Recently spotted on the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife was this Audi R8 V10. Okay, it looks normal enough, but what should we make of those front winglets? Not to mention the large fixed rear wing. Could there be an even more powerful, more willing R8 in the pipeline?
I hope so!
[Source: Spyshots.nl via Fourtitude]
These clips of the Audi R8 5.2 being thrashed about are a few months old now. Where have I been! You may have already seen them, if you haven’t take the jump and enjoy the magic.
After driving the R8 4.2 last year I felt the car could handle more power. And that’s exactly what the 5.2 FSI V10 has given the R8 chassis. Power is up over 100bhp from the V8 and the V10 exhaust note is no less inspiring, either.
So, on paper Audi looks to have made a winner. What do those that have driven the car reckon? The first clip is from Autocar, the second from Dutch title Autoweek—it’s okay there are English subtitles. Enjoy…
Official confirmation of a release date for Audi’s R8 Spyder is no closer to being locked away. However, the 5.2-litre V10 rag top is not shying away from Nürburgring testing, as this video shows. The sight and sound of the 525bhp V10 powered R8 is one well worth watching.
According to autoblog, pencil in a first public reveal at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
[Source: Jalopnik]
Volkswagen has knocked BMW off its perch by winning the International Engine of the Year overall honour with its twincharged 1.4 litre four cylinder engine.
Not content with the overall title, the 1.4 TSI also won the Best Green Engine 2009 and Best Engine in the 1.0-litre to 1.4-litre category.
A panel of 64 judges from 32 countries voted on the awards. Dr Ruediger Szengel, Head of Gasoline Engine Development for Volkswagen AG, was on hand to accept the award behalf of Volkswagen, “A combination of downsizing, direct injection and high boost pressure produce exceptionally high specific power output and torque with low emissions and fuel consumption from a gasoline engine.
“The success of TSI technology in this competition has blossomed as it has become available in more countries throughout the world. We are convinced that our competitors will follow but we are determined to keep our lead.”
The full list of winners is shown below, with links to the IEOTY website. Press releases from Volkswagen, Porsche and BMW can be read after the jump:
Audi have released this teaser image of their upcoming A5 Sportback. The car will have its European launch in September, presumably at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Australians will get their first chance to see the car in the metal in the first quarter of 2010, with Audi scheduled to launch the car locally with turbo diesel and normally aspirated petrol powered models.
AUSmotive is aware of at least one of these cars being in existence at the Ingolstadt factory for the best part of this year. Given the way things get leaked all over the net these days it’s amazing all we have to go on is the above image and a couple of sketches.
Speaking of which, a video of Wolfgang Egger, Audi Group Head of Design, sketching the A5 Sportback can be seen after the jump.
With 480-litres of luggage space Audi reckons this is the wagon you have when you really want a sedan. Described as a genuine four seater it looks like families will still need to opt for the stylish A4 Avant.
The usual range of TDI, FSI and TFSI engines will be on offer in Europe, with all meeting EU5 emissions standards. At this stage the most powerful engine planned is the 195kW 3.2 V6 quattro. (Hmm, interesting, so why can’t Volkswagen use this engine for a Mk6 Golf R32?)
The A5 Sportback will also include the Audi drive select dynamic driving system. This offers three driving modes which alter throttle response, steering sharpness and shift points for the 7-speed S tronic or multitronic transmissions. The option of a fourth mode, programmable by the driver, will also be available. That sounds pretty nifty.
UPDATE: Audi UK press release added below. It is essentially the same as the Australian blurb, however, it does give pricing for the UK market. While not foolproof it will give some idea as to the expected ballpark costs when the car goes on sale in Australia (albeit, a very conservative ballpark!). That’s assuming their model lineup resembles Australia’s. Looking at the models on offer for the UK launch, I wouldn’t count on that.
