New Audi Quattro Life Again

The name of the Audi Quattro rally ever formations in the world arena in the era of the 1980s. In fact, HP's 550-powered car driven by motion of four-wheel racer French woman, Michele Mouton, had seized the world's runner-up position in 1985. However, entering the 1990s, Audi disappeared from the scene of the rally.

Reportedly, the German car manufacturer wanted to produce the Audi Quattro. Concept car was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show 2010. However, according to some information, the Audi Quattro will be built by Audi S5 platform.

The designers and engineers have demonstrated the concept to Audi board Audi. The company reportedly is ready to give the green light to the production phase, although there has been no confirmation of when it will be announced. However, Autocar Audi Quattro leaking information that will be marketed in 2013.

In terms of design, appearance of the Audi Quattro is very cool and has a very strong impression that sport. The lines are a strong feature of the Audi Quattro longer appear on the front, except for double headlights hidden in the bumper above, plus a hood that there is a kind of thin air cavity.

New Car Audi A6 Hybrid for US

New car Audi A6 Hybrid is designed for U.S. and European markets. This car has a hybrid powertrain that combines Audi's 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct injection gasoline engines with electric motors. This combination gives the combined-245 hp. Audi A6 Hybrid has a fuel economy, estimated at just below 38 mpg. Hybrid powertrain uses 8-speed automatic transmission. transmission sends power to the front wheels. (Audi Quattro all-wheel drive system is not available in hybrid models.)

Audi A6 Hybrid can operate in a mode-own gas, electricity-alone mode, or a mixture of the two. When running only on electric power, Audio claims A6 has a maximum speed of 62 mph, accelerate to speeds that at about 7.3 seconds. Range car electric power alone is only about two miles.

New Audi A4 2012

New Audi A4 is equipped with engine 2.0-liter 211-hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine, featuring FSI direct fuel injection, transmissions available include a six-speed manual, six-speed automatic with Tiptronic manual mode shift, and the Multitronic CVT. Every Audi A4 is equipped with the Premium package, including power sunroof, 17-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery, automatic climate control, satellite radio and an additional input jack

Latest Audi A6 Offers Shared hybrid version

Audi strengthen its competitiveness in the medium luxury sedan segment with the launch of new models (the redesign) A6. In the country of origin, A6 will fight with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. In Germany alone, the new A6 sold in early 2011 which left only 30 days longer.

Compared with previous versions, the new A6 is more flat and short. Views can be seen from the dimensions: length 4.92 m, 1.87 m width, and height 1.46 m, and 2.91 meters wheelbase. The width and wheel axis distance increases.

Another thing to be proud of Audi, the new A6 weight lighter than its competitors. Because the construction of the body are made with steel-aluminum composites so that 15 percent lighter than the steel body construction only. The weight of the car-not including driver-1575 kg (using a 2.0 TDI engine).

Further, this car is also equipped with safety and comfort features as well as multi-media more and more.

Engine options
Audi provides 5 engine options, which are divided into 2 petrol and 3 diesel engines with 4 and 6 cylinder format. For gasoline, there is a 3.0 liter engine direct injection TFSI was equipped with a supercharger, 2.0 liter TFSI engine, and TFI engine with turbocharger.

2.8 FSI engine, a V6 without a turbocharger to produce power 150 kW (240 PS) and torque 280 rpm Nm@5.250-6.500. The most powerful petrol engine is a 3.0 liter TFSI. This machine is configured V6-powered 220 kW (300 PS), and has a torque of 440 Nm@2.900-4.450 rpm.

For diesel, the most efficient engine is a 2.0 liter TDI 4-cylinder that produces power 130 kW (177 PS) and torque 380 rpm Nm@1.750-2.500. The newest machines configured V6, 3.0 liter, and without a turbo. This machine is powered 150 kW (204 PS) and torque of 400 Nm@1.250-3.500 rpm.

Still to diesel, the engine is the most top of a powerful 3.0 liter TDI 180 kW (245 PS) and torque of 500 Nm@1.400-3.250 rpm. Audi claims, A6 with this engine can sprint from 0-100 km / h in just 6.1 seconds.

Hybrid version
Audi also announced that they will soon present the A6 hybrids with two engine options. First, the combination (combined in parallel) 2.0 TFSI petrol engine (55 kW or 211 PS) with an electric motor that produces power 33 kW (45 PS) and 155 Nm of torque. Electric motor mounted directly behind the TFSI, inhabiting the place of the torque converter 8-speed tiptronic transmission and torque to the front wheels forward. This is the second hybrid from Audi after Q5 quattro.

