Supercharged Audi A4 Quattro 2.8 on 2040-cars

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SNL player Vanessa Bayer goes 50 Shades of Audi

Fifty Shades of Grey, the most unlikely Valentine's Day film ever, is opening over Valentine's Day Weekend. Casting directors gave Audi a number of plum assignments, the German carmaker landing the roles of A3, S7, S8, R8 V10 Spyder, and Q7. That part is not surprising. What is surprising is this most unlikely spoof that Audi of America worked up with Saturday Night Live cast member Vanessa Bayer, playing off that elevator scene in the film. After watching it, we felt like Audi looked at us and said, "Oh yeah, we just did that." It's not NSFW, but - like the movie it parodies - this is all about the adult content. We liked it. But would it be too much to say we didn't see this one coming? News Source: Audi of America via YouTube Humor TV/Movies Audi Videos saturday night live

2014 Audi S1 Quattro [w/video]

Audi may only now be fully committing to the US compact car market with a range of A3 models, but it's got far more small car expertise than most Americans realize, and its offerings get even tinier, too. Back in 2010, Audi leapt into the subcompact premium fray - in all markets but the United States, Canada and China - with its A1. The A1 family has sold all right, but not quite as well as was expected, likely due to its price when optioned up. (It also doesn't help that the Volkswagen Polo is a great car on the same architecture and costs much less.)
But Audi seems compelled to make high-buck S trims of everything nowadays, so right on schedule, I've scored seat time in its new S1 Quattro. Under its gumdrop-colored hood is the very popular 2.0-liter TFSI motor. In this trim, it's good for 228 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque between 1,600 and 3,000 rpm. That's quite a lot of gumption for this little blaster - enough power for 0-60 in just 5.7 seconds.
My drive was originally supposed happen on a sub-zero frozen lake in Sweden, only Audi forgot to call Mother Nature and ask her to hold off on springtime. It would have turned into a slush drive and then a submarine test had I been told to stick to the original plan, so it was dusty, soggy and gravel-y pavement instead, which turned out to be a better real-world test anyhow. Plus, the car got even cuter when it was filthy.

2015 will be the biggest year ever for cars at CES

Like the SEMA Show, major automakers are paying increasing attention to the CES, with 2015 expected to be one of the most auto focused yet. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda, Audi, BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will all be in attendance when CES 2015 kicks off next week, taking up a record-breaking 165,000 square feet of space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We've come a long way from a single car on a carpet," Ford's Alan Hall told Bloomberg. Unlike SEMA, or a more traditional auto show, like the upcoming festivities in Detroit, CES doesn't necessarily focus on entire cars or the way they perform, but on the way our technology will interact with vehicles, and in how those vehicles will deliver information to drivers. "CES has become a major launch point for a lot of the big automakers," IHS tech analyst Mark Boyadjis told Bloomberg. "CES is a way for them to get on a global stage for technology." As for what kind of wares automakers will trot out in Las Vegas, we already know that BMW will show off an autonomous i3 electric car that can navigate its way through a multistory car park and can be hailed via a smartwatch app. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai will show off its own smartwatch app for the Genesis sedan, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz will show off autonomous vehicles next week. Automakers won't be the only companies looking to capitalize on CES. Tech firms, like chipmaker Nvidia, are becoming increasingly involved in the automotive game and will be in town showing their wares off to OEMs. "Two years ago, our booth would have been filled with PCs and people playing video games," Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director for automotive business, told Bloomberg. "This year we made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the booth on automotive and de-prioritize some of the other things." Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of news out of Las Vegas come next week. Stay tuned. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Julie Jacobson / AP CES Audi BMW Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Mazda Toyota Volkswagen Technology CES 2015