2012 Audi A4 2.0t Sedan Quattro Tiptronic on 2040-cars

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40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.

Audi Sport Quattro Concept to spawn volume sports car?

There have been two modern re-imaginings of the original 1984 Audi Ur-Quattro: the Quattro Concept of 2010 (shown above) and the Sport Quattro Concept revealed at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. In between them, there have been numerous rumors about what, if any, kind of production car Audi might make of them. According to a new report in Auto Motor und Sport, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has "indicated... that the car will come," and based on the specs presented, what we get might end up being a mix of the two.
Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi's head of R&D, apparently wants a sports car with wider appeal than the 700-horsepower hybrid Sport Quattro Concept. AMS says his vision would be built on a modified A6 platform - the same MLB architecture under the Sport Quattro Concept - with ample use of carbon and aluminum keeping the weight down to around 1,300 kilograms (under 2,900 pounds). Engines could include a 2.5-liter, five-cylinder (like that of the original, smaller Quattro Concept) offering anything from 310 to 360 hp. Those numbers would be at least 48 horsepower shy of the first concept, but a less-powerful entry point to a new model range would provide a lower cost of entry. Besides, a full model range would likely include a significantly healthier powertrain option on the top end.
At the moment, Hackenberg is said to be unsatisfied with the design of the car, which could well mean we'll get another concept car before a production version appears.

Leaked design sketch may preview Audi TT Sportback Concept for Paris

With the debut of the new TT and TTS hardtops in Geneva earlier this year, as well as the more recent debut of the convertible model, Audi has ticked the same body style boxes as the first two generations of TT. Unlike those earlier examples, though, the German luxury manufacturer has provided a slow and steady parade of concepts showing off possible directions for the TT.
First, we had the Allroad Shooting Brake Concept from the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. Then, in April, we saw the Offroad Concept, whose biggest differentiation from the Detroit concept was its extra pair of doors, making it appear, at least superficially, quite similar to one of Audi's Sportback models. This clear evolution from shooting brake to neo-Sportback might not have meant much, had the image you see above not leaked.
This is, allegedly, the third member of the larger TT-based concept family, and - surprise, surprise - it has massaged the profile of the Offroad Concept into something that, to our eyes, appears far more grounded in reality. It looks like a natural fit into Audi's line of four-door-coupe models, which are more fleshed out in Europe, thanks to the presence of the A5/S5 Sportback. Slotting in a TT-based model could represent a coup for Audi, as such a small four-door with such obvious sports car roots would be mostly unchallenged.