2013 Audi A8 3.0t Quattro Clean Carfax 1 Owner Bose Loaded Low Miles Warranty on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi follows suit with TDI stop-sale

Yesterday, Porsche issued a stop-sale on its Cayenne Diesel, following the news that the Volkswagen Group's 3.0-liter diesel V6 is also fitted with cheating software. Now, according to Automotive News, Audi is issuing a similar stop-sale in the US, but in the case of that brand, it affects more than just one model. Audi's stop-sale covers diesel-powered versions of the 2013-2015 Q7, as well as the 2014-2016 A6, A7, A8, and Q5. All of these models can be had with the 3.0-liter TDI V6, which up until this week's news, was not included in Volkswagen's massive diesel scandal. No recall is currently planned, according to Automotive News. Additionally, Volkswagen has yet to issue a stop-sale on its Touareg TDI, which also uses the 3.0-liter V6. The Touareg TDI can still be found on Volkswagen's consumer site, as of this writing.

Audi RS3 sedan spied testing at the Nurburgring

Although American enthusiasts often miss out on foreign forbidden fruit, we've known for a while that the Audi RS3 will probably make it to the United States in 2017. While there's been no official word, Audi of America CEO Scott Keogh has made it clear he wants to bring the car over. Audi already sells the handsome RS3 Sportback in Europe, but since European hot hatches don't tend to fly here it will most likely come only as a sedan. Now we have spy shots to drool over. View 7 Photos These gallery above shows the 2016 RS3 Sportback that sits at the top of the range in Europe. The RS3's turbocharged five-cylinder engine sends power through Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system, propelling the car to 62 mph in just over four seconds. We can only make an educated guess as to what will power the RS3 sedan. Quattro all-wheel drive is a given, as is turbocharging. The European RS3 Sportback comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch that will probably make it to the US. In that car, the transmission is fed by a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine making 362 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque. Rumors suggest that Audi will make up for lost time by giving us the 400-hp inline-five that powers the new TT RS. These spy photos show a black RS3 sedan ripping around the Nurburgring, partially covered in camouflage. Through the camo we can see all of the basic hallmarks of Audi's RS line: cues like larger wheels, brakes, and a spoiler. The front has a hexagonal pattern in the grille that's typical of RS models, while the air intakes are larger and the chin spoiler looks to sit lower than the standard car's. From the side we can see different skirts and fixed brake calipers. Around back two large exhaust pipes replace those of the standard car, which may be the biggest indication that the vehicle is in fact the RS3. Models like the S3 and S4 have quad exhaust tips, while RS models feature two large exits like the ones on the 2016 RS3 Sportback. For 2017, Audi has made some changes to the A3 line, but we haven't heard or seen anything official from Audi regarding the 2017 RS3, be it Sportback or sedan. With the A3 and S3, the interior benefits from the company's fantastic virtual cockpit digital gauge cluster. The company also added some driver assistance features and refreshed the car visually with new front and rear facias.

Winterkorn kept diesel scandal secret, letter claims

Former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn allegedly kept quiet for two weeks about emissions defeat devices in the company's models. US officials eventually made the automaker's deception public on September 18th. "In the conversation on 03.09.2015 with the regulator CARB (California Air Resources Board), the defeat device was admitted," an employee told Winterkorn on September 4, according to Reuters citing Germany's Bild am Sonntag. Based on this information, Winterkorn had plenty of time to admit the problem. Evidence like this letter continues to suggest top figures knew about the emissions problem. In addition, a separate Bild am Sonntag report recently claimed that an employee emailed Winterkorn in May 2014 to tell him US regulators could discover the cheating. In the lower echelons of the company, the deception was allegedly an open secret among engineers as early as 2006, and people kept quiet even after workers tried to admit what was happening. This culture of secrecy seems to go even deeper than just the diesel emissions scandal. For example, engineers admitted that they cheated on CO2 tests to meet the company's strict standards. According to Green Car Reports, these problems also affected the US. In 2004, an Audi worker in America allegedly discovered an issue with the exhaust gas temperature sensor in some vehicles, but a German executive said not to admit the problem to US regulators. It's not clear whether any high level employees tried to fix the diesel emissions issue or if they simply kept the problem hidden. The company's internal report, which is due in the latter half of April, might address that concern. So far, the VW Group has said only a small group of people caused the scandal. However, these many allegations to the contrary make that claim difficult to believe. Related Video: