June 22nd, 2008
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Audi, Rendered Speculation
We recently gave you details and showed you spy shots of Audi’s forthcoming A7 four-door “coupe”. Not much could be gleaned from the photos though, with the car looking much more like a sport camel than a sport sedan. A year ago, CAR magazine was passing out renderings of the A7 based on information it was getting from insiders. Their images were of an impossibly sleek — and quite good looking — stealthmobile that substituted a huge hatch for a trunk. Auto Express has new renderings of the car, and it maintains all the spirit of the CAR originals. It’s still red and impossibly sleek, with a reptilian, evil eye front end treatment that says “Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you…” We’ve been examining the wheel wells on the spy shots to see if they could really fit wheels as big as those on the rendering — and we can’t say for sure either way. If the 600-hp RS7 variant comes on feet that big, it’ll be a serious looking car indeed. However, unless that rear end is hiding a hatch, you won’t able to fit anything in the trunk except two-by-fours.
[Source: Auto Express via German Car Blog]
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[Source: Autoblog]
June 16th, 2008
Friday we showed you the Death Race trailer which, for the most part, saw a fairly positive reaction from the Jalopnik commentariat rather than the savaging with reckless abandon we expected. But we’re a fickle bunch round these parts so we should have expected nothing less than going against the grain. But we thought we’d reward the most discriminating readership in the automotive webosphere with some real Jason Statham-flavored red meat for the Jalopnik grille, by way of the always authentically automotive Transporter series. Yes friends, here’s the Transporter 3 trailer — and from what we can tell from the few seconds of glimpsing the W12-powered Audi A8 in this Iggy Pop-soundtracked 55 seconds of crank-ed up action, the final installation in the epic trilogy will be more in line with the unrealism of the second movie than the awesomeness of the first. Pity. [Allocine.fr via First Showing]
[Source: Jalopnik: Audi]
June 15th, 2008
Filed under: Motorsports, Audi, Peugeot
As we reported yesterday, Peugeot was clearly the fastest in qualifying for this weekend’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The record-setting runs of all three 908 HDi diesel-powered LMP1 cars places Peugeot’s entire field of entries 1-2-3 on the starting grid. That’s impressive considering two of Peugeot’s car crashed during the past two weeks of practice. Audi is hoping that its team’s experience, quicker pit stops and more fuel efficient R10 LMP1 cars will eventually carry it past the Peugeots, despite starting fourth, fifth and seventh on the 55-car grid. And thanks to the speed of Lola Aston Martin driver Stefan Mücke whose petrol-powered car earned the sixth spot on the starting grid, not all the front runners will be diesel-powered.
As for classes other than LMP1, the next fastest LMP2 class was dominated by the Porsche Spyders not surprisingly, while LMGT1 is being led by the #63 Corvette Racing C6.R. The Corvettes will be chased this year by the particularly fast #50 Larbre Competition Saleen S7 and some slower but determined Aston Martin DBR9s from Aston Martin Racing. Finally, LMGT2 will be another great battle between Porsches and Ferraris, with the #76 Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on pole for the class. Remember the amazing GT2 class finish of last year’s race between Flying Lizard’s Jorg Bergmeister in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo in a Ferrari 430GT? If not, watch it again here as a reminder of why Le Mans is absolutely amazing. Also check out this great post at UltimateCarPage that has a detailed breakdown of all 55 cars with an image of each one and a list of their drivers.
[Source: 24 Hours of Le Mans, UltimateCarPage, Photo by JEAN FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty ]
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[Source: Autoblog]
June 14th, 2008
Do you want an R8, but need it to have more power than the standard 4.2-liter V8’s 420 HP? Well, you could sit around waiting for Audi to bring out the V10-powered model. Or you could try to swipe the V12 TDI concept. But, if you don’t feel like waiting or stealing, you could have a Novidem supercharger bolted to the standard V8.
So, how much power is the blower good for? How about 537 HP at 7000 RPM, and 405 lb-ft of torque at 5900 RPM. That means the sprint from 0-60 should take less than 4 seconds. No word on pricing or US availability, but if you really want more punch from your R8, you’ll find a way.
[via GermanCarScene]
[Source: Jalopnik: Audi]
June 13th, 2008
Filed under: Motorsports, Audi, Peugeot
As we reported yesterday, Peugeot was clearly the fastest in qualifying for this weekend’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The record-setting runs of all three 908 HDi diesel-powered LMP1 cars places Peugeot’s entire field of entries 1-2-3 on the starting grid. That’s impressive considering two of Peugeot’s car crashed during the past two weeks of practice. Audi is hoping that its team’s experience, quicker pit stops and more fuel efficient R10 LMP1 cars will eventually carry it past the Peugeots, despite starting fourth, fifth and seventh on the 55-car grid. And thanks to the speed of Lola Aston Martin driver Stefan Mücke whose petrol-powered car earned the sixth spot on the starting grid, not all the front runners will be diesel-powered.
As for classes other than LMP1, the next fastest LMP2 class was dominated by the Porsche Spyders not surprisingly, while LMGT1 is being led by the #63 Corvette Racing C6.R. The Corvettes will be chased this year by the particularly fast #50 Larbre Competition Saleen S7 and some slower but determined Aston Martin DBR9s from Aston Martin Racing. Finally, LMGT2 will be another great battle between Porsches and Ferraris, with the #76 Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on pole for the class. Remember the amazing GT2 class finish of last year’s race between Flying Lizard’s Jorg Bergmeister in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo in a Ferrari 430GT? If not, watch it again here as a reminder of why Le Mans is absolutely amazing. Also check out this great post at UltimateCarPage that has a detailed breakdown of all 55 cars with an image of each one and a list of their drivers.
