2011 A4 Avant Quattro 2.0t: Premium Plus, Navigation, Bang & Olufsen, Clean on 2040-cars

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Audi S3 Sedan boasts SAE 296 hp, 0-60 in 4.7 seconds

The (technically speaking) 2015 Audi S3 sedan should start at right near $39,000.
The last time Audi gifted the world with a small sport sedan was way back when the A4 wasn't an entry-luxury executive car costing relative gads of dough, so maybe since the mid-1990s. In a company decision reversal, we're now officially getting the new A3 Sportback starting later this year, but that's a five-door hatch and not a big volume attraction for markets like the United States. And there's no guarantee we'll get the S3 Sportback version yet. So, what to do?

Audi highlights headlights on upcoming new R8

Audi is preparing to roll out an all-new R8... but it's not about to reveal the whole thing at once. So in the first in what promises to be a series of teasers, the German automaker is showing off the new supercar's headlights. (Or headlight, we should say, in the singular.) Not unlike the R8 LMX revealed in Paris, the second-generation Audi supercar will incorporate LED headlights with an optional laser high-beam module. Unfortunately since laser headlights are illegal in the United States, the option isn't likely to be offered here. That is, at least, until Audi succeeds in convincing federal regulators otherwise. Although the teaser image above, like the press release below, may shine the light (so to speak) principally on the headlights, the shrouded shape also gives us a (little) bit to chew on. Yes, it will be available in blue, but beyond that we can expect the new R8 to incorporate slightly more angular lines than the model it replaces, with a more pronounced trapezoidal grille up in an overall design similar to the new TT, only more so. But then we already knew that much and more from the undisguised image that leaked out a little over a week ago. Ingolstadt, 2015-02-16 Audi reveals laser headlights for the new R8 - New mid-engine sports car features high-tech headlights - Laser high-beam offers high light intensity and excellent range Audi is revealing the headlights of its new R8* as the first of a number of technology highlights of the top sports car. The R8 uses LED headlights which can be supplemented by a laser high beam lighting module as an option. The new R8 will set new standards among high-performance sports cars – including in its lighting technology. As an option, the latest car development by Audi can be equipped with a laser spot as the high-beam headlight. The special appeal of laser lighting is that it uses high-intensity laser diodes, which generate a lot of light energy from a very small component. Compared to LED high-beam headlights, laser high-beams attain nearly twice the lighting range. Each headlight contains one laser module that operates with four high-intensity laser diodes. This module bundles the four intense blue-light laser beams. Then a phosphor converter transforms the blue light into pure white light. An identifying characteristic of the laser headlights is their blue light signature. Standard equipment in the new R8 includes an LED headlight system.

Audi looking for Tesla-style, non-traditional way to sell EVs

As part of Audi's notable EV emphasis at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, there was a bit of a secondary discussion on just how the automaker might get to the point where 25 percent of all of its sales would be electric vehicles. After all, no major automaker has figured out how to crack into the double-digit percentage of plug-in vehicle sales. The problem might be, as The New York Times noted recently, that traditional dealerships just don't know how to sell EVs. While no one at Audi was saying that the automaker is going to open up its own EV stores, like Tesla has, but two Audi of America executives were certainly warm to a different style of how an automaker can encourage EV sales. Filip Brabec, AoA's director of product management, said that Audi is at least considering making changes, including some sort of different dealership experience and perhaps a new kind of test drive. "The traditional automotive approach is not necessarily working," Brabec said. "A lot of it has to do with the complexity of the product and the complexity of the offer and it's difficult, I think, to bring that into a classical dealership and sort of treat is as another car and off we go. I think there needs to be some differences in how we go in the future." AoA president Scott Keogh said that Tesla has shown the rest of the industry how to make selling EVs a complete experience. It's not just about the car, he acknowledged. "I think we have to give Tesla credit where it's deserved," he said. "I think the charging network, at least from a public relations point of view, is quite strong and that's definitely added to the message." So many automakers want to have that, "Tesla fighter," as we've heard over and over recently, but Keogh hinted that Audi could do a better job than Tesla is doing today. "I think they've done a good job of looking at the full package. I think we have some resources and the network and everything else that we can put a fuller package together." The most important part is getting people into the cars, Brabec said. "I think exposing consumers to EVs, letting them experience EVs is another big aspect, and probably different than we have today, because test driving a car today is a very conventional thing. It's probably not going to be as conventional with EVs, particularly if you've never been in one before." We can't wait.