Other hybrid models use the V6 engine with equal efficiency 4-cylinder engine (gasoline engine). Acceleration capabilities, for 0-100 km / h, 7.3 seconds with a top speed of 238 km / h and fuel consumption average of 16 km / liter.

For batteries, use lithium-ion Audi stored in the trunk. The battery can store 1.3 kWh of electricity, while the maximum power produced by 39 kW. The battery can be cooled in two ways. The first way, the air blown from the interior. The second method, using a car air conditioner refrigerant circuit. In this way, the working temperature of the battery can be maintained so that the ability to produce power always remained in various weather conditions.

Performance
For the hybrid version, Audi claims that these products can speed up to 100 km / h with only utilize electrical energy from the battery. However, when accelerated at a constant speed of 60 km / hour, the battery can only be for a distance of 3 km.

The system works on combustion mode only or hybrid modes. When the car slows down or braking, kinetic energy will be stored into the battery.

Audi ring in the changes.

At this years IAA (Frankfurt motor show) Audi are using their new logo that debuted at their 100 years celebration. A refinement of the 4 rings and their typeface the update is nothing dramatic. The old logos will gently start to disappear from forecourts and paperwork as of the IAA, consigning the re-profiling of 1995 to history.
In conjunction with the new logo their will be 2 new models receiving their world premier at the IAA; the R8 Spyder and the A5 Sportback.
Filling voids in the Audi model range at different ends of the spectrum both cars are expected to draw plenty of attention and probably buyers too.
The A5 Sportback completes the A5 range and, surprisingly, offers almost exactly the same amount of luggage capacity as an A4 estate (seats up). There are 5 engine options available for the Sportback when sales commence this month. They are: 2 litre TFSI quattro (211PS), 3.2 litre FSI quattro (265PS) 2 litre TDI (170PS), 2.7 litre TDI (190PS) 3 litre TDI (240 PS). The S5 Sportback tops the range offering a supercharged 3 litre V6 FSI petrol engine producing an impressive 333PS and 440Nm of torque. A 7 speed S Tronic paddleshift gearbox transmits the powers through the quattro drive train to all 4 wheels.
Audi are adding to the R8 range with the R8 Spyder, a convertible version of the impressive Bavarian Coupe. The R8 Spyder on display at the IAA will not be the finished production model as there is still plenty of prototype testing to be done before sales start around June 2010. Expect the Spyder to have exactly the same engine and drive train options as its solid roofed sister, including the 525PS V10.
Neither the R8 Spyder not the R8 will have a diesel engine option for the foreseeable future. The diesel concept made it right to the test track but not quite as far as production and sales. Audi’s latest idea for the R8 uses electric power and will be on the Audi stand at the IAA.
Also debuting on the Audi stand is the A4 Clean Diesel which uses the 3 litre TDI seen in the Q7. The common rail V6 TDI engine provides excellent performance, fuel economy AND emissions due to clever use of so called AdBlue technology ~ and additive mixed with water and sprayed in the exhaust system. The A4 Clean Diesel should easily pass the Euro 6 emission levels expected in 2014.
The 1.2 TSFI A3 and A3 Sportback will also be unveiled at the show. Due in the dealerships early 2010 the new 1.2 A3 uses lightweight turbo technology to provide a reasonable 105PS and 175Nm of torque whilst returning good economy and keeping emissions low.

DTM, Lausitz.

Gary Paffett won last weekend’s DTM race in his Mercedes giving the Stuttgart manufacturer a much needed win after the first round drubbing they suffered at the hands of Audi. Lausitz proved to be a far better venue for Mercedes teams as Audi only managed to fill 3 of the top 11 places. Highest placed Audi driver was Mattias Ekstrom who finished 3rd overall.

FIA GT3, Adria.

Adria was not as kind to the new Audi R8 LMS as Silverstone had been and the Ingolstadt racer didn’t feature in either of the 2 races, a highest finish of 9th overall being somewhat disappointing.
Porsche’s fortunes had gone the other way since Silverstone with the 911 GT3 Cup S showing ever greater pace. The number 12 car Prospeed car of Niki Lanik and Geoffroy Horion claimed a hard fought 4th overall in the first race of the weekend with the Trackspeed GT3 Cup S of Tim Sugden and David Ashburn claiming 4th in race 2. Lanik and Horion kept up their strong performance and finished 6th in race 2.
Alpina also saw an improved performance from their B6 GT3 with Claudia Hürtgen and Csaba Walter claiming an impressive 5th overall in race 1. Their race 2 result was not quite what the team would have wanted as they struggled home in 12th place.

