When Audi released the first pictures of the 2012 Audi A6 sedan, many readers found the design somewhat bland. The new model is definitely an evolution and not a revolution, sharing many design cues with the A4, A7 Sportback and the flagship A8. I must admit though that, after seeing the car in video, my opinion on the styling has nudged a little towards the positive side. Of course taste is subjective, so tell us what you think in the comments section after the jump.
At this year's Paris Auto Show in October, Audi celebrated the original 1980s Quattro's 30th anniversary by unveiling the Quattro Concept. Soon after, rumors started flowing around that Audi plans to develop a production version of the sports car, which is loosely based on the RS5 Coupe's architecture using a modified version of the RS3 Sportback / TT RS' 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five with 408 ponies.
Even though we've yet receive any official confirmation on the production model, the German automaker continues to release new material on the Quattro concept. This time, the Ingolstadt firm has published a new promotional film showcasing the design study as well as its spiritual predecessor, the 1984 Quattro Coupe. Watch the video right after the break.
Earlier this week, we brought you a first look at Audi's second proposal in the hot hatchback segment after the 265HP S3, the new RS3 Sportback that borrows the TT RS' 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five with 340 ponies. Now we have the first video that takes us up close and personal with the RS3. Unfortunately, the clip does not include any running footage of the car. The European market order books for the RS3 Sportback open in December with prices in Germany starting from €49,900.
Who would have thought that BMW's all-wheel drive systems were enough to shame Audi's famous quattro system? Not the average consumer, that's for sure (though BMW certainly has had enough time to get it right). BMW, which has actually been making AWD cars for the past 25 years, has decided to begin more aggressively targeting consumers who live in harsher climates.
According to this video, BMW's xDrive is vastly superior to Audi's quattro - at least when driving up metal inclines built by BMW... In the clip, we get a glimpse at what appears to be some sort of BMW press event and a hill climb-off between two small-ish diesel-powered premium soft-roaders: Audi's Q5 and BMW's X3.
Although the X3 depicted here may not be the first pick on a lot people's lists, the comparison below is just used as an example. After all, xDrive is now available on a variety of products in BMW's lineup. Could it be that BMW has bested Audi at its own game?
Interested in seeing vids of the new 'anniversarious' Audi quattro concept? You know you are, and we aim to please. As a brief recap, you should know that this RS5-based concept is powered by a 408-horsepower inline-five displacing 2.5 liters that spins all four wheels through a 6-speed stick.
Below, you can check out some videos - one techno-backed and short, the other long, quiet, and mostly slow motion - highlighting some of the car's killer (checkered tail lights) and not so killer (the entire front end?) Details. Click on over to our earlier post for the full deets, but leave your opinions in the comments right down below.
From what we've been seeing in that previous post, a lot of you readers aren't too keen on it. Now that you've seen a little more, has your opinion changed? You just know Audi's listening, so do the comment thing below.
At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada, communications Company Lowe Roche has stuck hundreds of 1:43 scale Audi quattro models to metal surfaces as part of an ad campaign by Audi.
Fitted with strong magnets and stuck to lamp posts, newspaper boxes and the like, passers-by were encouraged to remove the die-cast models and take them home with them. On the underside of each model is a sticker that reads, "Nothing sticks like quattro."
The models include the Audi R8 coupe / convertible, Q5 SUV and TT.
"We wanted to give people a real demonstration of how great the [quattro all-wheel-drive] system is. It's also a great way to get the brand into the consumer's hand." said Geoffrey Roche, company founder and chairman of Low Roche when asked about the campaign.
Audi is also pushing its wares through magazine and newspaper ads, escalator wraps and online advertising through the festival, which is held annually each September.
Audi gone viral or someone at the right place, with... almost the right equipment at the right time? Well, we can't answer that, but we do know that a Youtube user filmed a series of videos showing a mysterious Audi sports coupe (or Spyder) in covers being transferred via helicopter to the Olympia Ski Resort in the Tyrolean Alps, close to Innsbruck, in Austria - or at least that's what we understood, so any corrections welcome. The person who filmed the car said Audi was making some sort of a promotional video.
The mysterious Audi sport coupe's shape looks very similar to the e-Tron Concept model shown at the Detroit motor show earlier this year, but that's all we could make about the vehicle from the videos we've added below.
While the possibilities are almost endless, recent reports from Germany suggest that along with the A7 Sportback and S1 hot hatch, Audi will lift the covers off a more production ready version of the e-Tron Concept called the R4 - possibly in Spyder form- at this month's Paris Motor Show.
Could this be that car or is it something different such as a concept version for a new TT? Watch the videos below and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Audi may have confirmed the new RS5 for the States, but Americans won't be able to sample the scorching hot high-performance coupe until sometime in 2012. But when there's a will, there's a way, so the crew from Motor Trend headed to Germany to compare the two newest entries in the sports coupe segment, the Audi RS5 and Cadillac CST-V Coupe, with BMW's 'old-timer', the M3 Coupe.
