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1984 Audi Sport Quattro expected to hammer at nearly half a million dollars

The highest prices paid at automobile auctions continue to be claimed by European sports cars, with names like Ferrari and Bugatti forever topping the lists. But what we have here is not quite a sports car. It's more of a hot hatch, but its still expected to fetch between $350,000 and $475,000 when it goes up for auction next month in Arizona. That's because this is no ordinary hot hatch... it's the prototypical hot hatch: the legendary Audi Sport Quattro, one of the most maniacal and dominant homologated rally machines ever devised. Shorter in wheelbase and dartier of handling than the Ur-Quattro that came before it, the later Sport Quattro was built to comply to with the FIA's legendary Group B regulations. That meant that it competed with the likes of the Lancia 037, Ford RS200 and Ferrari 288 GTO – beating them all in the World Rally Championship one after another – but also had to be built in limited quantities and sold to the public. And so Audi and its nascent Quattro GmbH skunkworks division built 214 road-going examples of the Sport Quattro, and this could very well be the most immaculate example in existence. It was previously owned by noted collector Yoshikuni Okamoto of Kobe, Japan, and with barely more than 5,000 miles on the odometer, recently underwent an exhaustive service at Audi of Fairfield, CT – one of the company's largest dealerships – and though the Sport Quattro was never offered for sale in the US, this one is now fully registered for use on American roads and comes in impeccable condition despite its 30 years of age. The gavel drops during the RM Auctions event at the Arizona Biltmore on January 15-16, 2015. Even the low end of the pre-auction estimate is nearly double the $184,860 which Sports Car Market reports Bonhams sold an '85 Audi Sport Quattro in September 2013. Featured Gallery 1984 Audi Sport Quattro: RM Arizona 2015 View 21 Photos News Source: RM AuctionsImage Credit: Erik Fuller/RM Audi Auctions Hatchback Performance rm audi sport quattro

Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche adds third 919 Hybrid for Le Mans, Audi to heat factory with geothermal

Porsche will be running a third 919 Hybrid LMP1 car in the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. The extra Porsche will race in the six-hour May 2 WEC race at Spa-Francorchamps as a lead-up to the legendary 24-hour race on June 13 and 14. Porsche hasn't announced the driver lineup for the third 919 Hybrid, but drivers will remain the same for the other two cars. Including the third car is meant to help further test performance and efficiency as part of development for future hybrid systems. Read more at Green Car Congress. BMW i Ventures is investing in Zendrive, a driving focused data and analytics company. The cooperation of the two companies is meant to help advance safety and efficiency by making the "in-car mobility experience even smoother by optimizing commuting and driving patterns," according to BMW i's Ulrich Quay. The venture capital arm of BMW's i brand also invests in JustPark, Chargepoint, Life360, Chargemaster and MyCityWay, and says it will have more strategic investment announcements in the coming months. Read more in the press release below. The Audi Hungaria factory in Gyor, Hungary will soon be getting geothermal energy from a nearby plant being constructed in Per. When the facility is finished, Audi expects to source 82,000 megawatt hours of geothermal energy per year from it, or about six percent of its total heating needs. The clean energy helps Audi move "step by step along a path to developing a CO2-neutral production plant," says Audi's Dr. Hubert Waltl. "The mobility of the future must be CO2-neutral – and that applies not only to the use of our vehicles, but also to their production." Read more in the press release below. Supporters have begun a petition drive for the passage of an E15 ordinance in Chicago. Despite pushback from oil companies, the city council is close to passing the "Chicago Clean Air Choice Ordinance," which includes the requirement by retailers to sell the 15-percent ethanol gasoline blend in the city. The ordinance includes an exception for stations selling less than 850,000 gallons of fuel per year. More than 4,000 people have signed the petition so far, with others leaving messages to voice their opinion on the matter in opposition to Big Oil's attempt to block it. Read more at Domestic Fuel. BMW i Ventures announces strategic investment in Zendrive. - Further Increasing safety and security through innovative mobility services. New York City, NY.

Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.