FIA Supersports, Adria.

Audi power remains the only choice for the Supersports class of the FIA GT4 championship with both Donkervoort and KTM using Audi engines.
Stephane Wintenberger won race 1 in his Donkervoort D8 GT from Denis Donkervoort (Donkervoort D8 GT) Augustin Eder (KTM X Bow) and Nico Pronk (Donkervoort D8 GT).
Race 2 saw Eder and his KTM X Bow emerge victorious, in fact Eder was the only Supersports finisher such was the rate of attrition!

ADAC Zurich 24 Hours, Nürburgring.

This year’s Nürburgring 24 hour race saw a historical achievement as the Manthey Porsche {link} team claimed its 4th successive victory.
After a race long battle with the Abt Audi R8 LMS the Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann Porsche 911 GT3 RSR came home with a winning margin of 1 lap.
Behind the Christian Abt, Jean-Francois Hemroulle, Pierre Kaffer, Lucas Luhr Audi R8 LMS of came another Manthey prepared car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S car of Emmanuel Collard, Wolf Henzler, Richard Lietz and Dirk Werner. Uwe Alzen, Sascha Bert, Lance David Arnold and Christopher Mies finished 4th in their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup with the Phoenix Racing Audi A8 LMS of Marc Basseng, Marcel Fässler, Mike Rockenfeller and Frank Stippler rounding out the top 5.
Volkswagen scored an impressive 17th overall with their natural gas powered Scirocco as well as a class win and 15th overall with their petrol powered version.

DTM Hockenheim.

Germany’s premier touring car championship, the DTM {link}, got underway last weekend at Hockenheim. With north Audi and Mercedes investing large amounts of time and effort into their challenges the racing is always close fought and entertaining.
Preseason testing had indicated that Mercedes had a clear speed advantage and the race at Hockenheimring was expected to favour those driving cars with three pointed stars.
Interestingly the race proved to be an Audi benefit with Tom Kristensen leading home another 3 Audis as the Ingolstadt marque locked out the top 4 overall positions. But for a late puncture the top 5 positions would have been held by Audi as erstwhile race leader Mattias Ekstrom surrendered his 9 second lead when he pitted to change his punctured left rear tyre.
Fifth overall and the honour of being the top Mercedes driver fell to Paul di Resta although he was some 21 seconds behind the victorious Audi of Kristensen.
Kristensen ended an almost 3 year draught of DTMs wins at Hockenheim and heads into the next race at EuroSpeedway Lausitz (31st May) in buoyant mood.

FIA GT4

Last weekend saw the first 2 rounds if the FIA GT4 European Cup & Supersport Championship {link}.

The GT4 class had a pair of BMW M3s entered for Kevin Veltman {link} (Genpact Racing) and André Grammatico and Pierre Brice Mena (Espace Bienvenue). Veltman took 8th and then 4th overall while the Espace Bienvenue car finished 9th in race one and retired from race 2.

The Supersport class is dominated by Audi powered cars with both the Donkervoort D8GT {link} and KTM X Bow GT4 {link} using Ingolstadt developed power plants.

Denis Donkervoort (Donkervoort D8GT) managed to claim victory in race 1 at Silverstone, finishing a remarkable 3rd overall. Stephane Wintenberger (Donkervoort D8GT) claimed 2nd with Augustin Eder (KTM X BOW GT4) taking 3rd from Nico Pronk (Donkervoort D8GT). Race 2 saw Eder win from Pronk with no others reaching the finish.

FIA GT3

The FIA GT3 Championship {link} got underway at Silverstone with 2 races that saw impressive results for all 3 German manufacturers, especially the 2 who were debuting their cars.

Silverstone saw Team Rosberg {link} and Phoenix Racing {link} debut a pair of brand new Audi R8 LMS' each with impressive results. Team Rosberg's Nicolas Armindo and Cesar Campanico had the slightly better races claiming an impressive brace of 3rd positions (and claiming the R8 LMS' first podium finish in GT3) whilst Phoenix Racing's Christopher Haase and Chritsopher Mies claimed 2nd overall in race 2 after finishing an extremely disappointing 26th overall in race 1.