We won't spoil the video for you by telling you won, so follow the jump to check it out along with the performance details on all cars and then don't forget to take our poll on which sport coupe would you be more likely to buy.
The upcoming Audi RS5 tips the scales at 1,800kg (3,968 lbs) and packs a naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 cranking out -in Euro spec- 450HP at 8,250 rpm and 430Nm (317.15 lb-ft) between 4,000 and 6,000rpm.
It also features a rear-biased quattro all-wheel drive system that splits torque 40:60 under normal conditions and a new seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission. Audi says the coupe completes the standard 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint in 4.6 seconds.
The recently introduced Cadillac CTS-V Coupe weighs in at 1922kg (4,237 lbs - Automatic) and makes use of a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine rated -in U.S. spec- at 556HP at 6,100 rpm and 747Nm (551 lb.-ft.) at 3,800 rpm.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. According to GM, the CTS-V goes from 0 to 60mph (96km/h) in 3.9 seconds.
Finally, the oldest model in the comparison is the BMW M3 Coupe. It weighs in at 1,675kg (3,692 lbs - DKG transmission) and sports a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8 delivering -in Euro spec- 420HP at 8,300rpm and 400Nm (295 lb-ft) at 3,900rpm.
Buyers can opt for either a 6-speed manual (0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds) or a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds). The car tested here by Motor Trend's Editor in Chief Angus MacKenzie, was fitted with BMW's $2,500 optional Competition Package that includes wider offset 19-inch alloy wheels, lowered ride height and recalibrated Electronic Damper Control and Dynamic Stability Control settings.
Along with a barrage of pictures and details of its all-new A7 Sportback (if you missed out on the story, click here to read our post), Audi has also released the first video of the premium hatchback on the road and some footage from the official presentation in Munich this past Monday.
The sleek A7 Sportback, which fills whatever gap there is left between the A6 sedan and Avant and the flagship A8 saloon, is designed to take on the likes of the second generation Mercedes-Benz CLS and the BMW 5-Series GT. It will arrive in European showrooms this fall with two diesel and two gasoline V6 engines. Until then, make the jump to watch the A7 in motion.
Here's another spy video of the A7 Sportback, Audi's upcoming, low-roofline hatchback [sic]. Based on the architecture of the next-generation of the A6, the A7 will slot into the Audi lineup above the A6 and below the A8, in the same way that the A5 Sportback fits between the A4 and A6 models.
The upscale five-door model will compete with the new Mercedes-Benz CLS, and if the rumors turn out to be true, with the BMW 6-Series GT (or whatever else the Bavarian firm's decided to call the production Gran Coupe) also, when it goes on sale next year.
Tear away the prototype model's swirly camouflage, and we're willing to bet that what you'll see underneath is a toned-down version of the Sportback Concept that premiered at the 2009 Detroit auto show (see gallery below).
The new A7 will share its engines and transmissions with the next A6 offering buyers a choice of petrol and diesel units including Ingolstadt's 3.0-liter supercharged V6 TFSI, while rumor has it that Audi will expand the range in late 2011 with a gasoline-electric hybrid model.
An S7 with either a pumped up version of the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 or a naturally-aspirated 4.2 V8, as well as an even hotter RS7 possibly with the 5.2-liter V10 are also believed to be in development, but details remain scarce for now.
These are the first pictures of Audi's driverless TTS Pikes Peak experimental model in Ingolstadt's traditional motorsports colors. Audi is currently gearing up the so-called "Autonomous TTS" for high-speed test runs up Pikes Peak in Colorado this fall.
"With the changed appearance, the Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak is now squarely aligned with Audi cars that made motorsports history a generation ago in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and other rally racing events," said the German manufacturer in a statement.
Based on the standard production model using the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot, the Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak vehicle is a joint project between the Volkswagen Group Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) in Palo Alto, California, Stanford University and Sun Microsystems.
The Autonomous TTS is equipped with a fully automated drive-by-wire system that controls the steering, throttle, brakes, gearbox and parking brake as well as a special GPS system to help communicate with the piloting software, thus eliminating the need of a driver inside the car.
The company says it's "intended to explore the best capabilities of current and future driver assistance technologies."
As you've probably already heard, Audi has once again teamed up with the creators of the original blockbuster Iron Man marketing its R8 Spyder in the sequel as the personal car of billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).
Of course, the German firm is trying to make the best of its participation in the movie releasing a dedicated commercial as well as photos from the world premiere of Iron Man 2, which took place on Monday in Los Angeles and saw Robert Downey Jr. arriving at the El Capitan Theatre in the drop-top supercar. Hit the jump for both the video and photo gallery.
