Audi S4 Premium Plus Sedan 4-door on 2040-cars

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2015 Green Car Of The Year finalists announced, run alt-fuel gamut

The 2015 edition of the Green Car of the Year award is following right in the footsteps of previous years with a variety of alt-fuel powertrains making the just-announced finalists list. You've got your plug-in vehicle (the BMW i3), your compressed natural gas (the Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel), your high-efficiency diesel (the Audi A3 TDI), your 40+ mile-per-gallon gas engine (the Honda Fit) and, finally, a car that can do a little bit of everything (the VW Golf). The Golf is available – at least in some parts of the US – with three different powertrains: a 2.0-liter diesel, a gasoline engine and all-electric drive. The Impala can burn either natural gas or gasoline in its 3.6-liter engine. The A3 is an efficiency champ, able to get 73.5 mpg on some European tests. The i3 can be a pure electric vehicle or come with a short range extending engine. And the Fit brings 41 miles to the gallon in a practical, affordable package. The GCOY award is announced every year at the Los Angeles Auto Show by Green Car Journal. The committee doesn't just take the fuel-saving technology into account, but also a vehicle's "availability to the mass market." Last year, the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid won top honors, following up on wins from the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) for 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas for 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt for 2011. FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 "GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR"" Green Car Journal to Reveal Winner of 10th Annual Award at LA Auto Show" Press & Trade Days, November 20 LOS ANGELES, CA (October 21, 2014) – Green Car Journal has announced its five finalists for the magazine's high-profile 2015 Green Car of the Year® program. The 2015 models include the Audi A3 TDI, BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award, an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. An increasing number of vehicle models are considered for the Green Car of the Year® program each year, a reflection of the auto industry's expanding efforts in offering new vehicles with higher efficiency and improved environmental impact. Green Car Journal has been honoring the most important "green" vehicles every year at the LA Auto Show, since its inaugural award announced at the show in 2005.

Audi A5 DTM diesel sport coupe thumbs nose at scandal

While the diesel emissions scandal is damaging the reputation of the four-cylinder TDI engines, the torquey, fuel-efficient 3.0-liter TDI V6 at the heart of this latest special edition from Audi is so far unsullied. However that doesn't mean the 3.0 couldn't face investigation at some point in the future before the issue is settled. In the meantime, those outside of North America can look forward to the Audi A5 DTM edition's enticing features. The A5 DTM edition is powered by the same 3.0-liter V6 TDI that we can already get in the A6, A7, and A8 sedans as well as the Q5 and Q7 crossovers. Here, it produces 245 horsepower and 427 pound-feet of torque (in the US-spec A6, the engine is quoted as making 240 hp and 428 lb-ft). The A5 DTM channels its power to all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. That's enough to propel it to 62 in a claimed 5.9 seconds and an electronically-governed top speed of 155 miles per hour. The sporty look is inspired by Ingolstadt's DTM touring car program. That includes a sportier front fascia, Misano red paint, gloss-black trim, 20-inch split-five-spoke alloys, and special badges inside and out. The interior packs the bucket seats from the RS5, Alcantara trim, stainless steel pedals, and more. Audi will only offer 50 examples, priced in Germany at ˆ74,540 – equivalent to about $85k at current exchange rates. Racing spirit – The Audi A5 DTM selection limited-edition model - Limited run going into production from October - 20-inch wheels, bucket seats and Misano red finish - Third DTM special edition from Audi Audi is taking the spirit of the DTM from the racetrack to the road – with the Audi A5 DTM selection* special edition. A powerful 3.0 TDI developing 180 kW (245 hp), 20-inch wheels, dynamic design and bucket seats reveal the two-door coupe's connections with the race version that has featured in the German Touring Car Masters (DTM). The Audi A5 DTM selection turns heads with its special racing design. The front lid, doors and rear window are emblazoned with dynamically designed DTM, quattro and Audi Sport logos. The Misano red paint finish contrasts with high-gloss black add-on parts on the front, sills and rear, giving added emphasis to the sports appeal of this limited-edition model. The front apron and the large air inlets with their rhombus-pattern grilles also contribute to its special looks. The cast aluminum wheels by Audi Sport embrace a five twin-spoke design in matt titanium look.

Autoblog's adventures at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race [spoilers]

The brand-new Audi R8 LMS, said to share 50 percent of its components with the street-legal R8 shown off at Geneva, has won its very first race at the 2015 Nurburgring 24-Hours. The No. 28 car driven by Christopher Mies, Edward Sandstrom, Nico Muller, and Laurens Vanthoor for the Audi Sport WRT team out of Belgium finished only 40.279 seconds ahead of the No. 25 BMW Sport Team Marc VDS Z4 GT3 in second place, for the smallest winning gap since the race began in 1970. Those two cars traded the lead throughout Sunday morning and were less than a minute away from one another for the last two hours. They were part of a total 35 lead changes during the entire race – a record for the event – and both did 156 laps. Third place went to the No. 44 Falken Tire Porsche 997 GT3, one lap down. The Audis did what they always do: lurked close to the front, stayed out of trouble, then pounced when everyone else faltered. For the opening stretches the BMW Z4 teams owned it, running 1-2-3 for a while, but all of them hit trouble. When morning came and the race got over its yellow-flag fever, the No. 28 Audi was in front and stayed there. It was the third Nurburgring 24-Hour win for Audi in four years, the brand's first win only coming in 2012. Last year's winner, the Phoenix Audi team that set a race record by doing 159 laps, had both of its cars retire. One hit an oil patch about 12 hours in, spun and was hit by another car behind, taking on too much damage to continue. The other retired with engine issues. Other Notes Three cars crashed out of the race while leading, after the rains that weren't supposed to happen, happened about 90 minutes in. The No. 20 Schubert BMW Z4 led the first 50 minutes of the race, hopped a crest at Pflanzgarten, landed in a pool of water, and hit the wall on the 30th lap. Then the No. 30 Frikadelli Porsche, with a driver team that included ex-'Ring Taxi driver Sabine Schmitz, hit the No. 31 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on the approach to Carrousel and crashed out. Then the No. 1 Phoenix Audi, last year's winning car, took the lead but hit the wall after that oil patch near Pflanzgarten and was out of the race. Aston Martin celebrated a class win in the SP8 category with the No. 49 Vantage GT4 N430. This being the tenth anniversary of the Vantage running the Nurburgring-24, this year's car was painted in the same colors as the racecar from ten years ago.