2007 Audi S4 Base Sedan 4-door 4.2l on 2040-cars

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Malaise Era All-Stars

A few weeks ago, we bid a fond happy 40th anniversary to the automotive dark ages of 1973-84 that have come to be known as "The Malaise Era" - the performance ice-age when 160 horsepower was a lot and a 0-60 time of under 10 seconds was remarkable. Like music in the 1980s, everything in automobiledom didn't suck, however. There were a few bright spots. Here are five of our favorites:
1976-79 Porsche 930, aka 911 Turbo Carrera (above)
Photo Credit: Dorotheum

Audi starts production of new TT in Hungary

Audi sure made waves when it rolled out the original TT in the late 1990s, putting fashion forward with a stylish coupe that neatly summed up the design direction the company was headed in. But that was a decade and a half ago, and the TT has moved on considerably since then.
The German automaker has since revealed its third-generation TT, replacing the original twice over with ever-more performance-focused but no less stylish successors along the way. But it wasn't until last week that the first new MkIII TT rolled off the assembly line.
That took place, of course, in Gyor at Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. It's the same assembly plant that handles the company's A3 sedan and cabrio, with the facility also handling final assembly of the TT ever since the factory opened in 1997 and the model began rolling off the line in '98. Last November, the plant in Hungary built its 500,000th TT, and now officials are ushering in the era of the new model.

Audi Allroad Shooting Brake is a TT peep show

What you're looking at here is the almost-here third-generation Audi TT. Just compress the suspension a bit to take away its Allroad pretensions and rake its backlight to align better with the previous generation's aesthetic, and you're pretty well there. What you're looking at officially, of course, is the Audi Allroad Shooting Brake, a four-seat E-Tron hybrid showcar powered by Audi's venerable 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder (good for 292 horsepower) backed by a 40-kW electric motor and a secondary 85-kW motor acting upon the rear axle to provide low- and moderate-speed drive. The latter also provides through-the-road Quattro all-wheel drive when extra traction and power is called for.
All-in, Audi says the Allroad Shooting Brake's ETron powertrain is good for 408 horsepower and total system torque of 479 pound-feet, enough to haul the 3,500-pound German to 62 miles per hour in 4.6 seconds and up to a governed 155 mph. Despite that tidy performance, Audi says the Allroad Shooting Brake offers robust fuel consumption of 1.9 liters per 100k, equivalent to 124 miles per gallon, with a bladder-busting range of 510 miles.