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Jon Olsson's 1,000-hp Audi RS6 Avant stolen at gunpoint, burned

Swedish professional freeskier Jon Olsson loves some insanely modified vehicles, like his Rebellion R2K, but tragedy recently struck for one of his crazier former rides. The custom Audi RS6 Avant was a wild wagon with DTM-inspired bodywork and an engine tuned to a claimed 1,000 horsepower. Unfortunately, the machine was stolen in a brazen armed robbery. Making matters even worse, the crooks torched the car at the end of their joyride. Olsson drove the tuned RS6 in this year's Gumball 3000, and later sold it to a dealer in the Netherlands, according to Auto Evolution. Recently, the wagon was taking part in a photo shoot in Amsterdam. That's when two armed men showed up to steal the Audi. Somehow in the chaos, the robbers' van caught fire, and they got away with the RS6. The criminals weren't too clever, though, because they didn't think to grab the key from the owner's pocket, Car Throttle reported. That would have made the Audi much more difficult to start again, if they shut if off. Although, that apparently never became a problem. The crooks sped off and eventually dumped the car before police were ever able to get them. In a final act of destruction, the thieves also incinerated the one-of-a-kind RS6. An investigation is ongoing. Olsson's Instagram post below shows how little is left of this once incredibly cool wagon. "But now I am more motivated than ever to follow this build up with something just as good," Olsson wrote on his website. Poor poor #RS6DTM Such a sad sight! ??? Who would do such a thing! #hurtsmyheart A photo posted by Jonolsson1 (@jonolsson1) on Oct 15, 2015 at 8:03am PDT Related Video:

Looking for meaning in Audi killing off its $1m electric supercar

Audi's most ambitious - well, most expensive, anyway – electric vehicle is no more. After building fewer than 100 of them (perhaps a lot fewer), Audi has cancelled the R8 E-Tron. Maybe it was the million-dollar-plus price tag. Maybe it was the " supreme hand-built quality." Maybe it was the fact that a non-electric R8 could be had for $164,150. Whatever the reason, was killing the R8 E-Tron a good idea? The R8 E-Tron would have been a good halo vehicle for the brand Here's the case for this being a shortsighted move. As we all know, the VW Group – and Audi especially – is in the middle of an electrification kick, and the R8 E-Tron would have been a good halo vehicle for the brand. Instead, it can stand as a prime example of waffling on the promise of plug-in vehicles. After all, Audi used to be incredibly proud of the R8 E-Tron, even if it had a tough history. The whole program was an on-again/ off-again kind of thing, but with enough momentum to get the EV some time at the Nurburgring. With both Mercedes and the EQ brand and BMW with its i brand moving strong into EVs, letting the headline be "Audi killed an EV" is not exactly fitting. It's not like Audi was wasting time making a lot of these. The R8 E-Tron went on sale in 2015 to customers who made a special request for it, and apparently only 100 did. But let's stop there. Getting 100 people to plunk down a million dollars or so for a car totals up to be a lot of money. There's no reason for Audi to price the car this high (forerunner vehicle programs almost always lose money for a time, just ask Toyota RE the Prius), but it did. And $100 million (if almost 100 were indeed sold) is nothing to scoff at, is it? It obviously wasn't enough to keep the lines and tooling open for this limited vehicle, and that sort of opens up a bigger question. Does the end (the second end, really) of the R8 E-Tron say something more important about EVs? Are they becoming less exotic high-end fixtures and more everyday transport? In a world full of Bolts and Ioniqs and E-Golfs – so, the world of 2017 and beyond – does a super high-end EV have any meaning? Gas-powered cars have managed to pull this off for decades, with Lamborghinis and Maseratis surviving just fine even with millions of Corollas out there. In a more-developed EV ecosystem, expensive EVs like the R8 should be able to do the same. Just not right now.

Audi A5 and S5 Sportbacks look slinky for the Paris Motor Show

Following closely on the heels of the updated Audi A5 and S5 refresh, the German automaker introduced the 2017 Audi A5 and S5 Sportback. The vehicles are set for an official debut at the Paris Motor Show next month and share many of the same exterior touches as the regular coupes. Audi's sportback models are not sold in the US. A spokesman from Audi told Autoblog that the automaker is still deciding whether to bring the vehicles to the US. The A5 and S5 Sportback are aimed at drivers that want the same feel as the coupe with the added functionality of a hatchback – think wagon meets sedan. Besides the extra set of doors, there's very little that differentiates the sportback models from the coupes. The new models are built upon Volkswagen's MLB platform, which makes the car roughly 190 pounds lighter than the outgoing model. European customers will be able to choose between two TFSI and three TDI engines for the A5 Sportback. The engines range from a 2.0-liter inline-four that makes 190 horsepower to a 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel V6 putting out 286 hp. The engines can be paired to a six-speed manual transmission, seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch gearbox or an eight-speed tiptronic unit. Front-wheel drive is standard, with all-wheel drive as an available option on two variants. AWD comes standard when opting for the more powerful engines. The vehicles will also feature Audi's new Quattro Ultra all-wheel-drive system that can disconnect the rear wheels to be more fuel efficient. The S5 Sportback is the one enthusiasts will enjoy as it packs a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that's good for 354 hp and 369 pound-feet of torque. Audi claims the S5 Sportback, even with the addition of its new doors, will be able to get to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds, which is the same time as its two-door counterpart. In addition to the diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles, the A5 Sportback g-tron will be offered for drivers looking for flexible fuel choices. The g-tron model is powered by a 170-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged-inline-four that can run on Audi e-gas, natural gas or regular gasoline. The exterior design is nearly identical to that of the coupes with Audi's new single frame grille and muscular front end. The rear incorporates a fastback-like design, similar to the one found on the A7, which helps soften the vehicle out – all sport in the front and luxury in the rear.