07 Q7 Premium Awd Nav Cam Phone Sat Pano Off-road Pkg! Ipod Hid Loaded! Pristine on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi RS4 Avant Nogaro Selection puts a fresh face on old memories

I've been fortunate enough to drive plenty of memorable cars over the years, and one of my all-time favorites is the Audi RS4 sedan. It was only sold in the United States for a short time, but during that quick run, it made a huge impression on me. I remember everything about that car - the smell, the sound, the exact feeling of the manual shifter as it clicked between the six gears, and the texture of the steering wheel that I so happily tossed about. In fact, whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, I go back and watch this video of the late David E. Davis, Jr., running the California Mille roads in a Sprint Blue RS4 - a video we shot for Winding Road many years ago during my tenure as an editor there.
So even though the Audi RS4 Avant Nogaro that debuts here in Geneva isn't super important, especially for our American-centric audience, I feel compelled to write about it. No, we don't get the lovely RS4 in the States anymore, but the package offered in Europe is just as sweet as ever - perhaps even more so, what with that stylish longroof shape. Under the hood is Audi's excellent, naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 engine, tuned to deliver 450 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, allowing for a 0-62 sprint of 4.7 seconds.
The Nogaro name refers to the special blue paint - a throwback to the original Audi RS2 Avant that kicked off the company's super sweet luxury offerings. Other unique features for the Nogaro car include gloss black exhaust outlets, window frames and grille surround, as well as matte black roof rails. Special 20-inch wheels round off the exterior enhancements, and inside, Nogaro Blue Alcantara accents can be had on the door panels and seat inners.

Audi confirms S8 Plus for US to debut in LA

Audi has confirmed that the new S8 Plus will indeed be coming to North America. The more potent version of the German automaker's flagship sedan was first revealed in August, and Audi will bring it to the upcoming Los Angeles auto show. The Plus model packs the same 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 as the existing S8 (and the Bentley Continental for that matter), but increases output from 520 horsepower to 605 hp and torque from 481 pound-feet to 516 lb-ft (or 553 on overboost). The result is a 0-62 time quoted at 3.8 seconds to give the likes of the Mercedes-AMG S63, Jaguar XJR, and Maserati Quattroporte a run for their money. Audi of America has not announced US pricing for the S8 Plus or final specifications for the American market. Look for an MSRP in the neighborhood of $140k. The Audi S8 Plus will debut in LA alongside the new RS7 Performance and the second-generation R8, which will be making its US auto show debut at the SoCal expo. TRIO OF AUDI SPORT® AND PERFORMANCE MODELS TO MAKE US DEBUT AT LA AUTO SHOW – AUDI R8, RS 7 PERFORMANCE AND S8 PLUS - The second generation of the R8 high-performance halo car makes its U.S. auto show debut - Auto show debut of new RS 7 performance enhances brand's dynamic profile - S8 plus strengthens Audi's position in premium sedan segment November 10, 2015 | HERNDON, Virginia -- Reinforcing the brand's success from road to track, Audi will showcase a trio of new performance vehicles – including the all-new R8, RS 7 performance and S8 plus – at the Los Angeles Auto Show. "The Audi Sport® and performance models have always been an essential part of our brand's character," said Filip Brabec, Director of Product Management for Audi of America. "The Audi R8, RS 7 performance and S8 plus represent the maximum of Audi performance, premium design and technology for our customers." 2017 Audi R8 The fastest and most powerful Audi of all time, the 2017 R8 represents the pinnacle of performance for any model with the four rings. Thanks to the close cooperation between Audi Sport® engineers, race drivers and developers, the Audi R8 and R8 LMS racecar were co-developed and share approximately 50 percent of the same parts, including the V10 engine. The R8 launches with two powertrain variants: the 5.2L V10 with 540 hp, an increase of 15 hp from the previous R8 model or the R8 V10 Plus, boasting a powerful 610 hp, an increase of 60 hp, making it faster, more powerful and more dynamic than its predecessor.

Winterkorn remains CEO of Volkswagen's majority shareholder

Martin Winterkorn may have stepped down as the chief executive of Volkswagen in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal, but he's not out from under the company's large umbrella just yet. In fact, according to a report from Reuters, he still holds four top-level positions not only within the industrial giant's bureaucracy, but at the top of it. And one of those is as CEO of the company's largest shareholder. That holding company is Porsche SE, the investment arm of the Piech and Porsche families (Ferdinand Porsche's descendants) which holds over 50 percent of VW's shares. In 2008, Porsche SE acquired majority interest in the Volkswagen Group which in turn acquired Porsche the automaker – and placed VW's Winterkorn at the head of the executive board of the holding company. Though Winterkorn has resigned from his position as chairman of VW's management board, he has apparently yet to step down from running Porsche SE. That's not the only job that Winterkorn still retains in VW's senior management. He also continues to serve as chairman of Audi, as well as truck manufacturer Scania, and the new Truck & Bus GmbH into which Scania has been grouped together with Man. It remains unclear if or when Winterkorn might resign from those positions as well, or how his tenure in those posts might affect the company's effort to start over in the aftermath of the scandal in which it is currently embroiled. Also unclear, Reuters reports, is how much, exactly, Winterkorn will receive in compensation after having stepped down from his chair at the head of the VW executive board. His pension is reported at over $30 million, but he could be awarded a large severance package as well amounting to as much as two years' worth of his annual compensation, which amounted to around $18 million last year. Whether he receives the severance pay or not is expected to depend on whether his resignation is considered by the supervisory board to have been the result of his own missteps or independent of the situation that resulted in his resignation. One way or another, he's not likely to go poor anytime soon.