Audi Straightline Archives

It must be a bummer, being underappreciated. You shine and excel, and still you remain hidden in the shadows.

Just ask any of the six models listed after the jump. It's a story they know all too well. 

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Categories: Audi,Ford,Hyundai,Nissan,Suzuki,Volkswagen

Today Audi released pricing on the limited-edition convertible version of the Audi R8 GT, the Audi R8 GT Spyder. If at any point during the pre-pricing coverage you thought "I'm interested in this car, but I'll have to see the price first," you can't afford it.

For one of the 50 R8 GT Spyders allocated to the US, you'll be spending $211,200 -- before the dealer marks it up.

Like the R8 GT, the Spyder gets a 5.2-liter V10 pumping out 560 horsepower. It's got a top speed of 197 mph, weighs 187.39 pounds less than the R8 Spyder and comes with R8 GT specific sport suspension, carbon fiber matte exterior mirrors, LED tail lights, aluminum door sills, steering wheel, alcantara sport seats, carbon fiber interior inlays and numbered aluminum gear knob. Audi will build 333 total.

Categories: Audi,Convertibles,Sports Cars

 
If you're a classic car nut, you've probably heard of Hagerty; the company is a leader in classic-car insurance and hosts the world's largest database of classic cars. Each year, the company publishes its Hagerty Hot List, a list that spotlights 10 new vehicles that its valuations experts see as having the best future collectability. 

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Categories: Audi,Buick,Chevrolet,Dodge,Fiat,Ford,Jeep,Nissan,Porsche,Volkswagen

Just yesterday we saw the teaser for Audi's upcoming S7-starring Super Bowl advertisement. Today we've got the full ad they're calling "Vampire Party."

We won't spoil anything so go ahead and check it out and let us know if you think this is the best way to draw attention to a hyper-stylish four-door coupe with a 420-horsepower twin-turbo V8.

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Categories: Audi,Miscellaneous,Videos

Audi is continuing the current trend of previewing advertisements with this teaser for the German luxury brand's Super Bowl Ad.

Audi begins the tease by showing highlights of the five Super Bowl spots they've done to date and then get on with the teaser at the end. In case you've forgotten, the Patriots and the Giants will be filling the time between billion dollar ads.

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Categories: Audi,Miscellaneous,Videos

Herman Melville's Moby Dick is a staple of the American literary scene. Every kid was forced to read the tale of Ishmael, Ahab, Queequeg and the White Whale in 10th grade when every kid giggles a little when they hear the name of the sperm whale.

The men, however, are doomed to fail. The whale is too great a beast and then men too singularly focused. "Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering qhale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

If you're not into reading, just watch Jaws pretty much the same thing.

Or you're not into spending two hours on something like that, you can just watch this 60-second commercial from Audi called "Ahab." The hunt here isn't between captain and whale, but tow truck driver and Audi with Quattro. "Ahab" and three follow-up teasers, after the jump.

With all of the effort that went into this divisional-playoffs campaign, we're expecting an epic follow-up for their Super Bowl spot.

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Categories: Audi,Videos

As Audi officials intoned at today's press conference, the "Q party continues," as the German automaker showed off a wintry concept of its smallest crossover. The Q3 Vail comes with flared wheel arches and running boards that will be added to the lineup of Q3 accessories.

In other news, Audi confirmed the A8 TDI and A6 TDI will arrive in the U.S. by 2013, followed by the Q5 diesel.

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Categories: Audi,Detroit Auto Show

This week a freelance photographer working in Malibu made rent for the month by snapping photos of a rumpled Richard Dean Anderson standing next to his dead Audi Allroad.

Anderson, known to children of the 1980s as TV's MacGyver, apparently made no attempt to dive under the hood and fix his Audi. And who can blame him entirely? Twenty-first century luxury cars have all sorts of built-in countermeasures to foil would-be MacGyvers and protect their manufacturers from litigation.

After the jump, a CBS clip of old-school MacGyver jimmying a fix for a busted brake line on an eastern-block police cruiser. It looks... quaint. Not that anyone will watch it because of the cloying 30-second Disney ad that precedes it.

(The Daily Mail)

Photo credit: AKM Images

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Categories: Audi,Celebrities,Wagons

When you're driving through inches and inches of snow, assistance can be useful, and all-wheel drive provides exactly that. This system sends power to all four wheels, providing traction that can mean the difference between an uneventful ride home and getting stuck in the sludge. 

All-wheel drive can be useful on clear pavement at well, as it can serve to improve traction in corners. If you're thinking sedans, you'll be happy to know that there are choices on the market that are both snow-friendly and a blast to drive. 

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Categories: Audi,BMW,Infiniti,Mitsubishi,Porsche,Subaru

Wards auto has released its official list of the 10 Best Engines for 2012. A record seven feature direct injection and five engines feature turbo or supercharging. Wards made the decision after driving 36 different vehicles with 34 new or redesigned motors over 2 months. Scores are based on power, technology (think that slightly skews this towards DI/Turbo motors instead off something like, oh, the LS1?), observed fuel economy, noise, vibration and harshness. Vehicles must be priced below $55,000.

Full list after the jump. (Pretend you didn't see the spoiler photo above.)