Mühlner Motorsport {link} Porsche's 997 GT3 Cup S narrowly missed out on podium positions with a 5th place finish in race 1 followed up by 6th in race 2, the Tim Bergmeister / Jaromir Jirik GT3 Cup S car did however manage to claim fastest overall race lap in race 2.

Alpina BMW {link} debuted their B6 GT3 car at Silverstone with impressive and encouraging results. Drivers Claudi Hürtgen and Walter Csaba drove the new car to 8th overall in the first race and then 7th overall in the second race. Michael Petit / Jose Manuel Balbiani and team mates Gilles Vannelet / Pierre-Brice Mena didn't have quite as much success in their Team MP Racing Alpina B6 GT3 as the Alpina cars with only Vannelet/Mena reaching the finish of either race (11th in race one.).

Audi R15 at Le Mans.

Audi {link} have confirmed their driver line up for the Le Mans 24 hour race. The nine drivers are Alexandre Premat, Allan McNish, Lucas Luhr, Marco Werner, Mike Rockenfeller, Rinaldo Capello, Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Tom Kristensen. All have plenty of endurance racing experience including Le Mans and Sebring.

Sebring 12 hours

Audi {link} were celebrating the debut win of the R15 on Sunday as it won the Sebring 12 hours. The new car was relatively untested making the win hugely impressive. Even more remarkable was that this year's Sebring race covered the greatest distance at the highest average speed ever, thus the Audi R15 truly had a baptism of fire.

The other German car debuting at the Sebring 12 hours was far less successful. BMW's E92 M3s showed great pace in spurts but both Rahal Letterman Racing {link} cars retired before 6 hours of racing has passed.

They were not the only GT2 cars to suffer at Sebring as the expected Porsche challenge never really got started with not one of the Stuttgart marque making it into the top 3 in GT2.

Audi A5 Cabriolet

The Audi A5 Cabriolet model range are ready for the European dealerships, delivers start May 2009 with the UK a few months behind.

Top of the range is the S5 Cabrio offering 333PS from its turbocharged V6 (which is available only in the Cabrio S5) below which sit a comprehensive range of both petrol and diesel models including a 240PS 3 litre V6 TDI and a 3.2 litre 265PS petrol. Whilst the large, powerful engines are available right from the model introduction the lower power 2 litre and 1800 TFSI engines will follow on a few months after launch.

New to the A5 and S5 cabriolet are the LED rear lights, separating it styling wise from the roofed version. The S5 version comes with the now traditional aluminium mirror covers, deeper front spoiler and S badging.
Safety and practicality were watch words during the A5 and S5 cabriolet development, the end result is that head airbags and a hidden roll bar are standard. Split, folding rear seats allow large and awkward items to be carried even with the roof down. The Audi A5 and S5 Cabriolet offer 2 hood options; a normal hood or a heavier, more sound-proofed version for those who want a quieter cabrio experience!

A Quattro version using both diesel and petrol V6s are available. Prices start around £30000 for the entry model.

Sebring 12 Hours

Audi and BMW start their racing seasons this weekend at Sebring International Raceway in the Sebring 12 hours {link}. The ALMS opening round sees the cream of American sportscar racing battle it out round the oldest road course race track in America.

Despite not entering the ALMS this year (citing the economic downturn) Audi are hoping to continue the winning tradition started by the ultra-successful R8 and R10 TDI. Times from testing have shown the R15 to be the fastest car in its class and overall by well over half a second. With the R15 TDI only expected to appear at Sebring and Le Mans the pressure is on Audi to win both of the classic endurance sparts car events.

BMW have entered a brace of E92 M3s run by the Rahal Letterman team into GT2. Whilst they were trailing the Flying Lizard Porsche 997 GT3 RSR after the first test day there pace was impressive. Both Flying Lizard and Rahal Letterman are expected to complete the whole ALMS championship so the BMW v Porsche battle is expected to be played out throughout the year.

Audi A4 Allroad

Audi gave the A4 Allroad its debut at the recent Geneva Motorshow. Following the ethos of the A6 Allroad the Audi A4 Allroad offers extra ground clearance compared to the standard A4 estate. Engine choice is limited to 1 petrol and diesel options, none of which are exactly frugal. Standard specification is good and the A4 Allroad is exoected to sell as well as the A6 if not a little better, whilst never likely to become a large volume seller Audi expect to sell enough units to fully justify the development costs.

