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Autoblog Podcast #344

Doug DeMuro from Plays With Cars, Infiniti Q50, Subaru BRZ STI, Porsche Macan
Episode #344 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Executive Editor Chris Paukert are joined by Doug DeMuro, author of Plays With Cars and prolific internet autowriting presence. Topics include the latest spy shots of the Porsche Macan, the 2014 Infiniti Q50, and the teaser images we've recently seen of a Subaru BRZ wearing STI badges. As always, we start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. You can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #344:

Audi reveals even more efficient 2015 R18 E-Tron Quattro

We've seen two of this year's LMP1 manufacturer challengers – Porsche's updated 919 Hybrid and Nissan's GT-R LM Nismo. Audi has finished cooking up the successor to its Le Mans champion and unveiled the fifth-generation R18 E-Tron Quattro, even better than before. The bodywork monocoque is carried over, but the body around it has been reshaped to improve airflow from front to rear with a new hood, front fenders and wheel arches, and radiator configuration. The engine cover behind the cockpit is shrunk more closely around the engine, and there are new headlights. The hybrid system can expend double the energy per lap this year, putting Audi in the four-megajoule class under the energy-use regulations. That extra energy will come from 17-percent more capacity built into the flywheel storage system and an electric motor good for 272 horsepower. The revisions haven't increased the weight of the car, pegged to the minimum allowed at 870 kilograms. They have, however, forced changes to the TDI engine, which has to use 2.5-percent less fuel per lap to offset the increased hybrid output. The 558-hp V6 has been optimized such that it "managed to more than compensate for the loss" of fuel allowed, and Audi expects "significantly" lower lap times this year and less fuel used. We're still waiting to see what Toyota has done to its World Endurance Championship-winning racer, but we're already looking forward to this year's Le Mans. It's going to be cracking. You'll find a press release below the videos with more info on the Audi. Related Video: New Audi R18 e-tron quattro even more efficient - Aerodynamics, hybrid drive and many other details improved - Efficient TDI engine consumes even less fuel than before - Technologies from Le Mans winning cars now in production at Audi Ingolstadt, March 21, 2015 – Audi is starting the 2015 season with a thoroughly revised R18 e-tron quattro. In the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the Le Mans 24 Hours as the season's pinnacle event, Audi is going to compete with a hybrid sports car in the 4-megajoule class. A twofold quantity of hybrid energy, fundamentally revised aerodynamics, the next step in lightweight design and a lot of detailed work characterize the fifth generation of the Audi R18. "The possibilities of the revolutionary regulations that have been in effect for LMP sports cars since 2014 are far from having been fully used.

The hot hatch without a hatch | 2017 Audi S3 First Drive

The 2017 Audi S3 is a car without equal. That might end up on a billboard, but it's actually meant quite literally, as in the S3 has no direct competitor. Other compact luxury sedans, of which there are few, can't match its performance. The BMW 2 Series has two doors, plus it's rear-drive. The bonkers Mercedes-AMG CLA45 is on another power and price planet altogether. The mechanically related VW Golf R isn't a luxury car and has a hatch instead of a trunk. And so the S3 exists as an oddity. But it's a fun oddity, and a well-made one too. For 2017, it receives a number of noteworthy changes to keep it fresh and technologically relevant. Most also apply to the 2017 Audi A3, the car on which it's based, which itself gets a new 2.0-liter turbo four base engine in place of the old 1.8-liter. Paired with front-wheel drive and essentially a variation of the Quattro model's carry-over 2.0-liter, it produces 186 horsepower (up from 170) and returns 29 mpg combined (up from 27). That revamped A3 wasn't on hand for the press drive in Durham, North Carolina, so we were not-at-all stuck with the 2017 S3. Its own 2.0-liter turbo four is unchanged, still pumping out 292 hp and 280 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. Audi says it'll hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, which is a full second quicker than the 220-hp A3 Quattro as well as about a half-second quicker than the Audi A4 Quattro. That bonkers CLA45 is around the four-second mark. Indeed, having so much power in such a small sedan is a novel and grin-inducing experience. The throttle response is sharp enough in standard mode, but tap the dash-mounted Audi Drive Select toggle to choose Dynamic, and it comes even more alive, eagerly shooting the S3 forward with the merest hint of a toe wiggle. The DSG is also quite happy to downshift when called upon, either by said toe or by itself when under braking. Blipping down two gears when heading into a corner is commonplace here, as are the sharp little barks that emanate from the S3's quad exhaust tips. And then there's the S3's Quattro all-wheel drive, which has been updated for 2017 with the same performance-oriented system found in the TT and TTS. Although its front/rear torque split is constantly changing based on current traction conditions, it nevertheless skews towards a rear torque bias to the point that, when in Dynamic mode, it won't reduce power in oversteer situations.