2007 Audi A4 Quattro Base Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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More next-gen Audi TT details revealed

We still only have rumors about the third-generation Audi TT said to be scheduled for launch in late 2014, but based on a report in Car and Driver, we know a tiny bit more about it. The base engine will be the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with direct injection, but horsepower is said to be 220 horsepower - that would make for a nine-hp jump over the current output. The TTS would get an even larger power boost, going from 265 currently to 300 hp. The TT RS would stick with it's 2.5-liter five cylinder, with output increased from 360 to 380 hp. If Audi includes a nice dose of the go-light engineering involved in the TT Ultra Quattro, these horsepower numbers might be even more impressive.
As with the TT concept and first-generation production car, though, it sounds like the brand is concentrating on aesthetics. It's been widely reported that Audi wants to reclaim the juju conjured by the original TT, and while we still don't know what that means outside, CD reports that the interior gets simplified, "futuristic-feeling" styling thanks to instruments served up on a TFT screen. Remember, the first Audi TT had a cockpit that Car magazine dubbed simply, "The Cabin."
About a year after the coupe comes, the Audi TT Roadster will show up and should be joined by the next A5. The news for the next version of the subtly beautiful coupe is the arrival of a plug-in hybrid with torque vectoring via an electric motor for the rear axle. Beyond that is wilder speculation of an A9, which might be called Q9, and which was the four-door-coupe flavor of the month two years ago when it was possibly going to share a platform with the Lamborghini Estoque. According to the CD story, the thinking now is around "a combination of fastback and crossover proportions," a two-fer we've yet to see any carmaker pull off without making us go, "Oh. I see."

MotorWeek revisits Audi's iconic Quattro

The Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and just about every other all-wheel-drive performance car owes something to the legendary Audi Quattro, a model that was far more successful on the motorsports scene than it was in the showroom. Despite its modest sales, the UrQuattro still looms large in automotive lore, and indeed, in Audi's own sense of self. Considering the brand's semi-regular flirtation with the idea of a reborn Quattro, MotorWeek must have figured it'd be a good idea to revisit the original by digging up this archival review.
While time has the ability to cover up the warts of iconic automobiles, it should be noted that Motor Week host John Davis had more than a few critiques for the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged coupe.
Davis calls the Quattro's slalom handling "a disappointment," citing the overpowered engine and slow steering, and he had some unkind words for the brakes, as well. For our part, we're kind of wowed by the amount of ship-like body motion during testing, yet that sort of bobbing was certainly par for the course back in the early '80s.

2015 Audi A3 E-Tron [w/video]

Over the years, we've had a chance to test a lot of Audi E-Tron vehicles, from very early all-electric prototypes (back then we only got to sit in the passenger seat) to the A6 L E-Tron PHEV and the A1 E-Tron plug-in hybrid. All of them were concepts and promises, merely whispers of what was possible, even as the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and two Tesla models were making waves in the marketplace.
As we learned last year in our Deep Dive of the E-Tron project, all of the concepts, prototypes and rumors have finally come to fruition in this A3 Sportback E-Tron. Previously, we were given a chance to drive a prototype, but it was only very briefly. Last week, we finally got to run a production-representative example through the hilly roads between Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany. After spending a solid day with Audi's first marketable E-Tron vehicle, we can say that it's a most amazing bit of engineering, in particular for the way that Audi has done so much to hide the fact that this is an electrified vehicle. Not entirely, of course, but the idea was to make the A3 Sportback E-Tron a no-compromise PHEV. And that means it drives and feels, in many ways, like the standard A3 Sportback despite over 700 extra pounds. Oh, and there's a charge port hidden behind the four rings in the grille.