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The Audi RS3 LMS looks hot and ready

Audi had several reveals this week at the Paris Motor Show, but nothing was more batty than the new RS3 LMS race car. Audi's latest hot homologation car starts with the all-new RS3 sedan, removes all of the unnecessary bits and adds all the racing-spec equipment you could want. The result is a full-prepped, relatively affordable factory race car. That relatively affordable part is very important. Audi Sport, the division behind the R8 LMS as well as the R and RS road cars, designed the RS3 LMS for the still-new TCR FIA-spec racing series. The cars will cost about $112,000 USD for the club sport version and $145,000 with the six-speed sequential transmission. Not bad for a fully FIA-friendly factory machine. The new TCR series races follow other FIA series like Formula 1 and WEC. <p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p> All that cash get's nets you a pretty badass looking car, especially in Audi's black and red paint scheme. As you can see in the photos, the RS3 LMS is far wider than the standard sedan, which is fairly compact by modern standards. The requisite giant rear wing is present, as is the big front splitter. The RS3 LMS ditches the new road car's dual exhaust for a cool looking single, center-exit pipe. Inside, it's all bare metal and plastic, ditching any semblance of road-going civility. Under the hood, the RS3 LMS loses the new 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five and replaces it with Volkswagen's 2.0-liter turbocharged four. In this application, the engine pumps out a healthy 330 horsepower. Audi claims a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. Audi says customer deliveries will start in December, so look for the new car on track starting in 2017. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Audi RS3 LMS: Paris 2016 View 10 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Audi RS 3 LMS View 11 Photos Image Credit: Drew Phillips Motorsports Paris Motor Show Audi Racing Vehicles 2016 paris motor show

Audi Q7 honored with IIHS Top Safety Pick + rating

Audi's new, second-generation Q7 crossover is officially one of the safest vehicles on the road, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The non-profit has named the revamped CUV to its Top Safety Pick + list, making it the fourth Audi branded product to be so honored. As we've said before, the TSP + rating is no laughing matter for automakers. Getting it requires not just top-of-the-line crash-test ratings, but at least an "Advanced" rating for its crash-prevention systems. Audi went a step above, though, scoring a "Superior" for its safety systems, alongside an entire array of "Good" ratings on the physical crash testing. This is something of a unique case, though. See, IIHS doesn't typically test vehicles as large as the Q7. The only reason it did was because Audi "nominated" it and even paid for the test vehicles. The last time a "Large SUV" – which is what the Q7 is categorized as – even made a IIHS list was 2013, when General Motors Lambda-based CUVs and the Volkswagen Touareg were honored. Of course, the reason you all probably click on these stories is to see the crashing. Check out how the Q7 fared in the small-overlap test at the top of the page – there's gratuitous slow-mo, so enjoy. Related Video:

Audi A4 TDI plans scrapped for the US

It comes as no great surprise, but Audi of America president Scott Keogh told Automotive News that the automaker has ditched plans to offer the 2.0-liter TDI-powered A4 here in the US. Despite what you may be thinking, Keogh claims the decision isn't based on the ongoing talks between parent company Volkswagen and US regulators regarding the diesel emissions scandal. (Currently, Audi and Volkswagen are awaiting EPA certification for their diesel engines in the US.) The reason, he says, is that the demand for diesel sedans is low here, particularly when compared to the company's lineup of crossovers. "The marketplace speaks, we listen to the marketplace, and the marketplace told us, 'Go with SUVs,'" says Keogh, presumably in his usual straightforward, assuring manner. That's not to say, though, that one doesn't have an effect on the other. We've already seen that the scandal has had an impact on sales. Now, in a country where many were already under the assumption that diesel engines were dirty and noisy, it's no revelation that automakers are less than enthusiastic about expanding their grease-burning offerings. While the news is a bit of a bummer for those of us who have long hoped for more widespread diesel options here in the States (and for whom the whole Dieselgate debacle is downright depressing), there's still plenty to look forward to in terms of greener, cleaner Audis. At the A3 E-Tron event late last year, Keogh was bullish on EVs, promising that it was just the first step in a "substantial commitment." Audi's plan is, in Keogh's words, to "start with the plugs, come in with the full BEVs and then keep rolling from there." He repeated these assurances at the LA Auto show, saying that he expects 20 to 25 percent of Audi's sales to be plug-in vehicles by 2025. Plus, despite the whole diesel thing (which, to be fair, affects far fewer Audi cars than Volkswagens), Audi has been killing it lately. February sales marked a streak of 62 consecutive months of record sales in the US. For an automaker that is repeatedly saying that it believes the future is in electrification, this bodes well for us. Related Video: