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2014 Audi RS7 priced from $104,900* in the US [w/video]

Audi has officially priced the svelte 2014 RS7 from $104,900 (*not including $825 for destination), undercutting its sole competitor, the BMW M6 Gran Coupe, by $8100. Even when we're talking about six-figure super sedans, that's not a small amount of money. And soon, this class of sleek stormers will be joined by the updated Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG 4Matic.
With its combination of a twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter, 560-horsepower V8 engine and Audi's excellent Quattro all-wheel drive, the RS7 is expected to hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds, 0.4 seconds faster than the manufacturer estimate for the M6 Gran Coupe.
We've already given the RS7 a thorough shakedown in Europe, and we came away quite impressed with just how stunning this Audi is, both to drive and to look at. Now that we've got a price to go along with the performance and style, this Audi is even more appealing - in our high-dollar dreams, anyway. Take a look at a short video from Audi, as well as the official press blast, below.

Audi SQ7 coming, will have electric turbo

Formula 1 and endurance racing are already harvesting energy from turbos on the track, and now it's apparently time for a similar idea of boosting the efficiency of forced induction to hit the streets in a high-performance, diesel SUV.
In a recent interview with the UK's Autocar, Audi technical boss Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg let the big news slip. "The new Q7 will be available in the market next year but the electric turbo will come a bit later in the Audi SQ7 available in 2016," he said. The e-turbo system was already rumored for the premium SUV but for the standard model, not this just-announced performance version.
Audi has been experimenting with the e-turbo system for a little while, as an electrically driven supercharger. It showed up on the RS5 TDI concept that used a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged diesel V6 plus the electric system to diminish turbo lag. In that application, it provided an impressive 385 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque and an alleged sprint to 62 miles per hour in 4 seconds. Although, Dr. Hackenberg didn't make it clear if this was the exact layout for the SQ7.

Audi Quattro concept production hopes still alive, could be more radical

Remember the gestation period of the Lexus LFA, the one that, in automotive time, took so long that its origins could have been carbon dated? We feel like it's deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would have said, this time featuring the Audi Quattro and Audi Sport Quattro. It was 2010 when our cameras first glimpsed the Audi Quattro Concept (pictured right) at the Paris Motor Show, and we tasted its turbocharged 2.5-liter, five-cylinder powerplant not long after. Last year we met the hybrid, 700-horsepower Audi Sport Quattro concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but we got no closer to finding out if there'd ever be a version we could buy. A report in Autocar keeps the flame of hope burning, quoting Audi design chief Marc Lichte at the LA Auto Show saying, "We are working on Quattro, it is still alive." Lichte went on to say, however, that the next imagining is "more extreme" than those we've seen, and, "There will be surprises." Those words alone are a surprise. The last we heard about the Quattro revival was Audi boss Ulrich Hackenberg saying he wanted a more accessible homage to the original, and we don't know how "more extreme" jives with that. Seeing that Audi is serious about the idea, at least, we shouldn't have to wait long to find out. Just don't get your hopes up about its affordability yet.