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Audi celebrates diesel milestone with triple-charged RS5 TDI concept

Diesels are typically slower than their gasoline counterparts, but leave it to Audi to turn that notion on its head. After dominating Le Mans and the international endurance racing scene under diesel power for the better part of a decade, the German automaker toyed with the idea of an oil-burning R8 for the road and ultimately made its first performance crossover a diesel. It's made the letters TDI a battle cry, and now it's yelling even louder with the RS5 TDI concept.
Set to be unveiled in a couple of days at the Leipzig Auto Show to celebrate 25 years of the TDI engine, the concept ditches the gasoline-burning 4.2-liter V8 in the production RS5 in favor of a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo-diesel with an electric supercharger added on to combat turbo lag. Output comes in at 385 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, which means that while it has 65 fewer horses than the gasoline model, it packs a staggering 236 lb-ft more torque.
The result of the triple-charged madness is a 0-62 time around four seconds flat, trumping the 4.6 seconds for the road-going model. Top speed, of course, is electronically limited to 155 miles per hour, which is a bit of a shame because we bet it'd be a kick to pass a Porsche on the Autobahn in a diesel, now wouldn't it?

Audi R8 E-Tron back on production map thanks to new battery tech?

Contrary to our October 2012 report, it appears Audi's R8 E-Tron program is back on track, if a report from Australia is to be believed. Drive is reporting that the German brand has changed its mind and won't be sacking the program, despite previously stated concerns about the quality and price of batteries for the R8-based EV.
We last saw the R8 E-Tron prototype in the snows of northern Europe, although footage of the car has been non-existent since that wintry test. This new report claims that a small number of R8 E-Trons will see production, which gels with what we heard back in 2012 and supposed earlier this year. Apparently, some new sort of lithium-ion battery technology has allowed for a drastic increase in range, with rumors of the original 130 miles going up to around 250. According to Drive, this makes the project feasible again.
"Our engineers and technicians are further developing the car and its electric drive system. The range has grown significantly, allowing the potential for a small-scale production," an unnamed, but high-ranking Audi employee told the Aussies.

Audi starts production of new TT in Hungary

Audi sure made waves when it rolled out the original TT in the late 1990s, putting fashion forward with a stylish coupe that neatly summed up the design direction the company was headed in. But that was a decade and a half ago, and the TT has moved on considerably since then.
The German automaker has since revealed its third-generation TT, replacing the original twice over with ever-more performance-focused but no less stylish successors along the way. But it wasn't until last week that the first new MkIII TT rolled off the assembly line.
That took place, of course, in Gyor at Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. It's the same assembly plant that handles the company's A3 sedan and cabrio, with the facility also handling final assembly of the TT ever since the factory opened in 1997 and the model began rolling off the line in '98. Last November, the plant in Hungary built its 500,000th TT, and now officials are ushering in the era of the new model.