r8 v10 spyder, luxist drives, luxist reviews, r8, r8 v10, r8 v10 spyder

Continue reading “Luxist Drives the Audi R8 V10 Spyder, the World's First Unfair Droptop Supercar”

Leakage Alert: Audi A7 Slips Out Ahead of Official Reveal

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Audi A7 Sportback – Click above for high-res image gallery

Photos of the new Audi A7 Sportback have leaked out a day ahead of its official reveal on Monday and as expected it's pretty much unchanged from the Sportback concept that Audi showed at the Detroit Auto Show last year. The platform is believed to be shared with the next generation A6 sedan and unlike BMW's 5 Series Gran Turismo it has a similar height to sedan siblings giving it much more attractive proportions.

Power will come from the usual Audi array of gas and diesel powerplants including a new 3.0-liter normally aspirated V6 with 290 horsepower and the latest generation clean-diesel V6. The A7 wouldn't be an Audi without Quattro all-wheel-drive and we'd expect the 7-speed dual-clutch S-Tronic gearbox that we loved so much in the S5 Cabrio to be part of the mix as well.

The A7 gets a similar new interior style to the recently introduced A8 sedan with a pop-up navigation screen that drops into the dashboard when not in use. The A7 will be unveiled live online from Munich on Monday.

Gallery: Audi A7 Sportback

[Source: CarScoop]

Tags: audi, Audi A7, Audi A7 Sportback, Audi A7 Sportback Concept

Audi Announces Availability of R8 4.2 Spyder

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

When a company like Audi unveils a new model, they tend to try to keep things simple by limiting the number of choices available at launch. Makes it easier to meet orders, you see. But once those initial orders are fulfilled, they tend to open up the books to more variety. Case in point: the Audi R8.

First unveiled with a V8 engine, Audi waited a while before introducing the V10 model. But when the convertible Spyder version came along, they did things the other way around, offering it at first only with the V10. Now the German automaker has opened the order books for customers who want the open-air experience of the Spyder with the more economic V8 engine. Customers who opt for the V8 model can still choose from manual or automatic transmissions, available carbon-ceramic brakes and can upgrade to the V10 version's larger wheels and upgraded suspension. So if you've been hankering for an R8 Spyder but the V10 has been a little out of reach, now could be your time.

Gallery: Frankfurt 2009: Audi R8 Spyder

Source

Tags: audi, audi r8, audi r8 4.2, audi r8 4.2 fsi, audi r8 4.2 fsi spyder, audi r8 4.2 spyder, audi r8 spyder, r8, r8 spyder

Volkswagen Seeks To Recapture Brand Allure in Times Square With Jetta Launch

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events

Volkswagen of America today took over Times Square in Manhattan and employed singer Katy Perry to introduce the 2011 Jetta, a car that will be built at the company's Puebla Mexico plant and represents a new era for the German company in America.

The new Jetta, showcased in what VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby called an "urban oasis" in the middle of Times Square, was greeted by a few thousand media, fans and tourists who were in the neighborhood.

The Volkswagen Jetta certainly does not qualify as premium or luxury in the traditional sense. After all, the new Jettas pricing starts at $16,000, even less than the starting price of the current model in showrooms today. But Volkswagen is a brand that represents what many marketing analysts call well positioned to take advantage of a trend that finds consumers who have previously bought luxury goods and brands trading down in price to brands that still have cachet.

"I am actually very enthusiastic about Volkswagen's strategy and opportunity if they can get the marketing and advertising image work right," says Los Angles-based marketing consultant Dennis Keene. "For a lot of people who perhaps previously were buying BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C Class and even Lexus ES 350s, well-packaged Volkswagens that still represent solid German engineering is a place people can trade down to in price without sacrificing brand acceptance."

Adds Keene, "In VW's heyday of the 1960s, people who were affluent owned Beetles and Karmann Ghias alongside much more expensive vehicles because of the social currency and relevance the brand carried...they can get back to that if they do things right," says Keene.

Tags: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Jetta TDI, Katy Perry, Lamborghini, porsche, Stefan Jacoby, Volkswagen Jetta

Continue reading “Volkswagen Seeks To Recapture Brand Allure in Times Square With Jetta Launch”

Audi Design Foosball Table from Leonhart

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Here's a scenario for you: You've got a new Audi R8 Spyder parked in the garage. But that's so far from the gaming room in which you entertain your friends. Solution: the Audi Design foosball table.

The table in question was styled by Audi's design department a couple of years ago, but is only now going into production. Only 20 examples will be made by specialist firm Leonhart, each demanding a suitably Audi-like €12,900, or nearly $16k in US funds.

Gallery: Audi Design Foosball Table

Tags: audi, audi design, foosball, foosball table, soccer table, table soccer

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta Set for Sardinia

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Events, Sports

On June 8 – 12 Loro Piana, the Italian luxury clothing company known for the world's finest cashmere, will stage its annual Superyacht Regatta in the billionaire's haunt of Sardinia featuring some of the world's fastest sailing yachts. Hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, sponsors include Perini Navi, builder of the famed Maltese Falcon, in partnership with Rolex and Audi. Last year's winner, Royal Huisman's 105-ft. Gliss, will defend her title against several sailing superyachts looking to pluck the prize from her grasp during five intense days of competition. Among the contenders will be Southern Ocean Marine's 105-ft. Liara; Wally's 100-ft. Y3K.; the Ed Dubois-designed, Fitzroy built 148-ft. Salperton IV; Perini Navi's 125-ft. P2; and more yachts measuring 80 feet and up. Apres-sailing there will be an owner's dinner at the yacht club and a beach party at the opulent Hotel Romazzino, part of the Luxury Collection.

