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Spy video shows Audi RS4 Avant twin-turbo V6 lapping the Nurburgring

Nurburgring testing season is in full swing, and Audi took some of its newest upcoming models for a spin. That means our first listen to Ingolstadt's new, turbocharged RS engine under the hood of the RS4. Based off the updated A4, the new RS4 Avant is a return to the performance variant's roots. The original RS4 (and early versions of the S4) used twin-turbo V6 power, although more recent models stuffed the beloved 4.2-liter V8 under the hood. The turbo engine in the new model is also rumored to find its way into the back of the R8 supercar. We don't know horsepower figures yet, but with 450 horsepower as the benchmark from the last RS4 we expect big numbers from the six-cylinder. The new engine might be just as powerful as the old V8, but as you'll see in the video, it's missing the phenomenal growl that the 4.2-liter made as it revved to the sky. This new car is quiet, especially compared to the ear-tingling five-cylinder note of the TT RS testing alongside the wagon. A quiet performance car is fine if you like stealth, but with its flared wheel arches, oval exhausts, and big wheels, the RS4 is a car that's anything but subtle. Related Video: News Source: Car Spy News via YouTube Spy Photos Audi Wagon Luxury Performance Videos

Audi Prologue concept drives itself to CES with updated powertrain

What's the point in crafting a one-off concept car if it only gets to stand in the spotlight at one show? That's what automakers have been asking themselves recently, and the answer has, generally speaking, been to repaint their show cars, give them a bit of new tech and put them back on center stage. And the latest to do so is Audi, which has given its Prologue concept a new lease on life. The Prologue was originally unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show less than two months ago, showing the way forward for the future of Audi design, in an elegant coupe form that looked ready to take on the Mercedes S-Class Coupe. We even got a chance to drive it around the streets of LA, and when we did, we marveled at the concept's advanced infotainment system that caters a range of personal preferences according to who's on board. "It's easy to see how this could even reach for chauffeured, or autonomously driven vehicles" in the future, we said at the time. And it turns out Audi was on the same page. At CES this year, Audi has brought back the Prologue concept, given it a darker coat of grey paint, a grey-tone interior (instead of the previous shades of brown and tan), a fresh set of wheels and equipped it with the autonomous tech the German automaker has been at the forefront of developing. Though other automakers have been fitting their self-driving prototypes with all-electric powertrains, Audi kept the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in place – but fitted it with a hybrid assist to drive output up from an already prodigious 605 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque to an even more impressive 677 hp and 701 lb-ft, dropping the 0-62 time down to 3.5 seconds. Now that's the kind of "piloted driving" tech (as Audi calls it) that we can get behind.

Audi SQ7 coming, will have electric turbo

Formula 1 and endurance racing are already harvesting energy from turbos on the track, and now it's apparently time for a similar idea of boosting the efficiency of forced induction to hit the streets in a high-performance, diesel SUV.
In a recent interview with the UK's Autocar, Audi technical boss Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg let the big news slip. "The new Q7 will be available in the market next year but the electric turbo will come a bit later in the Audi SQ7 available in 2016," he said. The e-turbo system was already rumored for the premium SUV but for the standard model, not this just-announced performance version.
Audi has been experimenting with the e-turbo system for a little while, as an electrically driven supercharger. It showed up on the RS5 TDI concept that used a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged diesel V6 plus the electric system to diminish turbo lag. In that application, it provided an impressive 385 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque and an alleged sprint to 62 miles per hour in 4 seconds. Although, Dr. Hackenberg didn't make it clear if this was the exact layout for the SQ7.