2012 Audi S5 V8 Quattro Auto Tiptronic Coupe Prestige. Navigation/dvd on 2040-cars

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Audi reveals updated RS7 Sportback in Europe

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Audi revealed a few mild updates to its A7. It even ported those changes over to the warmed-up S7 performance version. All that was missing was the full-steam RS7, and that's precisely what we have here.
Now before you get all excited, note that the new RS7 packs the same powertrain as the model it succeeds, but then again, the existing RS7 hardly lacked in the power department. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 still churns out 560 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, transmitted to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic. Revealed initially for the European market (with US details presumably to follow), the 0-62 kilometers per hour time is quoted at 3.9 seconds, so the 0-60 mph time ought to match the 3.7 seconds of the preceding model.
What has changed are the subtle tweaks Audi has made to the exterior and equipment upgrades inside. The grille now features has a horizontal section at the bottom with the Quattro logo emblazoned across like all other recently revised RS models, flanked by new headlights (Matrix LED units for the European market). Inside the cabin the air-con vents and shift paddles have been reshaped, and the new MMI system ports over from the new A7 and S7 with 4G LTE connectivity and a Bang & Olufsen sound system.

Audi mulling producing version of Quattro showcar, just not sure which one [w/poll]

Head of design for Audi, Wolfgang Egger, has told Auto Express that a reborn Quattro could enter production, but bosses for the company haven't yet decided whether to base it on the Sport Quattro concept that just debuted at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show or the smaller Quattro concept that was revealed at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.
While both draw their inspiration from the original Ur-Quattro of the 1980s, they vary wildly in both size and choice of powertrain. The 2010 Quattro concept was based on Volkswagen's MQB platform, shared with such vehicles as the Golf and Audi A3. The Sport Quattro, meanwhile, was built atop the company's larger MLB platform that's used almost exclusively for Audi models, including the A5, which is also a coupe.
Under their hoods, the 2010 Quattro concept simply employs a version of the same 2.5-liter engine used in the TT RS, tuned to deliver 408 horsepower, while the Sport Quattro goes nuclear with a twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain that develops 700 hp and 590 pound-feet of torque. Both, of course, employ quattro all-wheel drive just like their forebearer.

Finalists for 2014 Green Car of the Year announced

The list of finalists for the 2014 Green Car of the Year has been announced, and in a genuinely bizarre twist, there's only one hybrid and no electric vehicles among the five contestants, despite the arrival of cars like the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S. Taking the place of the EVs are a pair of diesels, repping a technology that last won a Green Car of the Year award in 2009, when the Audi A3 TDI took the title. No diesel was in the running for last year's award.
Naturally, both of the diesel finalists are fielded by the Germans - with BMW's 328d and Audi's A6 TDI getting the nod. In the case of the 3 Series, BMW installed a 2.0-liter, turbodiesel, capable of delivering 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, while returning 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Audi and its larger, 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel produce quite a bit more grunt, with 240 hp and 428 lb-ft of grunt, but net a very impressive 38 mpg on the highway in the A6.
Finalists for this year's awards include two diesels, three gas-powered cars and a plug-in hybrid.