[via JamesList]

Gallery: Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta

Tags: Audi, cashmere, Ed Dubois, Hotel Romazzino, Italian fashion, Italy, Loro Piana, Luxury Collection, Maltese Falcon, Perini Navi, regatta, Rolex, Royal Huisman, sailboat, sailing, sailing yacht, Sardinia, superyacht, Wally, yachting

World Class Driving Adds the Audi R8 V10 to its US Supercar Tour

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

World Class Driving runs holds a number of programs around the country that will put you into exotics from around the world and let you try for your best time around a track or try to get to 200 miles per hour. Its U.S. Supercar Tour is a five-hour event laid out on more than 100 miles of public roads that you'll pilot from the driver's seat in a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and now Audi. The 518-horsepower all-wheel-drive R8 V10 has been added to the touring fleet, and you'll now have a chance to get it to sixty in 3.9 seconds and see why it once was the preferred ride of Tony Stark. The US Supercar Tour will hit 45 cities this year and runs $1,695 per driver, $300 per non-driving passenger.

Source

Tags: audi, audi r8 v10, bentley, ferrari, lamborghini, r8, r8 v10, us supercar tour, world class driving

Report: Diesel-Powered Audi R4 'Looks Good' For Production

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Green

Audi e-tron Detroit Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Our British friends at Autocar are citing unknown "high-ranking Audi insiders in Ingolstadt" as saying that there is a strong likelihood that a new Audi R4, Volkswagen BlueSport and possibly an unnamed entry-level model from Porsche are in the offing.

Assuming there is a degree of truth to the report from the British mag, the R4 would get a pair of turbocharged gasoline engines (displacing just 1.4-liters and 1.6-liters, respectively) along with the intriguing option of a 2.0-liter turbodiesel mill. Previously, Audi has shown off a small sportscar concept, seen above in the image gallery from Luxist's sister-site, Autoblog, powered by an all-electric powertrain.

Volkswagen, the huge German automaker that owns both Audi and Porsche, will have the final say in the development of all three machines. The good news is that Autocar's unnamed insider reports, "Scale is important to a project like this... But with three different car makers working to a common goal, the chances [of it getting the go-ahead] look good."

[Source: Autocar]

Source

Tags: audi, audi r4, Audi R4 Roadster, AudiR4, AudiR4Roadster, entry level porsche, entry porsche, entry-level porsche, Entry-levelPorsche, EntryLevelPorsche, EntryPorsche, porsche, porsche 356, porsche 914, Porsche356, Porsche914, r4, volkswagen, volkswagen bluesport, Volkswagen BlueSport Concept, VolkswagenBluesport, VolkswagenBluesportConcept, vw, vw bluesport, VW BlueSport Concept, VwBluesport, VwBluesportConcept

Less Weight, More Power: Audi Announces Limited-Edition R8 GT

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Making a car – especially an exotic supercar – go even faster may be a complicated business, but the idea is simplicity itself: decrease the weight, and increase the power. It's the same notion that has made such supercars as the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera better performers than their progenitors. And now Audi's applied the same formula to its R8.

To make the R8 GT, Audi has fitted thinner glass (replacing that giant rear window over the engine bay with a plastic one) and replaced many of the aluminum body panels with carbon fiber, shedding 220 lbs off the curb weight. Meanwhile, the German automaker has increased output from the 5.2-liter V10 from 525 horsepower to 560. Mated to the R-Tronic semi-automatic transmission, the R8 GT runs from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.6 seconds and tops out just shy of 200 miles per hour.

Audi will only make 333 examples of the R8 GT, selling for €193,000 ($256,000) apiece.

Source

Tags: audi, audi r8, audi r8 gt, exotic, r8, r8 gt, supercar

Limousines and Supercars Debut at Beijing Motor Show

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

The gulf between perception and reality is often enough to swallow entire countries whole. Take China, for example. The images many still conjure up in their heads when thinking about the Asian giant might come down to squalid shanty towns oppressed by communist overlords. But with the free market taking a greater hold with each passing day, the People's Republic is quickly emerging as a vital market for purveyors of luxury goods, including high-end automobiles. Sure, the average peasant may be able to afford little more than a rickety bicycle, but with the world's largest population numbering over a billion people, even the top fraction of the socio-economic strata can overshadow entire nations.

Against such a backdrop, it should come as no great surprise that the world's premium automakers scrambled to the Chinese capital this year with a wide array of exotic and luxury automobiles. In fact the cars making their world debuts at this year's Beijing Motor Show were enough on their own to outshine the last major international exposition in Manhattan. Follow the jump to see what all the fuss was about.

Tags: 599, 599 gto, a8, a8 l, audi, audi a8, audi a8 l, beijing, beijing motor show, bentley, bentley continental, Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed, bentley continental flying spur speed china, Bentley Continental GT, bentley continental gt design series china, bmw, bmw Gran Coupé, bmw Gran Coupé Concept, china, citroen, citroen metropolis, emgrand, ferrari, ferrari 599 gto, geely, geely emgrand ge, Gran Coupé, lamborghini, Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce, Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce China Limited Edition, limousine, limusine, maybach, maybach 57, Maybach 62, Maybach 62 S, motor show, pekin, phaeton, stretch, stretch wheelbase, stretched limo, stretched limousine, volkswagen, volkswagen phaeton

Continue reading “Limousines and Supercars Debut at Beijing Motor Show”

← Previous Page|Next Page →

audi

Featured Galleries

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular

Also on AOL