2009 Convertible Audi A4 Sline Package on 2040-cars

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Audi RS6 Avant vs. Vauxhall VXR8 Supercharged in wagon battle

The performance station wagon is the mature person's muscle car. As we get older, it's natural to add things like spouses, kids and dogs to our lives and each one necessitates a little more space. That doesn't mean we want to give up spirited driving though, and a quick five-door offers a great balance between needs and wants. In the latest video from Evo, we take a look at two, muscular European estates to see which is faster around a track.
Richard Meaden pits the Audi RS6 Avant and Vauxhall VXR8 Supercharged against each other; seeing that the cars go about utilizing their massive performance in very different ways. The RS6's all-wheel drive and luxury interior make it more of a scalpel around the track compared to the Vauxhall's rear-wheel drive hammer. Both offer the driver the chance to create some very smoky powerslides, though. Sadly, neither of these muscle wagons are available in North America, but scroll down to get a taste of them in the video.

Audi considering other variants, turbo V6 for R8

More details from the Audi R8 event at Spain's Ascari circuit have met the Internet, and they provide more intel on the supercoupe will evolve over the second generation. First, they note some small differences in stance with this new car, being wider than the current car and sitting 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) lower. Compared to its Lamborghini Huracan brother, it gets three extra centimeters in the wheelbase. Filling out the power numbers, the 'entry-level' V10 engine at launch rolls out 540 horsepower and 399 pound-feet of torque, does the 0-60 mile per hour dash in 3.5 seconds, and hits a top speed of 200 mph. The V10 Plus model rocks 620 hp and 412 lb-ft, which slices 0.3 seconds off that acceleration time and adds five more mph to the top speed. They'll transfer their power through a seven-speed S-tronic that shifts faster than before, and it will in turn send power through an electronically-controlled clutch at the front axle and a constantly variable limited-slip differential at the rear axle. The power split is said to default to 42/58 front-to-rear, but 100 percent of the torque can be sent fore or aft. Benchmarked against the 991-series Porsche 911, driving sensations travel through an electromechanical steering setup that can be had with a variable rack if preferred, leading to standard 19-inch wheels with the option of 20-inchers and tires developed specifically for this car. A Performance setting offers dry, wet, and snow modes; that first setting turns the ESC off except for situations of impending doom, and Audi racer and test driver Frank Stippler told Top Gear that understeer is reduced, to which TG added "it oversteers at will." Stippler said it's "a lot closer to the GT3 race car than ever before," and even though it's "a lot" less intense than the Huracan, it's just as fast on the track. His estimate is that the new R8 will lap the Nurburgring between ten and 15 seconds faster than the current car. R8 technical lead Roland Schala said the new chassis opens up new avenues of development because "there's no problem to change it," mentioning models like a Clubsport or Superleggera as no longer forbidden. Differentiation could come from a wider engine mix, too. Markets like China need smaller displacements, so Audi's twin-turbo V8 is expected to join the line-up at some point, bringing 500 horsepower.

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.