2001 Audi Tt Quattro Roadster (convertible) 225 Hp - 6 Speed Manual Transmission on 2040-cars

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Audi tops Consumer Reports' brand rankings while Tesla leads domestics at eighth

Tesla supplanted General Motors' Buick division as the top-ranked US automaker in Consumer Reports annual brand rankings, though the electric-vehicle maker finished eighth among global automakers. Buick had finished atop CR's domestic car-brand list for three years before Tesla leapfrogged it. Scores were calculated from a combination of performance, owner satisfaction, and reliability. CR noted that Buick scored big on reliability but not so high on performance, while Tesla appeared to present the opposite case. Volkswagen's Audi division repeated as the best overall brand for the second straight year, beating out VW's Porsche unit, BMW, Toyota's Lexus division, and Subaru. Kia and Mazda followed those brands, while Honda finished ninth, between Tesla and Buick. Consumer Reports took results from 31 brands. Reliability issues related to the Toyota Tacoma helped drop that Japanese automaker out of the top 10. Take a look at CR's results for its Annual Brand Report Card here. That Tesla, Audi, and Porsche placed so high is topical, given some of the issues plaguing those automakers. Audi, Porsche, and their parent VW have been coping with the effects of the diesel-emissions scandal that broke back in 2015. The scandal has cost Europe's largest automaker billions of dollars, and forced VW to put a stop-sale on diesel-powered cars in the US in late 2015. And while the Tesla Model S improved from the "worse-than-average" label CR gave it in its 2015 Annual Auto Reliability Survey, the problematic falcon-wing doors on the Tesla Model X SUV pulled that model's reliability scores lower last year. Additionally, the Model X's climate-control system and door locks have also caused issues. Toyota and Lexus finished atop CR's reliability rankings last year. Related Video:

Audi Q7 plug-in hybrid spied, Porsche powertrain possible

It's no secret that a new Audi Q7 is on the way. The replacement for the aging, three-row luxury CUV has already been spotted once, in December of 2013. Now, though, we have images of the second-generation model lapping Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife, and it just happens to be showing a feature we reported on at the end of July - a plug-in-hybrid powertrain.
Given away by its high-voltage stickers on the window and a spare door to hide the charger - note how both the driver and passenger sides sport an access point - our spies snapped a series of photos, and put forth the compelling idea that the new Q7 would use the PHV system from the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid.
If that's the case, that should mean at least 320 horsepower from a 3.0-liter, supercharged V6, while an electric motor chips in a further 95 ponies for a total system output of 416 hp.

Audi launches 2014 TDI models with hilarious spot

Audi has unveiled a set of new television spots that seek to continue the company's proselytizing of diesel-fueled luxury cars to the American pubic. With TDI versions of the A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 available for its 2014 model year range, this is a subject that's obviously near and dear to the hearts of Audi marketers.
The first commercial, The Station, makes a play on the fact that many car buyers in the US don't associate luxury cars (in this case an A8) with those green-handled pumps at the "gas" station. The second commercial, Range, is a lot more informative (albeit less fraught with screaming and slowmo), discussing just how easy it should be to find a diesel fueling station in your long-range TDI before you need to fill up.
Continue on below for a look at both new commercials, or to have Audi explain them to you in great detail, via its press release.