2007 Audi A4 3.2 V6 Sedan Auto Navigation One Owner Moonroof on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Five cylinders, no waiting | 2018 Audi TT RS First Drive

A five-cylinder engine is an odd duck in the modern automotive world, so why put it under the hood of a sophisticated sports car like the 2018 Audi TT RS? We're posing this question to an engineer when a loud, guttural sound interrupts the conversation. A TT RS blasts by, growling and percolating as it shoots down the front straight of the historic Circuito del Jarama in Spain. Oh, that's why. The RS treatment brings the sound and the fury to the TT, transforming a cute, sporty little car into a sports car with mettle. With 400 horsepower channeled to all four wheels, a stiffer suspension, and styling flourishes like organic LED taillights, the RS makes for a big-time upgrade over the 292-hp TT S and the mild-mannered 220-hp TT. Who wants a four-cylinder, anyway? We're considering the five-pot's potential as we mash the throttle and explode onto Jarama, an old Formula 1 course that still looks ready to host top-level racing. There's a couple of long straights and lots of curves and elevation changes. Sure, it's a bit trite to praise a sports car after a few laps in a controlled setting, but the TT RS has legit performance chops. The engine sounds just as good inside the car as it does to spectators, and it's more satisfying since we're the ones provoking the five cylinders to anger as we approach triple-digit speed. It's all real, too. There's no pumped-in sound or fake flatulent exhaust. "It's the unadulterated sound of the engine – we didn't change it," says Philipp Ade, Audi technical project manager for powertrain. Speaking trackside through an interpreter, he admits the exhaust system adds resonance but also filters out other noises to produce a clean engine note. Trust us, you'll want to tune in. The five-cylinder is not a glorified sound check. It's a new engine developed for Audi's smaller performance cars, though the TT RS is the only one confirmed for the United States. The 2.5-liter mill uses aluminum for its block and crankcase and magnesium for the oil sump. This all results in a 57-pound weight loss compared with the old five-cylinder, which was last sold in the US market in the previous-generation TT RS for the 2012-13 model years. That car was brought to the states after a Facebook campaign. This time there was no doubt Americans have an appetite for the hottest TT. A non-enthusiast will wonder: why the fuss over a five-cylinder engine? To Audi and its band of loyal followers, it's a defining element of performance.

Next Audi A7 redesign will include more traditional rear end

A report in Automobile says that Audi is rethinking the design of the next A7. Audi told Car and Driver that owners "have trouble with the radical tail of the A7," so its model-defining rear end will give way to something more traditional. Automobile is light on specifics of the redesign, but the general direction is "a lower, wider, and more expressive shape." The philosophy behind the dimensions and styling is a "C/D shift," meaning Audi wants to give its C-segment hatchback the bearing, gravitas, and visual delight of a D-segment vehicle. That would help the A7 stand out from its in-house competition, and could make for higher transaction prices. Having heard about different design directions from Audi for years without much in the showroom to back it up, we could define what we'd love to see in two words: more Prologue. This is Audi, so you know the next A7 will be packed with tech. We expect an emphasis on touchscreen interfaces, a digital dash cluster a la the TT that moves with the steering column, a HUD with night vision, and an MMI system a few more steps down the evolutionary trail. Engines will see some upgrades like the addition of a plug-in hybrid, the excellent 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder getting a 74-horsepower e-boost assist to 326 horsepower, the 3.0-liter V6 slated for the S7 rising to 500 hp, and the 4.0-liter V8 in the RS7 pumping out 575 hp.

Audi SQ7 TDI packs 48V electric compressor, 664 lb-ft

Take a look at the new Audi SQ7 TDI. It's the first time Audi has done an S performance version of its flagship sport-ute, and packs under the hood a 4.0-liter V8 turbo diesel engine mated to an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. It produces a potent 435 horsepower, and an absolutely bonkers 664 pound-feet of torque. The Audi SQ7 TDI produces a massive 664 lb-ft of torque. Impressive as it is, though, that doesn't even tell the full story. That's enough to make us forget it wasn't there in Geneva. It's also more torque than just about anything the Volkswagen Group makes – short of the Bentley Mulsanne Speed and the new Bugatti Chiron. Not even the Lamborghini Aventador SV or Bentley Continental GT Speed can touch that torque figure. Nor can competition like the Porsche Cayenne S Diesel (with its 385 hp and 627 lb-ft) or the BMW X5 M50d (381 hp and 546 lb-ft). It may not surpass the old twelve-cylinder Q7 6.0 TDI (with its 493 hp and 738 lb-ft), but still trounces the VW Touareg V10 TDI (309 hp and 553 lb-ft) – which was strong enough to tow a jet airplane, while the new SQ7 is fast enough to out-drag one (as you can see from the video below). Impressive as it is, though, that headline-grabbing torque figure doesn't tell the full story. To get there, Audi employed two conventional, sequential turbochargers and a third compressor that – in an industry first that's been a long time coming – is powered electrically. The engineers in Ingolstadt installed a beefier 48-volt electric subsystem to power the electric compressor (among other systems) and its latest valvetrain tech for the first time in a diesel. The result, Audi says, is a lack of any perceptible turbo lag – and a 0-62 time quoted at 4.8 seconds, en route to the typical electronically limited top speed of 155 miles per hour. As if that weren't enough, Audi also equipped the SQ7 TDI with an optional suspension package that coordinates the activities of three systems. There's a differential, a four-wheel steering system, and a clever electromechanical roll stabilization system that employs an electric motor (made possible once again by that 48-volt system) and a three-stage planetary gearbox to keep it all level and improve ride quality over rough surfaces. The sum total is an impressive technological tour de force on Audi's part, but one that we may just have to admire from afar.