2013 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Sport Utility 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.

Volkswagen posts quarterly profit despite drop in sales

Volkswagen returned to profit in the third quarter as surging Chinese demand for luxury cars helped offset a 1.1% drop in vehicle deliveries due to the pandemic, sending its shares as much as 3% higher on Thursday. The German automaker's return to the black comes amid spiking coronavirus cases in Europe that led governments in France and Germany to order their countries back into strict national lockdowns on Wednesday. "The coronavirus remains a central problem," Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said in a conference call with reporters. "This situation now is anything but relaxed." But Witter said the group expected the economic recovery to continue and did "not anticipate any nationwide lockdowns in larger markets." Witter said the takeover of U.S. truck maker Navistar International by Volkswagen's trucking unit Traton was an important acquisition, but the "current economic climate will not make this easy." Volkswagen reiterated it expects to post a profit for the full year, saying its business "recovered noticeably" in the third quarter as sales in China of premium vehicles, including Audi and Porsche sports cars, rose 3%. The quarterly performance was also aided by a series of cost-cutting measures launched earlier this year. Volkswagen said its net liquidity rose to 24.8 billion euros from 18.7 billion at the end of the second quarter. Excluding one-time items, third-quarter operating profit was 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion), down from 4.8 billion euros a year earlier, but up from a second quarter loss of 1.7 billion. In a note to clients, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois described the results as a "solid performance with strong cash, but relatively muted in the context of the (auto) sector recovery." Last week, German rival Daimler reported a record 24% jump in Chinese demand for its Mercedes-Benz cars, boosting its margins in the third quarter. Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group both also posted solid results this week. Witter said Volkswagen could not say for sure whether it would meet EU CO2 emissions targets this year, adding "it will be a tough race." At 1030 GMT, Volkswagen shares were up 2.9% at 129.20 euros. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Audi Bentley Bugatti Lamborghini Porsche Volkswagen

2013 Audi RS6 Avant hauls ass and then some

Holy moly. Despite the fact that Audi first released details on its 2013 RS6 Avant back in December, we're still just as smitten with it now as we were a couple months ago. And why wouldn't we be? This stunning piece of forbidden fruit combines two of our favorite things: fast Audis and useful wagons.
The meat and potatoes behind the RS6 Avant is its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, tuned to crank out 560 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, the all-wheel-drive wagon can scoot to 60 miles per hour in just 3.9 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 155 mph. Opting for the Dynamic package ups that v-max to 174 mph, and selecting the Dynamic Plus pack increases that even further to 190 mph.
This RS6 Avant certainly looks the part of an extreme ass-hauler, fitted with the usual RS-spec gaping air intakes, 21-inch wheels, sport exhaust and carbon fiber ceramic brakes. Combine all that goodness with dynamic ride control, an adaptive air suspension and torque-vectoring Quattro all-wheel drive, and we have no doubt that this thing will scare off every other station wagon in the parking lot. (Well, except maybe that Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG. Woof.)