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2015 Audi S8

You've gotta hand it to the Audi A8. Last year, Mercedes-Benz launched the truly stunning S-Class, putting the rest of the high-dollar luxury flagship class on notice. With the brand-new S-Class turning heads and garnering all sorts of praise from the automotive press, classmates like the BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ and Audi A8 started to look, well, old. But Audi didn't see fit to just let its big sedan carry on and let the Mercedes take the cake.
So when Audi refreshed its A8 line for the 2015 model year with only minor updates, I kind of shrugged it off as just a quick way to keep the big sedan fresh until an all-new, hopefully S-Class-trumping version arrives. But then I drove the S8 pictured above, and I'm no longer so sure the Merc's shadow is as big and imposing as it once was.
Spoiler alert: the Audi S8 is simply fantastic.

Porsche would have entered F1 if Audi had blocked its Le Mans program

Go back a few years and you may have heard rumors of Porsche heading into Formula One. That never came to pass - or at least, it hasn't yet - but that doesn't mean that it wasn't close to happening. That's how committed to returning to top-level motorsport competition Porsche has become recently.
Autosport reports that just as Porsche was merging fully into the Volkswagen Group, Zuffenhausen was weighing its options for a factory racing program. Le Mans was its favorite, which makes sense, as it remains far and away the most successful constructor in the history of the famous endurance race. But the strategists at Porsche were worried that its new corporate overlords at Volkswagen wouldn't support two LMP1 programs and would favor Audi, which has positively dominated the modern era of endurance racing, coming second only to Porsche in the number of Le Mans victories it has scored to date.
Porsche's Plan B was reportedly to head into Formula One, although it isn't clear if the German automaker was intent on starting its own team, buying an existing one or merely providing engines to other teams. Porsche fielded its own cars in F1 in the late 1950s and early 60s, and returned as an engine supplier with TAG to power McLaren in the 1980s, powering Niki Lauda and Alain Prost to the World Championship in 1984 and 1985.

Audi reveals new A3 Cabriolet with Quattro, S3 versions to follow

With the Frankfurt International Auto Show coming home to roost this week, German automakers aren't about to miss out on the opportunity to roll out their latest. Audi may be making the biggest splash with the new Sport Quattro concept, but will also use the occasion to introduce its latest compact convertible.
We just brought you the first leaked images of the new Audi A3 Cabriolet the other day, but now Ingolstadt has revealed the full thing. Slotting in below the A5 Cabriolet and replacing the previous A3 Cabriolet as the entry-level convertible in the Audi lineup, the new cabrio joins the A3 family as the fourth bodystyle in the range.
Based more closely on the sedan than the hatchback, the new A3 Cabriolet is a bit bigger than its predecessor in every dimension but height. Rather than go the folding hardtop route, Audi has stuck with its tried-and-tested hydraulic fabric roof mechanism that can open or close in just 18 seconds. But for the first time, Audi is offering the A3 Cabriolet with Quattro all-wheel drive, and - get this - will offer an S3 convertible version as well, complete with 300 horsepower and a 5.4-second 0-62 time.