As reported last night, Australia’s David Brabham, along with Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz, drove their Peugeot 908 HDi to victory at Le Mans, finally beating fierce rivals Audi. Both teams headed the field for most of the weekend, with the Peugeot team dominating the race.
“It’s such a great feeling to have won,” beamed David Brabham. “Peugeot Sport did a tremendous job; they really did.
“It’s a great team – they gave us a 100 per cent reliable car and the three of us drove a faultless race.”
Audi, on the other hand, began the race with high hopes. With five successive Le Mans wins behind them, and a hard fought win over Peugeot in the Sebring 12 hour for their new R15 TDI, the 2009 race was always going to be a fight between the French and German teams, despite a renewed bid from Aston Martin.
Audi sent three cars to La Sarthe, but only one remained in contention. Although, as the race drew to a close hopes began to fade and the #1 R15 TDI held on for a safe third place, some seven laps behind the race winner.
The Audi team were gracious in defeat and, according to Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport, are already planning their 2010 assault, “Obviously we are a little disappointed about the result. We didn’t manage to extract the full potential of the Audi R15 TDI in the race, which we had seen during testing.
“In addition, we had several technical problems that really caught us by surprise. As a result, we could only get one car onto the podium. Peugeot produced a fantastic performance and certainly deserved the victory. We will analyze the problems we had to ensure we come back stronger in 2010.”
More from the Peugeot and Audi PR teams below.
Well into the second half of the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans the Peugeot 908 HDi looks set to end Audi’s dominance of the event.
The #9 Peugeot 908 HDi, driven by Australia’s David Brabham, Marc Gené (Spain) and Alexander Wurz (Austria), is currently leading the race. The pole position winning #8 Peugeot, with an all French driving team of Stéphane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Sebastien Bourdais, is in second place.
The race for Audi has not gone to plan with just one car left in contention. Despite turbo overheating problems the #1 Audi R15 TDI of Allan McNish (Scotland), Tom Kristenesen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) is fighting hard in third place, one lap behind the two Peugeots.
There is still a long way to go, with the race finish still some 10 hours away (11pm AEST). To keep up to date you check your local OneHD guide, or tune in to Radio Le Mans for complete audio coverage. A live scoreboard can also be accessed from the official race website. Peugeot also have a dedicated Le Mans website being constantly updated.
For those of us not in a OneHD coverage area, US motorsport channel SpeedTV is also offering a live feed of the race.
More pics and a few press snippets from Peugeot and Audi can be viewed after the jump.
Audi Motorsport went to the Nürburgring 24 hour race this year with high hopes. Four new R8 LMS GT3 category racers were entered with some of the sport’s biggest names at the wheel. To subject the new racecars to such a tough test was a big commitment.
This commitment almost paid the most handsome dividends with the #99 Phoenix Racing entry coming close to posting a maiden victory. It lead the race for almost 17 hours before a drive shaft problem with five hours to go saw them lose valuable time. Despite this, the car was still able to finish strongly in fifth position overall.
However, so well placed were the big R8s that the #97 Abt Sportline car was able to claim an impressive podium finish, coming home in second position, behind Nürburgring 24 hour race specialists Manthey Racing. Running in the SP9 GT3 class the Abt Sportline machine, driven by Christian Abt, Jean-François Hemroulle, Pierre Kaffer and Lucas Luhr, finished two laps ahead of its nearest rival, a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, to win its class. In doing so, they completed 154 laps, which broke the previous distance record for laps completed in the 24 hour race by three laps. They were on the lead lap nearing race end, too, before a cunning tactical move saw the winning Manthey car squeeze in one more lap.
The #98 and #100 cars suffered some issues throughout the race, but were still able to finish in good form, crossing the line in positions 12 and 23 respectively. When you consider the #100 car suffered its problems very early on in the race, to finish in the top 25 after coming back from 166th was a great result.
Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, was well pleased with the outcome, “For the Audi R8 LMS, this race was a final test under extreme conditions on the world’s longest race track. We were able to show that our new GT3 sports car is absolutely competitive for customer sport. And the number 97 Audi R8 LMS ran without the slightest problems despite the incredibly high speed. We’re going to analyze the problems that occurred on the other three vehicles and feed the findings into the final version of the R8 LMS to be delivered to customers starting this fall. We know that we’ve got a very good base.”
Another huge image gallery of over 80 images can be viewed at AUSringers.com, along with press statements from all the teams. For an excellent summary of all Audis competing at the Nürburgring 24 hour race this year check out Fourtitude.com.
UPDATE: For an extra special treat, Audi R8 LMS fans should click here.
The facelifted Audi S4 has just been launched in Australia. The good news for Audi fans is you can now have 245kW and, if you’re prepared to drive like a nanna, you can use as little as 9.4 litres of fuel for every 100 kilometres travelled. If you do choose to push on you can sprint to 100km/h in just 5.3 seconds.
The previous model S4 was a nasty fuel guzzling V8, Audi is now saving the world by stuffing a supercharged V6 into the S4. Just to keep us on our toes the 3.0 V6 is badged as a TFSI. This used to mean the car was turbocharged, but clearly Audi doesn’t employ enough acronym thinkers as they’ve stuck with TFSI for the supercharged model and well, we’ll just have to know the difference. Made even trickier by the V6T badges on the front quarter panel.
Driving all four wheels via the quattro system is a new 7-speed double clutch S tronic transmission. The detailed press release explains this new gearbox in some detail and can be downloaded after the jump.
To go with the 245kW of power there is a more than handy 440Nm of torque. And you can have all this, plus Sat Nav and plenty of other standard Audi fruit, for just $118,900. If you want to show off to your mates at how much you are not affected by all this financial nonsense then Audi has obliged by offering plenty of options for you to tick, as well. They include adaptive cruise control, Audi side assist (for safer lane changes), Audi park assist (to make reverse parking a breeze), and many more.
A large image gallery and Audi Australia press release, including technical specs, are available after the jump. No word from Audi Australia yet on the arrival of the S4 Avant.
Last year Audi broadened the appeal of its pocket rocket S3 by adding a five door Sportback model. This appeal has been widened further with the addition of the Sportback S tronic. This is a 6 speed double clutch transmission, as first introduced to Australia in the Mk5 Golf GTI.
Gear changes are lightning quick in the S tronic and in manual mode the driver can choose to change gears using the gear shift or the metal steering wheel mounted paddles.
The regular S3 is quoted as covering the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.8 seconds. S tronic reduces that, by two-tenths of a second, to 5.6 seconds. Fuel consumption also reduces slightly and is rated under 8.5l/100km. Also impressive for a car of this class and performance is the CO2 emissions figure of 195g/km.
Base model pricing for the Sportback is $68,310 and the S tronic options is $2700, which brings the base price up to $71,010.
At this stage Audi Australia has no plans to introduce the S tronic on the 3 door Coupé.
More pics, technical data and Audi’s press release after the jump.
This is the Audi Q5 Custom Concept, an SUV hot rod that will make it’s debut at the 2009 Wörthersee Tour this weekend. Held in Austria this is the annual ‘GTI’ event for Volkswagen/Audi enthusiasts across Europe.
The Q5 Custom Concept gets the supercharged V6 TFSI from the S4 along with a custom paint scheme that adds flashed of red to help make the car go faster. That aim is also achieved by tweaking the V6 to produce a rather tidy 300kW. Audi reckons this will get the Q5 CC from rest to 100km/h in a staggering 4.4 seconds.
Audi will have 20 cars on show at Wörthersee, including the TT RS, R8 LMS and A1 Sportback concept.
There’s two extra pics and some press blurb from Audi after the jump.
Regular AUSmotive readers will remember the videos posted of showing Golf VI production. They were very well received, so it’s with pleasure we bring you the Audi A4 installment.