No Reserve 56k Miles 1 Owner Biturbo Quattro Leather Awd Avant 02 03 04 A4 A6 A8 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept throws lightness at the problem

Audi is celebrating the 2013 Wörthersee Tour with a special concept version of the company's TT. The Audi TT Ultra Quattro concept tips the scales at just 2,449 pounds thanks to some extensive engineering work. The company pulled nearly 95 lbs from the car's body structure and used carbon-fiber reinforced plastics for many of its detachable body components. As a result, the concept weighs in at a full 220 pounds lighter than its production counterpart. Throw in a wicked turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 310 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, and you get a machine with the power to weight ratio in the supercar realm. 0-60 comes up in 4.2 seconds and top speed is listed at 173 mph.
Inside, the TT Ultra Quattro features plenty of carbon fiber trim, and designers also fitted the seats from the R8 GT to save a little weight. The buckets use CFRP for the seat frames, saving nearly 50 pounds in the process. In a world where automakers seem blind to the negative effect of throwing more heft at a vehicle, we're in love with the Ultra Quattro concept. Check out the full press release below for more information.

Audi A3 Cabriolet leaked ahead of Frankfurt

Leaked images of the new Audi A3 Cabriolet have emerged ahead of the compact droptop's debut at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show. Audi has sold a convertible A3 in Europe since 2008, although that car has never made it to the US market. Still, with Audi already bringing an A3 and S3 sedan across the pond, there's hope for this small convertible to arrive here.
The looks of the A3 Cabrio aren't a huge departure from the A3 sedan, besides the obvious deletion of rear doors. We can't tell from the images shown, but considering Audi still hasn't brought a folding hardtop to market, we don't imagine it'll start with an entry level model like the A3. Expect a fast-folding canvas roof, much like the A5 Cabriolet.
From the leaked images, we can see TFSI and Quattro badges on this A3. It seems natural that the Cabrio will sport the same range of four-cylinder engines as the sedan - a 2.0-liter TDI, a 1.4-liter turbo and a 2.0-liter turbo. Of course, we'll have much more on the new A3 Cabrio when it makes its debut in Frankfurt.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.