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Audi pins hopes on 2016 R18 Le Mans prototype

Down but not out, Audi is carrying forward its endurance racing program with the new R18 you see here. Unveiled on Saturday at the Audi Sport Finale end-of-season event in Munich, the new LMP1 is billed as the company's its most powerful and efficient race car yet. And it has been thoroughly redesigned to bring the Four Ring brand back to the winner's circle. Though technical details remain a closely guarded secret, Audi says that the latest evolution of the R18 (now apparently labeled sans the E-Tron Quattro) benefits from revised aero, lightweight construction, and "a modified hybrid system with lithium-ion batteries for energy storage, plus an efficiency-optimized TDI engine." That spells the end of the mechanical fly-wheel setup of the previous version, but sticks to the diesel fuel that Audi has championed instead of the gasoline favored by rivals Porsche and Toyota. With all its revisions, Ingolstadt undoubtedly hopes this latest version will perform better than the last. This past season was the worst Audi has endured since 2009. Its sister company Porsche beat it to both the drivers' and manufacturers' titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship and to the winner's circle at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That marked the second straight year of defeat in the championship, following Toyota's domination last season, and marked only the third time Audi was defeated at Le Mans since 2000, following Bentley's win in '03 and Peugeot's in '09. In order to avoid costly inter-agency arms race, Audi and Porsche have agreed to each field two entries instead of three in both the championship and the headline race in Western France. Audi has yet to confirm its driver lineup, but Porsche has revealed its lineup consisting of defending champions Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Mark Webber in one car, and Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, and Marc Lieb in the other. That leaves out the Le Mans-winning trio of Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy, and Earl Bamber, with the former already counted out due to an F1 conflict. More powerful and efficient than ever before: Audi R18 celebrates world premiere in Munich - New hybrid race car for the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours - Unchanged driver line-up in the DTM - High demand for new Audi R8 LMS GT3 sports car The brand with the four rings will be entering the 2016 motorsport season with the most powerful and efficient race car Audi has ever built.

Lots of new cars were unveiled in Munich this week. Here's what you might've missed

The 2021 Munich Auto Show is happening this week and due to ongoing corporate travel restrictions, we remained firmly planted on this continent. So, although we can't tell you exactly what it's like inside the futuristic new Mercedes EQE electric sedan or fully appreciate the funky Volkswagen ID.Life concept, there's no shortage of details and analysis to provide.  Obviously, as Germany's premier auto show in 2021, the cars unveiled were primarily from the German brands. We also focused mostly on the cars that might actually make their way to the United States, or at least inspire those that will.   2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE is an electric alternative to the E-Class While the EQS paved the way for Mercedes' electrified future, much like the S-Class before it, the EQE stands to be the car that will move in far greater numbers -- much like the E-Class before it. Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 View 12 Photos   Mercedes-Maybach EQS Concept shows SUV future of the flagship brand Opulence will still have a place in an electrified future, as Maybach gets into the EQ game with a grand electric SUV. Mercedes-Maybach EQS Concept View 4 Photos   Volkswagen ID.Life concept previews the city car's high-riding EV future Well, isn't this adorable? Though perhaps a tad derivative of the Honda E, Volkswagen's blocky little crossover EV nevertheless represents a handsome new direction for VW design. We like this better than the rounded looks of the current ID.3 and ID.4.  2021 Volkswagen ID.Life concept View 20 Photos   BMW i Vision Circular is a 100% recycled and recyclable hatch Behold, the next BMW 3 Series! Just kidding. Besides this, BMW displayed cars in person for the first time that it had previously only unveiled on the interwebs, including the new 2 Series and revised iX3. It also unveiled some bikes. BMW i Vision Circular Concept View 63 Photos   Audi's GrandSphere concept was designed as a road-going private jet Does Audi know what a sphere is? Cause this isn't anything like one. Still, it's quite a handsome thing, and as one of three Sphere-branded concepts, previews the next direction of Audi design (which is pleasantly reminiscent of two-decade-old Mazda design). No complaints here. 2021 Audi GrandSphere concept View 26 Photos   Porsche Mission R is a 1,000-horsepower electric monster Just like the Mission E previewed the Taycan, this apparently previews another future car.

2016 Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron First Drive

While its parent company is still in the throes of an emissions scandal that has thrust the "green" credentials of automakers worldwide under the microscope, Audi is launching its first plug-in hybrid in the US. Audi is ready to double down on its electrified future, putting up its own reputation as collateral. This A3 Sportback E-Tron – a vehicle we've sampled in prototype form – is a tech-savvy plug-in car that could be the perfect vehicle to mark the brand's new commitment to an electric lifestyle. Straightaway, Audi USA President Scott Keogh addressed the TDI situation. He says he and the rest of the company are "shocked, followed by appalled, followed by anger, and now in the phase of drop-dead determination to make this thing right." Out of the 500,000 affected 2.0-liter TDI engines around the world, 14,000 are in Audis: about 3,000 A3 TDI sedans and about 11,000 A3 TDI Sportbacks. "It's quite simple. CARB and the EPA have told us these cars can stay on the road, they will stay on the road until we have a fix, and when we have a fix, we will absolutely fix these cars." The most important thing going forward, Keogh says, is regaining the trust of both the dealers and customers. Audi has been enjoying a bit of momentum in recent years, building a reputation for itself along the way. Audi came on the scene in the US in 1969, but it took until 2010 for the company to sell 100,000 units in a single year. Now, "In 2015, we're starting to look down the barrel of nearly doubling our sales in five years," says Keogh. The A3 achieves a 40-percent segment share, and for 75 percent of those buyers, it is their first purchase of a luxury brand. But as its own pace increases, the momentum of the industry as a whole has pulled Audi toward this foray into electromobility. Enter the A3 Sportback E-Tron. There's a little extra weight from the battery pack, but the suspension does a good job of keeping it unnoticeable while driving. The A3 E-Tron has several strengths working in its favor. First of all, as Keogh puts it, the hatchback is a "real, proper Audi – a real, proper, fully rounded driving machine." Qualifications such as "this is an electric car" don't matter. "People just want to buy a car," he says. It has the technology, build quality, and drivability of an Audi.