2004 Audi Allroad Quattro Wagon 2.7l Twin Turbo-loaded on 2040-cars

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An Outback for architects | 2017 Audi A4 Allroad First Drive

There are crossovers – big SUV-like things that give people the commanding view of the road they crave so much – and then there are crossovers. Lifted wagons in the vein of the Subaru Outback are arguably the crossover archetype, but they've become the exception, not the rule. That's where the Audi A4 Allroad fits in. Like its predecessor, the 2017 Allroad is a rather good-looking alternative to a mid-size SUV. The A4 Allroad is again based on the lovely A4 Avant, a wagon that isn't sold in America. The Allroad has a slightly raised suspension compared to its overseas counterpart, slightly higher-profile rubber, standard two-tone paint, roof rails, fender flares, lower body cladding, and a grille with vertical slats to emphasize the rugged point. And for reasons that no automotive purist has ever been able to derive, the look totally works. You can have a two-tone Allroad in one of 13 colors with gray trim along the bottom and the fenders. Or, pay an extra $1,000 on top of the cost of metallic paint and you can opt for one of five monochrome color schemes. In either case, you'll get a handsome, aggressive front end; 18-inch five-spoke wheels; standard Xenon or optional LED lighting up front; and LED lighting in the rear. The rear blinkers have a standard swiping effect borrowed from the R8, and the same sequential motion is applied to the front turn signals on models with the optional all-LED headlights. It's a party trick, but a neat one . We'd be hard pressed to think of an interior that Audi has screwed up recently, and the latest A4 has a particularly good one that translates well to the Allroad. No matter the trim you choose, you'll get your choice of dyed leather, including the requisite brown to best showcase the Allroad's rugged intentions. The level of gadgetry and pricing rises as you work your way up the trim tree – from Premium, to Premium Plus to Prestige, with the sweet spot in the middle – and it more or less mirrors that of the A4. Opting for the Technology Package on Premium Plus models gets you Audi's Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster, a fully configurable gauge package that sets the standard for info display in the industry. (It is so choice. If you have the means, we highly recommend picking one – er, it – up.) Here, the optional advanced dash is paired with an 8.3-inch center display, which is equally intuitive and responsive.

2015 Audi A8 and S8 get some new goodies

Luxury car buyers are a demanding bunch. They've got this crazy notion that just because they're spending the better part of a hundred grand on a top-tier luxury sedan, they should get the very best and the cutting edge of what the industry has to offer. That has tended to come down to the S-Class even when it had grown long in the tooth, and now that Mercedes-Benz has rolled out an all-new version, the competition is falling all over itself to release updates to keep their flagship sedans in the running. Jaguar did that just yesterday with its XJ sedan, and now Audi has revealed the latest revisions to its A8 range.
Set to debut at the Frankfurt show in just a few weeks from now, the latest A8 (and its performance version, the S8) benefits from a series of stylistic, powertrain, and technology upgrades. Among the most prominent, of all things, are the new Matrix LED headlights that can automatically lower the high-beams for oncoming vehicles, with integrated turn signals that light up to point in the direction the driver's about to turn. But that's hardly the end of the story.
Audi has apparently reduced the output on the 3.0-liter supercharged V6 to from 328 horsepower to 310 but raised the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 from 414 hp to 435, which now offers a 0-60 run of just 4.5 seconds. That's just three tenths behind the S8, which remains unchanged at 513 hp, as does the 493-hp 6.3-liter W12. The 3.0-liter TDI is up from 247 hp to 258, the 4.2-liter TDI grows from 345 hp to at 385 (with a massive 627 pound-feet of torque to boot) and the hybrid that offers a combined 245 hp and 354 lb-ft. That makes for one massive array of engines globally, although only some of them will be offered Stateside. Each is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive, but thanks to the A8's lightweight construction, it's lighter than any other all-wheel-drive model in its class.

IIHS bestows 2015 Audi A3 with Top Safety Pick+ [w/video]

There's some good news for Audi today, as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has named the all-new A3 one of its Top Safety Pick+, the institute's highest award for safety.
While there are no shortage of cars that can handle the standard IIHS trial, the tough small overlap test needed to earn TSP+ has flummoxed more than a few vehicles from prestigious, safety minded manufacturers. In the A3's case, though, it handled the small-overlap tests well.
According to the IIHS, there wasn't much intrusion into the cabin from the impact, which simulates a 40-mile-per-hour impact on 25 percent of a car's front end. The crash test dummy was held in place, with just a low risk of injuries. You can view the crash test video below, as well as read a brief press release from the IIHS.