Another great TouTube clip here from DTMEnthusiast. Not so much DTM goodness in this one, though. No, it’s mostly Quattro rally footage, with a bit of circuit racing just so we don’t forget Audi doesn’t mind the black stuff too.
Make the jump and the clip is yours.
According to my anonymous tip last month we should be hearing and reading about the Audi RS5 later today. Given the story hasn’t grown too many legs in the last few weeks I’m a bit unsure this dream rumour will actually come true. Let’s hope it does, hey.
I mean, the 330kW normally aspirated V8 is going to propel the RS5 at an astonishing rate, and it is sure to make amazing sounds of thunder while doing so. C’mon Audi, just release the car already!
However, looking at this gallery of images, don’t hold your breath.
It’s been a bit of YouTube week so far on AUSmotive, so I may as well continue this trend with another clip of awesomeness. This time from the DTM series with footage from around 20 years ago. Cheesy pop, again, is the order of the day, but you can’t deny the classic motorsport action. It is first rate.
If you enjoy racing when it goes wrong, then keep an eye out at 1:20, 3:28 and 4:45 in the clip after the jump.
Audi have recently released a couple of R8 V10 promo clips. That’s great news for us, as the R8 V10 has to be one of the most desirable cars on sale right now. Jeremy Clarkson seems to think so, anyway.
The first clip is all a bit interpretive with massive great graphics in the sky. I have always wondered the joy one would experience pushing the 5.2 litre V10 towards its 8500rpm redline while aiming the car at a massive rev counter rising from the ground. C’mon, you can’t tell me you’ve never thought of doing the same.
In the second clip Audi gets all sales like, sprouting a bunch of aspirational facts and figures. Stuff like, 386kW, 540Nm, FSI, quattro—the list goes on. Well, that’s what I reckon they’re saying. It’s all in German, you see. But I was wrong, actually. After AUSmotive ran the audio through the translator it came up with the following surprising results…
And I am not frightened of driving, any time will do,
I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of driving?
There’s 386 reasons for it, you’ve gotta go sometime.
I never said I was frightened of driving.
Earlier hopes of a hotted up all-wheel drive Audi A1, likely to wear Audi’s hallowed S1 badge, ready to take it up to the MINI John Cooper Works could be dashed.
Back in January Auto Express told us of Audi’s plans to build a 200hp S1 fitted with a rear-biased quattro drivetrain. Now, new details suggest that Audi’s quattro system will not be found on any A1-based car. A real sense of irony, then, that the 21st century S1 appears to be FWD only.
According to a recent article from German website AutoBild the A1 will utilise a solely front-wheel drive platform and is due for its first major reveal, in coupé form only, at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. Market release for the three door will follow some time around September 2010. Sales of the five-door Sportback model would commence in late 2011, with plans for a cabrio version to be released in 2012.
Getting back to the feisty S1 model, it is expected to be fitted with a 1.4 TFSI producing around 140kW and 250Nm of torque. Australian customers will get a glimpse of that engine when the next Polo GTI is launched down under in 2010.
The only transmission option available for the S1 would be a 7-speed S tronic. The car should be capable of reaching 100km/h somewhere in the high 6 second range.
The AutoBild piece has quite a lot of interesting tidbits in there. Copy the link below and stick it into your favourite online translator and see just how serious Audi is at taking up the challenge to MINI.
[Source: AutoBild via The German Car Blog]
No doubt you have heard a bit about Jeremy Clarkson’s new DVD Duel. In fact you may have heard all about it. If you haven’t then take a look at this snippet with Jeremy at the wheel of Audi’s stunning 386kW R8 V10.
After you’re done with that, and just in case you’ve missed it, check out the trailer for Duel after the jump.
Good news for the car industry last month, with sales increasing for the first time since the middle of last year. Official VFACTS data shows sales were up 2.2 per cent last month when compared to October 2008.
“The industry is looking to round out the year on a positive note and we expect a further surge in sales as businesses move to take advantage of the successful tax break prior to the end of the year,†FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.
However, the overall downward trend remains for year-to-date new vehicle sales, which are down 11.7 per cent compared to the same period last year (762,787 sales to date).
Toyota, Holden and Ford round out the usual top three placings for overall sales, but that hasn’t stopped a number of manufacturers from putting their spin on things. A bunch of press releases to that effect can be viewed after the jump.
This clip from Edmunds’ Inside Line is short, to the point and packed with solid comparisons. They reckon the Audi comes up trumps. So, which one would you have—the Audi S4 or the BMW 335i?
