2007 Audi A4 2.0t Avant Quattro on 2040-cars

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Detroit Auto Show prankster 'damages' hundreds of thousands of dollars of cars

Obtaining credentials for an auto show is generally a pretty selective process, especially at one of the world's premier shows, like Geneva, Los Angeles or Detroit. That didn't stop online prankster Dennis Roady from getting credentialed for the 2015 North American International Auto Show on behalf of a Russian YouTube channel to cover the show. While he wasn't brought on strictly to cause mischief, Roady couldn't help but have some fun at the expense of the product specialists during the serious business of covering the show. He took to an app called "Dude, Your Car," which allows Apple iPhone users to take snaps of vehicles and then edit them to add some serious, but fake, dents and scratches. Naturally, the pranking session was caught on video, where you can enjoy the sight of poor product specialists freaking out over damage to vehicles ranging from the Mercedes-Maybach S600 to the Audi R8 and a lovely Dodge Challenger. Take a look. News Source: howtoPRANKitup via YouTube, The Detroit News Humor Detroit Auto Show Audi Dodge Mercedes-Benz Coupe Luxury Performance Videos Sedan 2015 Detroit Auto Show prank

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.

Audi considering other variants, turbo V6 for R8

More details from the Audi R8 event at Spain's Ascari circuit have met the Internet, and they provide more intel on the supercoupe will evolve over the second generation. First, they note some small differences in stance with this new car, being wider than the current car and sitting 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) lower. Compared to its Lamborghini Huracan brother, it gets three extra centimeters in the wheelbase. Filling out the power numbers, the 'entry-level' V10 engine at launch rolls out 540 horsepower and 399 pound-feet of torque, does the 0-60 mile per hour dash in 3.5 seconds, and hits a top speed of 200 mph. The V10 Plus model rocks 620 hp and 412 lb-ft, which slices 0.3 seconds off that acceleration time and adds five more mph to the top speed. They'll transfer their power through a seven-speed S-tronic that shifts faster than before, and it will in turn send power through an electronically-controlled clutch at the front axle and a constantly variable limited-slip differential at the rear axle. The power split is said to default to 42/58 front-to-rear, but 100 percent of the torque can be sent fore or aft. Benchmarked against the 991-series Porsche 911, driving sensations travel through an electromechanical steering setup that can be had with a variable rack if preferred, leading to standard 19-inch wheels with the option of 20-inchers and tires developed specifically for this car. A Performance setting offers dry, wet, and snow modes; that first setting turns the ESC off except for situations of impending doom, and Audi racer and test driver Frank Stippler told Top Gear that understeer is reduced, to which TG added "it oversteers at will." Stippler said it's "a lot closer to the GT3 race car than ever before," and even though it's "a lot" less intense than the Huracan, it's just as fast on the track. His estimate is that the new R8 will lap the Nurburgring between ten and 15 seconds faster than the current car. R8 technical lead Roland Schala said the new chassis opens up new avenues of development because "there's no problem to change it," mentioning models like a Clubsport or Superleggera as no longer forbidden. Differentiation could come from a wider engine mix, too. Markets like China need smaller displacements, so Audi's twin-turbo V8 is expected to join the line-up at some point, bringing 500 horsepower.