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Audi Nanuk Concept likes Parcour, puts four rings on it

Without a doubt, one of the coolest (and weirdest) debuts from this year's Geneva Motor Show had to be the Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour concept. And ever since the off-road performance coupe with Lamborgini guts made its debut, we've sort of been smitten with it. We figured this neat two-door would be a one-and-done show car, but to our delight, the folks at Italdesign worked with Audi to create this, the Nanuk Quattro Concept, which makes its debut here at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Unlike the original Parcour, the Nanuk ditches the high-revving Lambo-sourced 5.2-liter V10 in favor of a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter diesel V10. That's a beast of an engine, and with 544 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque on hand, it means the 4,189-pound, all-wheel-drive Audi can scoot to 62 miles per hour in under four seconds. Of course, being a diesel, it's surprisingly efficient, and we're told the Nanuk can achieve up to 30 miles per gallon.
As much as we sort of hate the term, the Audi Nanuk is a proper coupe-crossover if we've ever seen one, and utilizes the automaker's next-generation adaptive air suspension (the Parcour had a different pushrod arrangement) that offers a range of almost three inches of height adjustment. There's also an integral steering setup, meaning the rear wheels can turn up to nine degrees in the opposite direction of the front rollers, improving maneuverability.

2014 Audi Q5 TDI

I've struggled with diesel technology. It's not that I have a problem with it or dislike it, but rather that I don't particularly understand what stops its wider-spread adoption. Sure, memories of rust-prone, smoky, sluggish and uneconomical Oldsmobile diesels aren't exactly easy to erase from the collective memory of the North American motoring public, but I'd think that a few years into the latest crop of clean diesels, there'd be wider adoption - or at least consumer consideration - by now.
Part of the issue is the still limited number of segments that diesels are available in. The Volkswagen Golf/Jetta TDI is finally getting a challenger in the form of the Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, and the BMW 328d is bringing something new to the entry-level sports sedan, but there are still a huge group of segments where diesel-power has no representation.
The small, luxury crossover realm is not one of those. It has the Mercedes-Benz GLK250 Bluetec, a stylish crossover with a silky-smooth 2.1-liter, turbodiesel four-cylinder that can return the kind of fuel economy that makes people take notice. And while the GLK250 is quite good, economy will only spread the diesel's appeal so far. People need to experience the seat-flattening torque that these mills can produce, and for that, we most humbly recommend the new 2014 Audi Q5 TDI.

Audi TT Sportback Concept evolves the five-door breed

One week after a leaked sketch ran on these very pages, Audi has introduced the latest member of a "potential TT family," according to Audi board member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg. This is the TT Sportback Concept, a five-door, 400-horsepower version of the brand's stylish sports car and at this point, it looks darn likely to herald the debut of a third body style for Audi's design icon.
Unveiled at the expansive Volkswagen group night celebration ahead of the 2014 Paris Motor Show, the TT Sportback Concept is the most evolved version of a form factor that's seen a slow striptease throughout 2014, first with the Allroad Shooting Brake Concept in Detroit and, more recently, in the Offroad Concept from the Beijing Motor Show.
For Paris, the car being shown by Audi is absent traditional concept car traits like oversized wheels, miniscule mirrors and bizarre interior treatments, giving it a far more production ready appearance than either of the previous TT-based concepts. The exterior, meanwhile, is clearly reminiscent of the third-generation car (that roofline is pure TT), although there are a number of styling decisions that remind us of the compact A3, particularly in regards to the taillights.