[via German Car Blog]
It’s no secret that as modern cars get “better” they get heavier. Airbags, ESP systems, pyrotechnic seatbelts and the like are all wonderful things, but, for all their life saving abilities they are counter productive to maintaining efficiency and reducing fuel consumption. Of course, today’s market demands mean you can’t simply drop such essential items. Forget about the engineering reasons, the marketing department simply wouldn’t allow it.
So, if a manufacturer decides that reducing weight is an outcome they would like to achieve they need to start thinking a bit harder. This brief video from Audi tv shows some of the techniques and methodologies they are employing to help produce lighter cars.
Obviously, weight is the enemy of cars developed for motorsport and the A3 24h Street (shown above), over 200kg lighter than its production counterpart, is spoken about towards the end of the film. Featuring a 2.0 TFSI engine, this car is based on the package prepared by Audi for the Nürburgring 24 hour race.
Enjoy the clip after the jump.
[Thanks to Chris for the tip]
Audi specialist website Fourtitude have been thrown the keys to a pretty special little car—the Audi A3 24h Street. The car is so named because it is based on the A3 used in the 2008 Nürburgring 24 hour race. It’s a bit of mish-mash of parts, it has to be said, and in very basic terms the car is a track focused front-wheel drive S3.
Of course, there is more to it than that. Or, actually, less to it, as the car has been lightened through the loss of the Haldex AWD system, along with lightweight wheels, carbon fibre body panels and a stripped out interior. Essentially, this is Audi’s answer to the epic Renaultsport Mégane R26.R.
The diet enforced upon the A3 24h Street has saved an impressive 265kg over the weight of a standard road going S3. This fact is made even better when you consider that power has been upped by almost 30kW, from 195kW up to 223kW (300bhp). Torque has also increased somewhat, up 40Nm to 390Nm.
Helping to keep things under control are a 6 speed DSG transmission, an Audi Sport mechanical locking differential and, judging by the pics, uprated brakes sourced from the R8.
So, have these tweaks come to any good? Yes, it appears they have, with the Fourtitude report saying, “Upon acceleration, torque comes on immediately and this car easily keeps pace with the full production spec TT RS pace car.
“This test isn’t extensive, so we’ve neither performance numbers nor lap times to share. The quick drive serves its purpose though and it is easy to see just how much can be saved in a typical race-spec transformation, even when applied to a production car like the S3.”
Now, if only Audi got fair dinkum and built a limited run of these cars. That would be pretty damn good!
[Source: Fourtitude]
Thanks to a tip from a well connected AUSmotive reader I have strong reason to believe Audi’s highly anticipated RS5 über-coupé will be making its debut in a bit over a month at the 2009 Essen Motor Show (28 November-6 December).
As expected, the RS5 will be powered by a normally aspirated V8. It is understood the power output from the 4163cc engine will be around 330kW (450PS) and it is likely to be labelled a 4.2 FSI HDZ. The HDZ badging loosley translates as “high rev concept†and like the RS4 before it the new RS5’s powerplant will be a free flowing high revving affair with high torque levels available from 2500rpm.
The HDZ engine takes its inspiration from Audi’s R8 V10 and also Ferrari’s new 458 Italia. Indeed, the RS5 is expected to be the second highest revving V8 on the market after the 458.
The car will be fitted with a 7 speed S-tronic able to cope with the engine’s high torque levels. It is unclear if a manual option will be offered at all, and if it is, it certainly won’t be available when the car is first launched.
The usual subtle styling tweaks will differentiate the RS5 from its S5 sibling, such as a more aggressive air-hungry lower spoiler, wider wheel arches and don’t be surprised if there is an R8 style aluminium fuel cap as well.
As the picture above shows, Audi have been testing the RS5 at the Nürburgring (see video filmed in January after the jump) and insiders at Ingolstadt are quietly confident about the RS5’s abilities around the demanding Nordschleife circuit. Like me, you probably can’t wait to see the RS5 leading the way.
BMW and Audi advertising of late has taken on a healthy rivalry. First, it was billboards. Now, it seems as though the ad agencies have raised the game a little and started using audio visual to throw their punches.
In the ad above BMW hits out at Audi in what is, shall we say, a feeble attempt at humour. It’s funny, almost. Actually, it’s a bit daft. But I guess it does make you feel a bit queasy—if you’re male, at least.
The ad from BMW is possibly a response to the longer, but more convincing, swipe made by Audi with last year’s Meet the Beckers series, which poked fun not only at BMW drivers, but also clients of Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. You can see Audi’s three part series below.