2002 Audi A4 Quattro Base Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Ram and Alfa Romeo top J.D. Power study of best automaker websites

Imagining a new car can be terrific fun, especially if the new car is an Alfa Romeo. So say the fantasy engineers at the J.D. Power agency, who’ve found that Alfa and Ram, sister brands under the Stellantis umbrella, offer potential buyers the most attractive consumer websites, which are often their first viable encounter with those vehicles. Power found that those marques lead the mass market and premium categories in its twice annual Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study. In the premium segment, Alfa Romeo led with 755 points, up six points over BMW, 10 points ahead of Infiniti, 14 points past of Jaguar, and 18 points up on Porsche. By contrast, Volvo and Audi trail the pack with 689 points, and are behind Genesis (699 points), Tesla (720), and Cadillac (721), all of which perform worse than the premium segment average of 724 points. The summerÂ’s study showed that in the mass market segment, Ram leads with an impressive 735 points, which puts it six points ahead of GMC, seven points atop its stablemate Jeep, eight points beyond Subaru, and 22 points ahead of the industry average. Volkswagen finished dead last among mass market names, but only one point behind Ford, 684 to 683 out of a possible 1,000. Segment average, as noted, was 713 points. “Website satisfaction can be volatile, and automotive websites are not immune to changing preferences,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “However, manufacturers have shown to be very agile when it comes to website design and ensuring their sites meet modern standards, more so than many other industries, as exemplified through the study data.” Marketing/Advertising Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Ford Volkswagen

Recharge Wrap-up: New and old Audis get greener, as does US electricity

Audi has made environmental improvements to the its TT while boosting performance. The new TT sees an 11-percent reduction in emissions, and up to 14 percent more power. Audi says that each TT will save around 5.5 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifecycle. Additionally, the TT's manufacturing process has been cleaned up a bit, reducing emissions by about nine percent. Read more in the press release, below, or see Audi's lifecycle assessment here. Speaking of greening up Audis, Al Swackhammer of Washington converted his 1960 Audi DKW 1000S to run on electric power. Swackhammer first fell in love with the Audi Ur-Quattro, became an enthusiast of Audi and Volkswagen cars, and has owned nothing else ever since. With his DKW, he combined his passion for the classic car with his responsibility to the environment. "I am pleased that I did this project," says the happy owner, "and I enjoy driving it very dearly." Meet the man and his beloved electric Audi DKW in the video below. Toyota has chosen a sustainable design firm, Corgan, as the lead architect for its new North American headquarters. The new campus will be built in Plano, TX, and will be the workplace of about 4,000 Toyota employees. Corgan, who has already done 47 LEED certified projects, is already designing a temporary office for the site while it finishes the project. Toyota expects to begin working from the site in late 2016 or early 2017. Learn more in the press release below. In July, all new electrical generating capacity in the US came from renewable sources. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects' newest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report says new electric generation put into service last month came from wind (379 megawatts), solar (21 megawatts) and hydro (5 megawatts). So far this year, 53 percent of new energy generation capacity has come from various renewable sources, and none from coal or nuclear. Currently, renewable energy accounts for 16.3 percent of the US electric generation capacity, providing about 14 percent of actual electricity. Read more in the press release from the Sun Day Campaign below. Positive life cycle assessment for the new Audi TT Compact sports car scores high for dynamic performance and efficiency Emissions reduced by 11 percent compared with predecessor Customer benefits from the very first mile Ingolstadt, August 18, 2014 – Dynamic performance and efficiency: The new Audi TT* impressively combines both qualities.

New Audi R8 Spyder V10 Plus is a topless brute

If the "normal" 540-horsepower R8 Spyder isn't doing it for you, the wait is over. Audi has upped its convertible, mid-engined Huracan sibling to Plus spec, which means the FSI V10 gets a whopping 70-horsepower bump, all the way up to 610. Plus, like its lowlier sibling, you get a power folding soft top that goes up or down at up to 31 mph. But wait, there's more! The normal R8 Spyder can hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds, according to the manufacturer, while the new one will hit 62 mph in 3.3 seconds. (Since the first specs we have are for the European version, we get 0-100 km times rather than 0-60 mph times. It's clear the V10 Plus is notably quicker.) No matter where you buy one, each V10 Plus will rev out to 8,700 rpm. Top speed increases slightly, to 203.8 mph – much faster than you'd want to go with the top down, surely. The rest of the powertrain is standard R8. There's a seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch gearbox, the only transmission available, and Quattro all-wheel drive standard. Like the standard R8, it can send up to 100 percent of its power to either axle in extreme situations, and there's a rear differential locker for added traction. While a variable-assist steering rack is an option, the standard steering box is an electromechanical unit. Inside and out, there's a lot of exotic stuff. Optional Audi laser headlights and standard Audi virtual cockpit tick the box for Euro technophiles, while diehard Audi Sport enthusiasts will appreciate the carbon fiber diffuser that adds up to 220 pounds of downforce to the package. Speaking of pounds, that top weighs 97 pounds, but the total package weighs 55 less than the regular R8 Spyder. That weight savings is due to lightweight bucket seats, carbon ceramic brakes (15 inches up front, 14 in the back), and lighter alloy wheels. The cars will be delivered in Europe in late summer. We'll know more about US-market cars soon, surely.