2001 Audi A4 Avant Silver Wagon 2.8l 6cyl 5spd Manual on 2040-cars

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Hot Wheels' 2022 Green Speed cars bring EVs to small scale

With more and more EVs hitting the market, it was only a matter of time before the new breed of cars would find representation in diecast form. For 2022, Hot Wheels is coming out with a new Green Speed series that puts the spotlight on a diverse lineup of electric cars. The five-car series features a fun mix of EVs from different manufacturers and in a wide range of styles. Some are completely bone stock. For a traditional luxury sedan, there's a Lucid Air in silver, complete with glass (or in this case, clear plastic) canopy. For fans of Teutonic 4-door "coupes" there's the Audi RS e-Tron GT in Daytona Gray. Ticking the truck box is a Hummer EV in a yellow that can only be described as a throwback to the H3. But because this is Hot Wheels, there are "hot-rodded" variants in the lineup as well. Rather than just a regular Nissan Leaf, they've elected to cast the carbon fiber-bodied NISMO RC 2.0 race car. Likewise with Ford, instead of the standard Mustang Mach-E, they've gone with the Mustang Mach-E 1400 drift car. This isn't the first time Hot Wheels has put out a Green Speed series. The line debuted in 2016 but reflected the limited EV choices in the real car market at the time. The only non-fantasy cars in the series were a first-gen Tesla Roadster, a Tesla Model S, and Chevy Volt. Hot Wheels revisited the line again in 2019, this time adding a Tesla Model 3 and a Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo. Hot Wheels also makes other mini EVs that don't fall into this specific line of models. If you want to collect 'em all, there's the second-generation Tesla Roadster concept, Cybertruck, Jaguar I-Pace, Pininfarina Battista, Porsche Taycan, and a Volkswagen ID R. Similarly, Matchbox has released a version of the Tesla Roadster with sustainable packaging to boot. If you must have an old school gasoline burner, Hot Wheels has plenty of options for you too, like, say, this snazzy FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser. The 2022 Hot Wheels Green Speed series should be on shelves at your local retailers now. Related Video:

Audi S3 with manual transmission still on table for US

The fine folks at Fourtitude recently sat down with Audi of America President Scott Keogh, and among other things, learned that the potent little S3 sedan could be offered with a manual transmission in the United States someday. That sort of sounds like the usual company line to us, but Keogh reportedly said the company is "looking very closely" at adding the manual to the S3, which currently is only available with a dual-clutch automatic.
Fourtitude also brought up the possibility of a hotter RS3 - a vehicle we've seen testing before, as a hatchback. We don't doubt that this more potent compact is already a done deal, but Keogh reportedly mentioned that the sedan will get this treatment. An RS3 for the US? Sign us up, for sure.
Head over to the Audi enthusiast site to read more from their talk with the company's US boss.

Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro concept bringing its 525 horses to W?rthersee

It's almost late May, and you know what that means: the last of the snow has melted, the Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing, the flowers are blooming, and the performance-car faithful are descending on Wörthersee in Austria for the annual GTI-Treffen.
Not only is the Wörthersee Tour (as the automaker calls it) a chance for enthusiasts to show off their rides, it's also a prime opportunity for the Volkswagen Group to show some of its most dedicated customers what it can do. Past meets have given us such notables as the Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro, Volkswagen GTI W12-650 and Skoda Fabia RS 2000 Roadster, to name just a few. And now Audi has emerged as the first VW Group brand to reveal what it has in store.
It's called the A3 Clubsport Quattro, and seems to offer a pretty clear indication of what we should expect of the next RS3. The concept is based on the S3 sedan, but swaps out its 2.0-liter turbo four for a retuned version of Audi's sweet 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five, retuned to produce a massive 525 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque.