2008 Audi A4 2.0t Quattro Awd W/ S-line on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2016 Audi TTS Quick Spin

So, this is awkward. Last week, you (hopefully) read my Quick Spin on the Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG, a vehicle that I argued was dynamically very good, but wasn't so much better than the standard C300 to make it a worthwhile buy. Now I'm going to voice a similar opinion. The Audi TT has always been a vehicle you bought for the style, rather than the performance. If you wanted an athletic two-seat German, you just bought a Porsche Boxster. But the TT, that's a car you bought for the way it looks. And the way it looks remains the strongest argument against the car you see here, the TTS. In short, it's quick, agile, and more aggressive looking, but none of those qualities are so dramatically better than the plain-jane TT. Another Autoblogger came to this conclusion while tracking the new TTS – now I'll explain where this car misses the bull's eye on the road. Driving Notes Audi will probably never match the design impact of the original 1998 TT, but the third-gen feels like a more mature, cohesive evolution of the handsome second-generation car. The front and rear fascias are sharper, more muscular, the headlights/taillights chiseled and emotive, and the front grille significantly more powerful. Even in the subdued Daytona Gray shown here, this is a car that can get people staring almost as easily as that original model. The interior of the third-generation TT is as much a design triumph as the first TT's exterior. It's a master class in clean, simple, elegant design, but it's also extremely disorienting. Buttons for the HVAC system are hidden on the vents themselves and not having a central display of any kind is jarring. Once you get used to the layout and embrace the absolutely exceptional Virtual Cockpit – seriously, I'm convinced this is the finest piece of in-car technology on the market – the cockpit layout just starts making sense. This is a compact cabin, but it's a wonderful place to spend time. In addition to Virtual Cockpit, the S Sport seats (optional on the standard TT) are supportive and perfectly snug. Even for the big boned, the flat-bottomed steering wheel is a delight. The material quality is high across the board. Perhaps the biggest complaint is the charitably named backseats. Audi should just go with an R8-style shelf back here – those tiny buckets aren't fooling anyone. It'd make for a more versatile interior. Audi's current TT engine line is restricted to 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinders.

Audi reveals all-new R8 ahead of Geneva debut

This year's Geneva Motor Show is shaping up to be an absolutely orgy of supercars, but though there will be many that will surely outperform it, few have been as hotly anticipated as the arrival of the all-new, second-generation Audi R8. And here it is. Based around an all-new Audi Space Frame chassis, the new R8 is constructed of a higher proportion of aluminum and carbon fiber than its predecessor. The result is a frame that weighs 15 percent less at just 441 pounds – yet is 40 percent more torsionally rigid - tipping the scales at 3,205 lbs in top spec. Into the middle of that frame Audi has installed a revised version of its 5.2-liter V10, eschewing turbochargers but incorporating new technologies. While other powertrain options are expected to follow, Ingolstadt has gone straight for the top of the range at launch: the 'base' V10 model kicks out 540 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque to reach 62 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 201 mph. The upgraded V10 Plus, however, turns those figures up to 610 hp and 413 lb-ft to reach 62 in just 3.2 seconds, 124 in under ten and a 205-mph top speed. All the while, Audi has also equipped the new ten-cylinder engine with both direct and indirect injection, stop/start and cylinder deactivation systems to cut fuel consumption by 10 percent. It also boasts dry-sump lubrication and a variable exhaust system. Power is transmitted to the road through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, a mechanical diff and a revised Quattro all-wheel drive system that can send 100 percent of available torque to either the front or rear axle. Aluminum wishbones suspend it all on 19-inch wheels (or optional 20s), with available variable steering and carbon ceramic brakes (optional on the V10 and standard on the V10 Plus). Underbody aerodynamics generate more downforce and a more slippery form, aided by a deployable rear spoiler (or a fixed carbon wing on the Plus model). All those tantalizing greasy bits are cloaked in fresh aluminum sheet-metal, riding on a track that's 1.6 inches wider: the whole shebang stretches 14.5 feet long, 6.4 feet wide and 4.1 feet high, riding on an 8.7-foot wheelbase. Among the myriad new technologies developed for the new R8 are the full LED headlights with optional laser high beams (where they're legal, at least, which currently doesn't include these United States).

Audi Quattro concept production hopes still alive, could be more radical

Remember the gestation period of the Lexus LFA, the one that, in automotive time, took so long that its origins could have been carbon dated? We feel like it's deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would have said, this time featuring the Audi Quattro and Audi Sport Quattro. It was 2010 when our cameras first glimpsed the Audi Quattro Concept (pictured right) at the Paris Motor Show, and we tasted its turbocharged 2.5-liter, five-cylinder powerplant not long after. Last year we met the hybrid, 700-horsepower Audi Sport Quattro concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but we got no closer to finding out if there'd ever be a version we could buy. A report in Autocar keeps the flame of hope burning, quoting Audi design chief Marc Lichte at the LA Auto Show saying, "We are working on Quattro, it is still alive." Lichte went on to say, however, that the next imagining is "more extreme" than those we've seen, and, "There will be surprises." Those words alone are a surprise. The last we heard about the Quattro revival was Audi boss Ulrich Hackenberg saying he wanted a more accessible homage to the original, and we don't know how "more extreme" jives with that. Seeing that Audi is serious about the idea, at least, we shouldn't have to wait long to find out. Just don't get your hopes up about its affordability yet.