Prices start at around £32000 and deliveries are due with German dealers at the beginning of the summer.

Audi R15.

Audi is readying the all new R15 TDI LMP1 race car in preparation for its assault on the Mobil 1 12 hours of Sebring (21st March 2009) and then the Le Mans 24 hours.

First pictures of the new car clearly show how R15 is a new car, carrying very little over from the R10. The new V10 TDI engine produces 600PS and around 1050Nm of torque whilst remaining efficient, compact and light weight.

Audi R8 V10

With the dawn of 2009 the launch of Audi's range topping R8 V10 draws ever closer. Due to be one of the major stars of this month's Detroit Motorshow {link} the V10 engine is expected to propell the Audi {link} R8 into the supercar class with exceptional perfromance (power to weight ratio of 324PS per tonne) and high desireability too.
The 5204cc V10 engine produces 525PS and 530Nm of torque ~ in both cases an increase of atleast 100 over the V8 model. This extra power will allow the V10 R8 to reach a top speed of 198mph and sprint from 0-62 mph in a mere 3.9 seconds.
The 4 wheel drive aluminium space frame sports car will have the world's first all LED headlamps as standard, continuing the R8 tradition of innovation and cutting edge technology.

Dakar 2009

Tomorrow sees the start of the 2009 Dakar {link}.
German manufacturers are well represented on the entry list with the works Volkswagens starting the event as joing favourites for outright victory. Below is a list of the top 20 starters (in the car section) plus other notable German powered vehicles.

Cars in bold are pictured in this post, underlined means there's a link through to the team's website.

300	Stephane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret		Mitsubishi Lancer
301	Carlos Sainz, Michel Perin		Volkswagen Touareg
302	Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Tina Thorner		BMW X3 CC
303	Luc Alphand, Gilles Picard		Mitsubishi Lancer
304	Joan "Nani" Roma, Lucas Cruz Senra		Mitsubishi Lancer
305	Giniel De Villiers, Dirk Von Zitzewitz		Volkswagen Touareg
306	Guerlain Chicherit, Matthieu Baumel		BMW X3 CC
307	Dieter Depping, Timo Gottschalk		Volkswagen Touareg
308	Mark Miller, Ralph Pitchford		Volkswagen Touareg
309	Robby Gordon, Andy Grider		Hummer H3
310	Hiroshi Masuoka, Pascal Maimon		Mitsubishi Lancer
312	Christian Lavieille		Proto Dessoude
313	Miguel Barbosa, Miguel Ramalho		BMW X3
314	Stephane Henrard, Serge Bruynkens		Volkswagen Buggy HRT TDI
315	Orlando Terranova, Alain Guehennec		BMW X3 CC
316	Leonid Novitskiy, Oleg Tyupenkin		BMW X3 CC
317	Krzysztof Holowczyc, Jean-Marc Fortin		Nissan Navara
318	Peter Van Merksteijn, Eddy Chevaillier		BMW X3 CC
319	Jean De Azevedo, Youssef Haddad		Mitsubishi Pajero
320	Thierry Magnaldi, Guy Leneveu		Buggy SMG Porsche
325	Yvan Muller		Buggy SMG MONO Porsche
329	Balazs Szalay, Laszlo Bunkoczi		Opel Antara V6 RR
330	Rene Kuipers, Filipe Palmeiro		BMW X3 CC
335	Alfie Cox, Jurgen Schroder		Buggy SMG Porsche
347	Ricardo Leal Dos Santos, Filipe Palmeiro		BMW X5 CC
360	Erik Van Loon, Marc Wams		Volkswagen Buggy HRT TDI
361	Albert Michiels, Cedric Legein		Volkswagen Buggy HRT TDI
381	Jean-Pascal Besson, Yves Kornstein		Mercedes M Class
385	Etienne Smulevici, Jean-Jacques Martinez		Buggy SMG Porsche
386	Christian Barbier, Jean-Michel Richaud		Mitsubishi Pajero
387	Eric Bernard, Jean-Noel Cornuaille		BMW X3
395	Javier Herrador, Victor Vico		BMW X5
417	Werner Zoetaert, Katrien Boussier		Audi TT Buggy
455	Mark Dutton, Simon Dutton		Buggy Bremont Audi
492	Daniel Saskin, Damir Bruneruan		Opel Antara V6 RR