2011 Audi A4 2.0t Quattro Premium Plus Sedan on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata named World Car of the Year

Kicking off Day Two of the New York Auto Show, the World Car of the Year awards are finally being handed out. The overall winner is, as God himself intended, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It beat the Audi A4 and the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. The unique thing about these awards are that they aren't limited to the US domestic market (that's why they're called the World Car of the Year awards). For example, nominees for the overall award included the Skoda Superb, Renault Kadjar, and Subaru Levorg. In the Performance category, the forbidden fruit was repped by the Honda Civic Type R. But both the Civic and the Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe were beat out by a far more expensive competitor – the new Audi R8. The fourth-generation Toyota Prius and the second-generation Chevrolet Volt, were two of the big finalists for the World Green Car of the Year award. They both lost out, though, to the Mirai fuel-cell car. Yes, a hydrogen car beat out two of the world's premiere hybrids. The luxury race that was perhaps the hardest to predict. That's because each of the three finalists have received near universal acclaim. In the end, though, the BMW 7 Series beat out the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. Finally, we have the World Car Design of the Year, where the overall winner (MX-5) and the Mazda CX-3 faced off against the new Jaguar XE. While both the CX-3 and XE are handsome vehicles, the WCOTY committee realized the answer is always Miata, and awarded Mazda's iconic roadster another 2016 award. Related Video: AND NOW THERE IS ONE... MAZDA MX-5 - 2016 WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR NEW YORK – March 24, 2016 - For Immediate Release The Road to World Car journey ended today with the declaration of the MAZDA MX-5 as the 2016 World Car of the Year. The winner was announced during a press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show, Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum. 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership between World Car and the New York show, and the third consecutive year that the World Car Awards have retained their ranking as the number one automotive awards program in the world in terms of media reach. Mazda Motor Corporation is no stranger to the World Car Awards program – now in its 12th year. The Mazda2/Mazda Demio was the 2008 World Car of the Year. While the Mazda3 (2014), Mazda6 (2013) and Mazda MX-5 have all earned "Top Three in the World" status as voted by our 70 plus international automotive journalists that make up the jury.

2016 Audi TT price increased to $42,900*

Audi has announced pricing for the new third-generation TT and second-generation TTS, and both models have received a moderate bump. Simply getting into the family will demand $42,900, or $2,550 than the current coupe. If you fancy a topless TT, the price has jumped from $43,350 to $46,400, or $3,050 more than the last one. The performance-oriented TTS and its 292-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter, though, is easily the bargain of the range. At $51,900, it's $3,200 more than the current model. But where the normal TT only gets a nine-horsepower increase and stays even on torque output, the TTS has gone from just 265 hp to 292 ponies. Torque is up as well, from 258 pound-feet (the same as the normal model) to 280-lb-ft. Prices for the TTS Roadster, meanwhile, have not been announced. That said, considering the increases through the rest of the range, we'd expect the high-performance two-seater to come in at or around the $55,000 range. Considering our impressions during our first drive of the standard TT and the performance increase for the TTS, we must say, these price hikes don't seem exorbitant. Scroll down for the official pricing announcement from Audi. AUDI ANNOUNCES PRICING FOR THE ALL-NEW TT MODEL LINE The quintessential design icon boasts a new driver-focused interior and true sports-car performance TT sets standards for in-vehicle technology with the Audi virtual cockpit - a fully digital instrument cluster Virtual cockpit powered by first automotive NVIDIA® Tegra® 30 processor integration May 06, 2015 | HERNDON, Virginia -- Audi today announced pricing for the all-new 2016 Audi TT model line. The iconic vehicle boasts an exciting new design characterized by the use of innovative technologies and driver-focused performance. Design and Body The third generation TT pays tribute to its past where the model took the design world by storm, with a modern take on the bold original, with short overhangs, broad wheel arches and a lean a muscular stance. Standard full LED headlamps exude modern sports car appeal, with a broader and flatter Singleframe® grille, sharp contours across the hood, electric rear spoiler and new centrally mounted round exhaust tailpipes are an incorporated design cue from the iconic first generation model . The all-new TT front end and floor assembly are made of high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel components, while the superstructure comprises aluminum castings, extruded sections and panels.

Audi readying diesel PHEV models for US and Europe

With the racing pedigree provided by the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the German king of Le Mans is capitalizing on the connection between its road cars and race cars at every opportunity. Maybe there's an entire range of Le Mans Editions for the automakers diesel-hybrid offerings, with perhaps Tom Kristensen acting as the brand's spokesperson for the technology in Europe. You'd be wrong, though, because despite the R18's overwhelming successes in endurance racing, Audi the road-car manufacturer doesn't offer a single diesel-hybrid production car.
This factoid will hopefully be as short lived as it is disappointing, though, as a diesel-electric is around the corner, according to the brand's tech boss, Ulrich Hackenberg. In fact, it gets better than a mere diesel-hybrid; it will be a plug-in diesel-hybrid, only the second to hit the market, alongside the European-market Volvo V60.
According to Hackenberg, the new tech will be the result of a marriage between the brand's well-received 3.0-liter, TDI V6 with an electric motor. The next-generation Audi Q7 (shown above) will be the initial recipient, confirming previous reports that claimed a PHEV TDI could come to the next-gen CUV. Its MLB architecture, meanwhile, would allow the plug-in-hybrid-diesel powertrain to be fitted easily enough to the A8 luxury sedan. While the new Q7 should hit the market at some point in 2015, it's unclear when the PHEV TDI model could see the light of day.