2003 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8t - 5-speed - Apr Tuned - 280hp - Special Imola Yellow on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi chooses A3 as its Super Bowl darling

With Super Bowl XLVIII less than two months away, we're sure to hear plenty of news about automakers and their various plans for in-game commercials. Audi has announced that it will return for its seventh year of Super Bowl advertising, but few details were provided about the spot other than the fact that it will focus on the all-new 2015 A3.
The 60-second ad will air during the third quarter of the game, and while Audi did not say how much it is spending on the spot, Ad Age says that a 30-second commercial will average around $4 million for next year's Big Game. Last year, Audi's choose-your-own-adventure "Prom" commercial was the second favorite video in our unofficial poll of readers, but the competition should heat up even more this year with General Motors returning to Super Bowl advertising after taking a year off and Jaguar preparing its first-ever Super Bowl ad to introduce the F-Type Coupe.

Autoblog's ultimate holiday rides

Over the hills and through the woods, it's the time of year when many of us visit family and friends for the holidays. But getting there can be a chore. It's cold and snowy across much of the United States, and even if the climate is favorable, the drive to grandmother's house often is not. Think back to holiday road trips of yore: They probably included crying babies, antsy children, hungover adults and frequent bathrooms stops all around. Now, we're all at different life stages here at Autoblog, and the perfect car for one staffer might be as useful as a team of Budweiser Clydesdales to another. Some of us bounce from family event to family event with children and a labrador in tow, while others prefer a quieter, simpler holiday. But whatever the endeavor, we all need wheels. With that in mind, here is the unofficial Autoblog list of the ultimate cars in which to tackle the holiday season. 2015 Ferrari FF To borrow a chestnut from Top Gear presenter James May, "As you'd expect, I've done this properly." That oddly voluptuous ruby bolide in the photo above? It's a 2015 Ferrari FF – all 652 all-wheel-driven horsepower of it. What makes a Ferrari the ideal for holiday time in PaukertLand? My Midwestern winter breaks are wonderful, but they're typically frenetic and slushy, involving a lot of schlepping from house to house and even city to city, not to mention inevitable last-minute runs for forgotten presents and dinner ingredients. Needless to say, a powerful V12 is a welcome ally for such duties. And this one isn't just a friend when the road is clear. The FF has been gifted Ferrari's novel 4RM AWD system, and despite sitting lower to the ground than, say, an SUV, it's a pretty effective tool for real winter driving, especially when outfitted with a set of snow tires. Unlike other Ferraris, it's also a rather practical thing, with legitimate seating for four adults and 15.9 cubic feet of cargo space – that's precisely as much room as a Mercedes E-Class – and you can fold the rear chairs and cram 28.2 cubes-worth of holiday cheer in the back. Okay, so it's far from cheap and fuel economy isn't that great, but who cares? Just drop a paddle-shifted gear or two, bury the throttle and Repeat The Sounding Joy. Ain't the holidays grand? – Chris Paukert Executive Editor 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe My Mom gives out more presents than any other human being I've ever encountered.

Race Recap: 2013 Griffin King of the Hammers, and notes from a dry lake bed [w/video]

It was a local guy from 90 miles away who beat them all...
The image above shows 129 Ultra4 racing rigs lined up for the start of the 2013 Griffin King of the Hammers. In case you missed Part One that explains why they're there and why they might be doing the most difficult and absurd one-day off-road race in the world, check it out. After a week of races in other events and two days of qualifying for the big show, the men and women who made it in were lined up to do three laps of a course around the 140,000-acre Johnson Valley OHV area in California's San Bernardino County.