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Categories: Audi,BMW,Buick,Car Tech,Chrysler,Ford,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jeep

Each year, the Race of Champions gathers some of the best drivers in the world and pits them against one another on a 1.2-kilometer indoor track. On the line: Glory. They're already rich and famous racecar drivers, what else do they need?

The cars range from the Audi R8 LMS to a VW Scirocco to the KTM X-Bow and the racing is always competitive.

Wrap-up video and spoilers after the jump.

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Categories: Audi,Celebrities,Motorsports

Tiny cars have huge market share in Japan. Here, a car like the Audi A1 isn't even all that tiny. Audi already sells the three-door A1 hatchback here, so no reason not to export the five-door version, the A1 Sportback, to Japan in early 2012, which is the same time it will launch in Europe.

In the metal, the A1 could easily be mistaken for an A3 with more up-to-date styling, but then, we come from a big-car country so we're not the most sensitive to subtleties of scale. But never mind that, there are good reasons why the A1 Sportback will never get the green light for the U.S., and they go by names like Volkswagen GTI and Jetta Sportwagen. For the same price as an A1, you could get more car so isn't that the better value? Ah, there's the big-car attitude again.

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Categories: Audi,Hatchbacks,Tokyo Motor Show

  The free iPhone app Automotive Lighting may not be a must-have, but if you've got to have a flashlight app -- and you're a car enthusiast -- it's well worth the download. And that it's created by Magneti Marelli, a company that supplies automotive lighting for Audi and Mercedes-Benz, gives it come car cred.

You get to choose illumination from one of four supercars and select always-on or pulse lighting. You also have the option of using LED, xenon or halogen lighting, although we didn't notice a big difference between them.

And you can adjust the lighting strength with what we think is the app's coolest feature: Swiping the car backward or forward works as a dimmer by showing more or less of the headlights. Or you can just use the glowing red of the tail lamps for ambient lighting.

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Categories: Audi,Car Tech,Mercedes-Benz

The most obvious important difference between the 2012 Audi TT and the 2012 Audi TT RS is the engine. In place of the normal 2.0T is a 360-horsepower turbocharged 2.5-liter five cylinder. There are of course other differences, some for style and some for function.

Here, Audi's Head of Development at quattro GmbH, Stephan Reil, walks you through those differences in a way that only someone instrumental in the build can.

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Categories: Audi,Coupes,Sports Cars

Sharing sucks, doesn't it, Porsche? Welcome to the world of no longer being an only child.

Porsche, you see, is the official, designated maker of sports car platforms for the Volkswagen Group, but they won't be building the platform for their own Ferrari 458 fighting supercar.

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Categories: Audi,Coupes,Future Vehicles,Porsche,Sports Cars

It may not have anything to do with steering feedback or ride quality, but a good-looking cabin can have a powerful impact on the way you experience your car.

After all, where would you rather spend the night: in a five-star hotel, or that dumpy Motel 6 on the skeezy side of town? Yeah, I thought so.

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Categories: Audi,Jaguar,Kia,Mercedes-Benz,Porsche,Volvo

Ever on the ball, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally announced the most stolen vehicles for the 2009 Model Year! (For those of you without a calendar handy, we're only 56 days away from 2012.)

Topping the list is the 5.2-liter V10 powered 2009 Audi S8. How is it possible that a car that sold only 227 units is the most stolen? Well, because NHTSA bases the study on number of vehicles stolen per 1,000 produced. A total of two Audi S8s were stolen. Pretty sure Tom Brady's crashed more.

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Categories: Audi,Auto Industry,Ford,Mercury

...well doesn't that look cool.

This is the 2013 Audi A4 Allroad which will be headed Stateside sometime around June of 2012.  The new Allroad, along with the 2013 A4 and S4, get revised bumpers grilles and headlamps as well as some minor interior and trim changes.

For the European market, the A4 gets one of 10 motors, six TDI diesels and four supercharged, direct-injection gasoline motors with automatic start-stop. The A4 2.0 TDI makes 136 horsepower and returns 56 MPG. Steering on all A4s is now electromechanical.

The S4 gets a 329 horsepower 3.0-liter V6 cranking out 325 pound-feet of torque. There are unfortunately no plans for an S4 Allroad.

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Categories: Audi,Future Vehicles,Sedans

 
The steering wheel is one of the first things you see when you enter a car's cabin, and it's a part of the car that you constantly interface with during the driving experience. The best ones look great and feel even better, working in synergy with the car's themes and motifs to present a consistent message.

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Categories: Audi,BMW,Honda,Lamborghini,MINI,Mazda,McLaren,Mercedes-Benz,Volkswagen,Volvo

 The short list of finalists for the 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year were announced today with only a few surprises.

For NACOTY we have: Audi A6, Audi A7, Buick Verano, Chevy Sonic, Fiat 500, Chrysler 300/SRT-8, Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Veloster, Kia Rio/Rio5, Scion iQ, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius V, VW Beetle, VW Passat.

NATOTY isn't so simple and has the only surprise of the group with the addition of the Mini Countryman. Other entries in the truck field include the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Mini Countryman, Nissan Quest and the Saab 9-4X.

The top three in each field will be announced in December and the winners will be announced at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. I've got solid money in iQ / 9-4X, you?

Categories: Audi,BMW,Buick,Chevrolet,Ford,Honda,Hyundai,Kia,Land Rover,MINI,Mercedes-Benz,Nissan,Saab