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2014 Audi R8 GT zooming toward Le Mans reveal

According to a report from Autocar in the UK, the Audi R8 is set to get something of a swan song for its own going-away party in the form of an updated GT model for the 2014 model year. If Autocar is right, this even higher-performance Audi R8 will debut at the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France.
The 2014 Audi R8 GT Plus will reportedly get a tuned version of the much-loved 5.2-liter V10 engine that Audi has used to good effect in past R8 models. A six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic would send power to the rear wheels, enabling a 3.4-second 0-62 mile per hour run and a top speed of 199 mph.
Judging from spy shots that we've already seen (reprised above), the new GT Plus will be fitted with an aggressive body kit that includes a massive rear wing, a more prominent front splitter and enlarged side blade ducts. A Spyder version of the GT Plus may be on tap for 2015. Pricing, obviously, is unknown, as is any potential launch date. In other words... stay tuned.

Audi already teasing, testing next R18 e-tron quattro

You can't debate Audi's record in endurance racing. With 12 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it comes second only to Porsche in the history books of the famous endurance race - only in Audi's case, all of those victories have come in the last 14 years, losing only twice: once to its partner team Bentley in 2003 and once to rival Peugeot in 2009. It's won the FIA World Endurance Championship in both of the seasons it's run so far, and has won championships in the European and American Le Mans Series, too.
That's quite a record to defend, and defend it Audi will with an evolved LMP1 racer next year. Only a week after tying up its second consecutive world championship, the German outfit is already back at Sebring this weekend testing the successor to the all-conquering R18 e-tron Quattro. Unfortunately as the new United SportsCar Championship doesn't include LMP1s, the only chance we may have to see it competing here in the United States will be at the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas in September.
Audi is keeping mum on the details for the time being, releasing only this one photo and promising to reveal further details before the end of the month, but we can already discern a more streamlined shape, revised aero and reprofiled headlamps among the changes from the outgoing R18. One way or another, with Toyota upping its game and Porsche returning to top-level competition next season, Audi may be in for its toughest challenge yet - but you can bet it won't take it lying down. Scope out the press release below and watch this space for more.

Audi pits S3 against Ur-Quattro on gravel

If you had to pick a winner between the latest Audi S3 and the original Audi Sport Quattro, which would it be? Both hot hatches pack around 300 horsepower and all-wheel drive, but they're separated by a good thirty years of development.
To find out, Audi took both to the old rally circuit in San Remo. Behind the wheel of the Ur-Quattro they put none other than The Stig himself - no, not the Top Gear test bot, but Stig Blomqvist, the Swedish former rally driver who drove the Quattro to the World Rally Championship in the mid-80s. In the S3 they put someone named Hermann Müller, who as best we can tell was one of Auto Union's original Silver Arrow drivers - but he died in 1975, so it's probably the guy who writes for the Audi magazine. Regardless, the contest was pretty close, so it's worth checking out in the 2:26 video clip below.