2009 Audi S5 Quattro Bang & Olufsen Pano Roof Carbon Fiber on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi readying diesel PHEV models for US and Europe

With the racing pedigree provided by the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the German king of Le Mans is capitalizing on the connection between its road cars and race cars at every opportunity. Maybe there's an entire range of Le Mans Editions for the automakers diesel-hybrid offerings, with perhaps Tom Kristensen acting as the brand's spokesperson for the technology in Europe. You'd be wrong, though, because despite the R18's overwhelming successes in endurance racing, Audi the road-car manufacturer doesn't offer a single diesel-hybrid production car.
This factoid will hopefully be as short lived as it is disappointing, though, as a diesel-electric is around the corner, according to the brand's tech boss, Ulrich Hackenberg. In fact, it gets better than a mere diesel-hybrid; it will be a plug-in diesel-hybrid, only the second to hit the market, alongside the European-market Volvo V60.
According to Hackenberg, the new tech will be the result of a marriage between the brand's well-received 3.0-liter, TDI V6 with an electric motor. The next-generation Audi Q7 (shown above) will be the initial recipient, confirming previous reports that claimed a PHEV TDI could come to the next-gen CUV. Its MLB architecture, meanwhile, would allow the plug-in-hybrid-diesel powertrain to be fitted easily enough to the A8 luxury sedan. While the new Q7 should hit the market at some point in 2015, it's unclear when the PHEV TDI model could see the light of day.

Audi R18 E-tron gets new livery, mixes it up in city traffic [w/video]

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is still months away, but Audi Sport apparently can't wait to get started. It has just debuted the new livery for its 2014 R18 E-tron Quattro with a public drive through the streets of the town of Le Mans, while simultaneously announcing that it has a new, larger engine.
Factory driver Tom Kristensen piloted the prototype about six miles from the cathedral in the city center to the famous race track and completed a lap of a shortened version of the course. The car wears a new color scheme, which is similar to what it has raced with in the past, employing a combination of white, silver and red, plus a touch of black. Portions of the car are also reflective to show up better at night. The last time we saw the R18, it was displayed in a black and red livery. The team has also revealed that the 2014 will be powered by a new 4.0-liter diesel V6, an increase of about 300 cubic-centimeters from last season.
Audi Sport said that the stunt was inspired by the classic days of the race when drivers used to arrive to the city in the same cars they were going to race. Even back then, it's doubtful they arrived several months early, though. The 2014 R18 will make its competition debut on April 20 at the Six Hours of Silverstone. Scroll down to watch a video of it making the drive through town and read the full press release.

Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.