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Audi boosts A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid production to 50 a day

Should we try to translate "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" into German? Audi might force us to do that. That's because the German automaker has stepped up production of its new plug-in vehicle – the A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid – which is never a bad thing. Audi was circulating prototypes of the PHEV as early as 2012 and launched production this summer at a clip of 30 vehicles a day. Now, the company is saying that it's upped that daily production rate to 50. That's not exactly Ford F-150 manufacturing territory, but it's a pretty good sign that more Europeans are clamoring for the plug-in than Audi expected. The A3 E-Tron is priced at about $51,000 in Germany and pairs a 1.4-liter gas-powered engine with an electric motor to produce 204 horsepower and get the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than seven and a half seconds. More impressively, the A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid can go 30 miles on electricity alone plus another 550 miles on gas power, and gets a Euro-based fuel-economy rating of a monstrous 156 miles per gallon. Check out Audi's press release below and take a look at our drive impressions here. On the line and on time: Production of the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron • First plug-in hybrid model drives off the assembly line in Ingolstadt • Assembly processes integrated into the A3 line • Maximum safety for employees, top quality for customers Production of the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron: Assembly – On the engine and component assembly line, the electric motor and transmission are fitted to the engine. Approximately 50 cars every day, with the same timing and on the same assembly line as the other models: Audi is now ramping up production of the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron*. The premium manufacturer is producing its first plug-in hybrid model at the brand's main plant in Ingolstadt. "We started series production of the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron in the summer," said Dr. Hubert Waltl, Board of Management Member for Production at AUDI AG. "Most of the assembly work is integrated into the A3 line; no separate manufacturing is necessary. That demonstrates the flexibility and efficiency of our production planners and employees." With the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, Audi is launching the mobility of the future. The compact five-door combines a 1.4 TFSI combustion engine with a 75 kW electric motor, resulting in a total system output of 150 kW (204 horsepower).

Comparison test: 2019 Acura RDX vs. compact luxury SUV competitors

Truth be told, if we were to compare the all-new 2019 Acura RDX with those compact luxury crossover SUVs it would most likely be cross-shopped against, you'd be looking at a different list. Even Acura admits that Lexus and Infiniti are the most likely bogies, but with the 2019 RDX, Honda's luxury brand is attempting to attract those customers who think as much with their hearts as with their heads. And for the most part, those folks have been buying from German brands: the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. So, to show how the new RDX compares to them, Acura actually provided examples of each during the recent press drive along with a Volvo XC60. All were determined to have greater emotional appeal than the last RDX, and we would certainly agree. For, as much as the previous-generation RDX made sense on paper, it was really hard to get excited about it. And when you're paying extra for a luxury vehicle, shouldn't you get a little excited? Well, as luck would have it, Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and I were on hand in Whistler, British Columbia, for the press launch. We didn't have an abundance of time in each RDX competitor, but in conjunction with our usual comparison chart, our impressions should provide a good first taste of how the new RDX compares. Performance and fuel economy Contributing Editor James Riswick: On paper at least, the RDX is gutsier than its comparably powered European rivals. It also weighs the same or less, which logically should mean it'll be the quickest in a straight line. During my brief drives, though, I'm not sure it really stood taller than the three Germans. It at least matches them for smoothness, which is something that can't be said about the Volvo. Fuel economy is lower than them all when you consider all but the Mercedes come standard with all-wheel drive. It's also worth noting that all the competitors are available with engine upgrades, and unless Acura's forthcoming resurrection of Type S models includes the RDX, it should stay that way. Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: Line 'em all up in a drag race, and I have a feeling the Acura would squirt away to victory. A good bit of that, though, would be due to its 10-speed automatic transmission, which offers a huge spread of ratios and fires off extremely quick shifts. In the real world, I'd guess fuel economy will be similar across the board, so I'm willing to call that category a draw.

Daily Driver: 2015 Audi S7

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, featuring impressions from the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Audi S7, reviewed by Seyth Miersma. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hi, all. This is Seyth with Autoblog. I'm here driving the 2015 Audi S7. I'm caught in a kind of annoying, normal, end-of-the-work-day suburban traffic right now, but even that helps to illustrate the point that I'm trying to make about the S7, is that it really is one of the best all-around grand touring cars that you can buy. A really, really good grand tourer has to do three things. [00:00:30] One, it has to look amazing. It has to feel really special inside and out. The second part is that it's got to be a great long-range cruiser. It needs to be powerful on the highway, be able to be very comfortable and quiet if you're taking it long distances, kind of like your typically Autobahn car. Three, and I think this is really difficult with the second one that I mentioned, I think that grand tourers have to be really great at driving like sports cars. [00:01:00] You're going along and you're touring on the highway and you know that a really great road is coming up. The car should be able to get off on that road and handle like something much lighter and still have that great cruising character. That's one of the reasons why I've always liked the entire Audi A7 line, but especially this S7 because the A7 itself in all of its guises is really a pretty great cruiser and a really practical all-around car with the space in the hatch [00:01:30] and reasonable room in the back seats. The S7 with the turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 making 420 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque really amps up the sportiness. Now don't get me wrong, the S7 is far from a sports car. It's not very light. It's got a long wheelbase. It is nimble, especially with Quattro, but it doesn't feel especially nimble. It doesn't want to change directions super quickly. It splits the difference between the two. That being said, [00:02:00] when you get up to some of your favorite roads, it doesn't disappointment you either because of all the power and grip and some pretty decent sporting character available. Of course one thing that you do lack in a big GT like this S7 vs.