Audi crowned year’s most improved brand

The trade magazine "Automobilwoche" has honored Audi as the year's most improved brand; at the same time, the DEKRA testing company has rated the Audi A6 as the "Most Reliable of All Classes": just two highlights in a long list of honors for the Audi brand in 2008. This year the brand with the four rings [...]

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Automotive Worship Object Of The Year: Street-Legal 500-Horse Audi ur-Quattro [Racing]

While I was at Infineon to drive the STaSIS S5 a couple weeks back, I kept seeing this silver blur howling past everything on the track. It looked like an old Quattro… but that fast? Sure enough, it was a Quattro; not only that, it's a genuine 1983 ur-Quattro with carbon-fiber bodywork cast from original molds brought over from Germany, 500 horsepower under the hood, the full STaSIS brake and suspension treatment… and license plates! When I found out that the STaSIS guys not only knew about the car but had helped hop it up for William Perkins, one of their expert race consultants, let's just say I was eager to learn more. The car is maintained at McGee Motorsports Group's shop at the track, and talk about a freakin' candy store- you'll definitely see some more of McGee's stuff here in the near future; in fact, if you're a regular at the Monterey Historics, you've already seen quite a few of their cars. Yes, that's a genuine NASCAR '63 Mercury Monterey in the photo, and it's got a 427, a Rat Fink-grade gearshift, and a driver's seat that appears to be made by the Barcalounger Corporation. My LeMons teammate and 4-time DOTS honoree WhatWouldJesseDo, who was helping me with photographic duties that day, managed to talk his way into the passenger seat of the ur-Quattro for a few Ferrari-whuppin' laps around Infineon. His verdict: "Hell yes!" OK, now let's look at some photos:

 

Four-door coupe Audi A7 becomes accessible from next year

Any four-door coupe is interesting enough phenomenon. Decades this idea was embodied in company Jaguar sedans, but it became popular after company Mercedes has exhausted a CLS-class. So, company Audi transforms a sedan into a coupe, and we represent you thoughts how the future four-door model with a coupe silhouette – Audi A7 could look. This car should be, is constructed on the basis of architecture A6, and in modelling to a number will take the place between models A6 and A8. The car becomes the big brother to the future sedan A5, and, probably, further will receive the version a cabriolet. The scale of engines will begin about 2,8 l or 3,0 l of the V-shaped 6-cylinder unit and will come to the end with the V-shaped 10-cylinder engine with double turbo-supercharging Twin Turbo which is already used in Italian to superpenalty Lamborghini Gallardo. Sales of the newest A7 will begin next year.

 

Audi Q5 “Unbox the Box” commercial

Audi has launched a new quirky yet impressive commercial in Europe for the new Audi Q5. "Unbox the Box" features an animated carton character building an Audi Q5 out of a cardboard box  and features the famous American folk singer Woody Guthrie's "Car Song". The ad was created and directed by Aaron Duffy and Russell Brooke. It was developed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty London, a British ad agency. Executive creative director on the project was Nick Gill. Of course we have no idea who those people are and you probably don't care. So head over after the jump to see the commercial.

 

Why All That Expensive Safety Equipment Is Required At The 24 Hours Of LeMons: Audi Versus Wall [24 Hours Of Lemons]

Though the cars themselves must cost less than $500, the cost of the required safety equipment pushes the build cost of a typical LeMons car well above two grand. That stuff is worth every penny! Here we see the Timmy's Kids '81 Audi 4000 getting into big trouble down Thunderhill's long straight and bashing into the concrete barrier. The driver was totally OK, thanks to his 5-point harness, helmet, and cage (as were the drivers of the Plymouth Belvedere, Yugo GV, and Chevy Cavalier that flipped during the race). Here's the aftermath, courtesy of Mad Science's camera. Thanks to Patrick of Huey Newis And The Lose for the video!

 

More details on Audi’s next-generation A8

The current Audi A8 has been on sale since 2003 and since that time has only received a minor facelift to keep it fresh alongside the Mercedes Benz S-Class, Lexus LS and recently revealed BMW 7-series. The minor styling changes implemented during the recent facelift will have to soldier on for a few more years as the next-generation 'D4' A8 is, according to latest reports, is expected to arrive in the second half of next year, following a debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. A prototype for the car has already been spotted undergoing cold weather testing, hidden beneath the current D3 body. Tell-tale signs that the prototype was the next-generation model included extended fender flares, a stretched wheelbase and wider track. (more…)

 

Audi Is “Light” Years Ahead With World’S First Led Headlights

The order book opened in Britain for the V10 engined Audi R8 this month (1 January) and with it the German car manufacturer demonstrated another element of its pioneering Vorsprung durch Technik technology. The range-topping R8 is the first car in the world to be equipped with all-LED (light emitting diode) headlamps. For the first time [...]