[Source: 24 Hours of Le Mans, UltimateCarPage, Photo by JEAN FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty ]
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[Source: Autoblog]
June 13th, 2008
Though we’ll have to wait for the 2008 Paris Motor Show for a full reveal, bit-by-bit the specs are filtering out on the 2009 Audi S4 — or is it 2010 Audi S4 — we’re still confused by Audi’s lack-of-model-year naming scheme for product. We already knew it would get a supercharged (which could mean turbosupercharged, depending upon which report you read) 3.0-liter V6 backed by a 6-speed twin-clutch lovingly referred to as “S-Tronic.” What’s news is that traction control/AWD will be provided by the Quattro system as expected, and that the updated Audi will run the 0-to-62 (0-100 km/h) in under six seconds thanks to approximately 350 HP on tap.
What else? The twin-clutch system is a kissin’ cousin of VW’s DSG, swapping cogs in 200ms and weighing just 40kg more than the 6-speed manual. Of course, despite being less fun for those of us who enjoy a real stick-shift, it performs faster than the human-shifted ‘box and offers benefits in CO2 emissions as well, a key selling point for our European brothers and sisters who actually have to worry about greenhouse gasses. Suckers. We just have to worry about whether it’ll bankrupt our automakers. Damn you, Socialist Euro-trash and your filthy stinking government subsidies and tax exemptions. [World Car Fans]
[Source: Jalopnik: Audi]
June 12th, 2008
Filed under: Concept Cars, Supercars, Audi, GM, Motorcycles, Rumormill
If leaked documentation, which you should avoid if you don’t want to read any plot spoilers, regarding the upcoming Transformers sequel is accurate, it appears that Mr. Bay may be bringing a motorcycle-based female robot to the big screen. We’ve heard that the character known as Arcee was considered for the initial film but was discarded so as not to confuse the audience with multiple gendered robots. If the rendering seen above is any indication, though, we’d imagine that Arcee’s pinky-purple coloring would get that point across right away. There are two female riders listed on a leaked Call Sheet for the upcoming movie, and it appears that they are to be riding the oddly-colored Buell in the film.
Also revealed in the leak is information that leads us to believe that a certain Decepticon may make an appearance as an SR-71, along with what could either be the shapely Audi R8 or the mystery car we showed you yesterday. If the German supercar did show up, it would end the all-GM lovefest and be rather interesting to see morph on-screen, as well. Consider our interest piqued, as if we already weren’t.
[Source: Comic Book Movie]
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[Source: Autoblog]
June 12th, 2008
Filed under: Spy Photos, Convertibles, Paris Motor Show, Audi
The Audi A5 Cabrio won’t be officially unveiled until the Paris Motor Show, but Auto Express has snapped an undisguised tester roaming the hills of Switzerland. The hot-looking A5 Cabrio is sporting a black canvas top, which for now puts to rest notions that a hard-top convertible is in the works. A cloth top makes abundant sense because it will be less complicated than a retractable hard top and also cutting down the on overall tonnage. The Cabrio’s body appears to be unchanged in comparison to the A5 coupe, save for the chrome strip that separates the stowable top from the body. We’re assuming powertrains will remain unchanged versus the A5 coupe, as is typically the case for Audi cabriolets. Rumors of an A5 drop top have been rampant since the minute the coupe was first announced, so it’s nice to see that the gossip has been visually confirmed. Now all we have to wait for is the much-anticipated RS5. Thanks for the tip, rsfourever!
[Source: Auto Express]
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[Source: Autoblog]
June 11th, 2008
Though we’ll have to wait for the 2008 Paris Motor Show for a full reveal, bit-by-bit the specs are filtering out on the 2009 Audi S4 — or is it 2010 Audi S4 — we’re still confused by Audi’s lack-of-model-year naming scheme for product. We already knew it would get a supercharged (which could mean turbosupercharged, depending upon which report you read) 3.0-liter V6 backed by a 6-speed twin-clutch lovingly referred to as “S-Tronic.” What’s news is that traction control/AWD will be provided by the Quattro system as expected, and that the updated Audi will run the 0-to-62 (0-100 km/h) in under six seconds thanks to approximately 350 HP on tap.
What else? The twin-clutch system is a kissin’ cousin of VW’s DSG, swapping cogs in 200ms and weighing just 40kg more than the 6-speed manual. Of course, despite being less fun for those of us who enjoy a real stick-shift, it performs faster than the human-shifted ‘box and offers benefits in CO2 emissions as well, a key selling point for our European brothers and sisters who actually have to worry about greenhouse gasses. Suckers. We just have to worry about whether it’ll bankrupt our automakers. Damn you, Socialist Euro-trash and your filthy stinking government subsidies and tax exemptions. [World Car Fans]
[Source: Jalopnik: Audi]
June 11th, 2008
Filed under: Spy Photos, Convertibles, Paris Motor Show, Audi
The Audi A5 Cabrio won’t be officially unveiled until the Paris Motor Show, but Auto Express has snapped an undisguised tester roaming the hills of Switzerland. The hot-looking A5 Cabrio is sporting a black canvas top, which for now puts to rest notions that a hard-top convertible is in the works. A cloth top makes abundant sense because it will be less complicated than a retractable hard top and also cutting down the on overall tonnage. The Cabrio’s body appears to be unchanged in comparison to the A5 coupe, save for the chrome strip that separates the stowable top from the body. We’re assuming powertrains will remain unchanged versus the A5 coupe, as is typically the case for Audi cabriolets. Rumors of an A5 drop top have been rampant since the minute the coupe was first announced, so it’s nice to see that the gossip has been visually confirmed. Now all we have to wait for is the much-anticipated RS5. Thanks for the tip, rsfourever!
[Source: Auto Express]
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[Source: Autoblog]
