“competition”. It is one of the latest designations in Audi’s repertoire of limited models. Near as we can tell it began with upgrade packages for the A1, and now Audi has begun to roll out some kitted models that bear the name. We were intrigued enough to add one to our fleet in the form of a TT.
More…

Though based on the same platform and sharing the same drivetrain, the new S6 sedan and S7 Sportback are distinctly different cars. We hit the winding roads of the undulating and slithering Hudson River Valley in upstate New York in order to get a taste and also to catalog the differences.
More…

So the word is out. Audi will bring the SQ5 to America, albeit without the 3.0-liter Bi-TDI engine and instead with a pumped version of the familiar 3.0 TFSI. That’s likely for the better given American market tastes, fuel prices and frankly for tenability. All that being said, the move firms even more the notion that the S4 Avant will not return to America any time soon. While many wagon fans likely will be in an uproar and at least one American enthusiast is in the midst of building his own S4 Avant, we’ll attempt to put the SQ5 into context having had a chance to log some miles recently on a European market SQ5 TDI.
More…

That the grass is always greener on the other side of the pond for import car enthusiasts seems to be a universal norm. As Americans we envision Europeans blasting away on empty autobahns in obscure Audi S or RS models that we simply don’t get and shifting their manual transmissions that, more often than not nowadays, they don’t even get. And while that may be what we imagine, the reality is that the autobahn is getting more and more congested and that a tank of ‘petrol’ is exceedingly expensive on the ‘right’ side of the Atlantic. Over there small displacement tends to be the more likely euro reality and cars like the A5 Sportback may already be Euro only, but ordered as a 1.8 TFSI and without quattro is a much more likely scenario for a German Audi owner than is an RS 4 Avant. Having always lusted for the A5 Sportback, we decided to sample the car and see if even the smallest engine variant would capture our hearts.
More…

Early days with your first Audi R8 are a somewhat surreal adjustment… especially when that R8 is red. We’re not new to the experience of driving here or there in Audi’s four ring supercar, but the arrival of this particular R8 to our garage reset the bar. In front of home, in the office parking [...] More…

“I’ve just ordered an R8,” I say over dinner while trying my best to wrestle down a Cheshire cat-like grin. My tablemate looks at me with a raised eyebrow More…

As impressive an engine like the 3.0 Bi-TDI is, there’s always room for improvement and Audi engineers are experimenting with one particularly intriguing new technology. Recently we had a chance to drive an A6 Bi-TDI development mule boasting a very interesting new component fitted to this motor – an electric biturbo.
More…

Let’s be honest. Enthusiasts tend to loathe crossovers. It’s not that those cars spanning the gap between full-on SUV and low-slung station wagon are bad vehicles… just that their very presence (looking at you Audi Q5) are likely the reason for the endangered status of the Avant here in America. With its quick rise to #2 in sales volume status for Audi of America, you can’t deny that the Q5 isn’t better suited to American tastes… but as en enthusiast I’d always thought I’d opt for an S4 Avant over a Q5. It is with that mentality and knowledge of the preference of our most ardent readers that I boarded a plane to Germany this summer in order to test Audi’s new and improved Q5 range. More…

Las Vegas, NV – “The Strip”, Las Vegas’ main street isn’t exactly the first place you’d think to test-drive a high performance concept car. Lacking a name like “Tail of the Dragon” that suggests sinewy S-curves and 180-degree switchbacks with deceptively decreasing radii, Vegas’ Strip goes more for the triple entrendre of byway, place where you can readily lose your shirt and place where women named after Disney characters readily lose much more than a shirt while in close proximity to shiny pole and even shinier glitter. No, there’s no suggestion of intense driving experience here, but several miles of stop and go traffic in virtually a straight line might just be perfect for Audi AG handlers to give us a taste of their priceless ultimate hot hatch concept without actually placing it in harm’s way… that is of course if you don’t count the throngs of tourists and drunkards on the sidewalk or the thick traffic of weekday rush hour. Oh well, at least we have a police escort. More…

It’s fair to say the claws are out in a lavatory at the airport. “I guess you can say that when you’ve won a Pulitzer,” mutters one journalist to another, and then goes silent as the door swings open and I stroll into the men’s room. I’m at an airplane hangar about 20-minutes’ drive from the Denver airport. The massive building usually used to house planes has been commandeered by Audi for the launch of their updated B8 range of automobiles and a comment… critique really… made by Wall Street Journal writer Dan Neil may have ruffled a feather or two.
More…

Pamplona, Spain – It’s early morning when our plane touches down on the blindingly bright tarmac at Pamplona airport. I fire up my iPhone to check in with the world – the coming alive with texts and social media updates. At the top of the list is a Facebook post from an old school roommate [...] More…

The radio crackles to life as I adjust my hand position on the carbon-fiber stemmed alloy shifter marked 000/333. A voice comes over the choppy speaker saying, “George, we’re going to do four laps where you follow Emanuele and then four more where you take the lead.” “Emanuele” would be Emanuele Pirro. He’s been hanging [...] More…