Audi: Q5 S-line on 2040-cars

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2014 Audi RS7 [w/video]

The subject of what makes up a true "supercar" is a difficult one, fraught with personal connotations and the rare ability to bring close colleagues into heated confrontation with one another in the blink of an eye. I say this because, while the 2014 Audi RS7 most certainly does not make the supercar cut on a few levels to my way of thinking - not rare enough, expensive enough or wearing an appropriately evocative body - it is unquestionably an "everyday supercar" of remarkable ability. And, pertinently, it is one that proved willing to ply its trade in every version of winter that Michigan had to offer it.
I had winter four ways during my week-long loan with the RS7. A period of crisp temperatures and dry roads, presided over by light blue skies as wide as the horizon, soon gave way to spitting, freezing rain blanketed in slightly misleading warmer air. Then there was snow. Not the massive blanket we saw in the first week of the New Year, but more than enough to see my neighbors stocking up on Ice Melt and replacing their shovels for the season. Finally, temperatures dropped to the mid teens, cottony snow compressed into a hard pack and all residual moisture on the mostly cleared roads morphed into the very slickest of ice. Timeless curses were uttered by cranky commuters in smoking breaths. Pure Michigan.

2015 Audi A3 configurator is up and running

Potential customers for the new Audi A3 should set aside some time during their lunch breaks to head over and build their ideal example of the new sedan. The official configurator, complete with pricing and options, has gone live on the Audi website.
Customers can choose from three trim levels (Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige), while each trim can be had with either the Volkswagen Group's familiar 2.0-liter, turbocharged, 220-horsepower four-cylinder or a 1.8-liter, turbocharged, 170-horsepower four-cylinder. Buyers of the 2.0-liter will enjoy Quattro all-wheel drive while power for the 1.8T is channeled through the front wheels only. A six-speed, S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission is standard across the range.
You can check out full pricing on the A3 right here, but as a means of recap, the base Premium trim with the 1.8-liter engine starts at $29,900. A Premium Plus 1.8T starts $32,800 and the Prestige 1.8T will cost $38,700. Adding a 2.0-liter turbo and Quattro increases the price by $3,000, regardless of trim. Those prices don't include an $895 destination charge.

New Audi Allroad Shooting Brake concept images leak out, next TT previewed?

The Detroit Auto Show media preview kicks off on Monday, which means the time is just about ripe for previously embargoed images and information to start leaking out onto the web in a major way. Case in point is this Allroad Shooting Brake from Audi, a seemingly close-to-production vehicle that may foreshadow the styling of the upcoming Audi TT, or hint at the looks of a Q1, or both.
The TT bit may seem far fetched, but we do know that Audi has used a small wagon concept to preview the design of an upcoming TT before - back in 2006 before the release of the gen-two car. We also fully anticipate the Q1 to be breaking cover sooner rather than later, so the safe money is that the concept closely resembles what that production vehicle will ultimately look like, though perhaps with a bit more height overall.
And, frankly, be it a TT or Q1 or both, we like what we're seeing. Sharp character lines on a rounded body form follow the idiom of the current TT rather nicely, while the big-wheels-at-all-corners stance plays into the sporting character we'd expect from any small Audi. Inside, we see the same Virtual Cockpit, MMI controller, and vents that we recently took in at CES, though with a slightly different steering wheel (with the starter button built right in). Tidy work here, too.