The next GTI will be an order of magnitude better, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch.
Lighter, faster, stronger, better. That's what we can expect from the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf, due to be unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show before it hits dealerships across Europe this fall and eventually lands on U.S. shores as a 2013 model.
So what makes it special? A combination of new manufacturing processes, an all-new platform, a range of upgraded engines and what will go down as one of the greatest democratizations of active safety and in-car technology in automotive history.
What's more, the next GTI will be an order of magnitude better because of it, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch while packed with even more standard features.
It all starts with Volkswagen's new Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform, which is set to underpin every front-wheel-drive VW product from the Polo to the Passat, along with the 2013 Audi A3. To hear VW tell it, it will redefine the automaker's manufacturing processes while curing world hunger and eradicating leprosy.
Read on to find out what's got Volkswagen so excited.
Of all the car shows around the calendar year, the Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance doesn't typically fall on our radar screen. But maybe it should, because the annual event in Florida - young as it is - has a history of offering firsts. Maybe not the first time a vehicle is seen in North America, mind you, but a first just the same.
Noticing a pattern here? Organizers have no intention of dropping the ball this year, when they'll be auctioning off the first U.S. deliveries of the new Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG. Now if you're thinking that we haven't even seen the new SL63 AMG yet, you're absolutely right. The new SL itself has been shown, but not the AMG version, which is expected to pack Affalterbach's 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 with 571 horsepower on tap. Once the car has been unveiled and deliveries commence, the winner of the auction is guaranteed to be the first to get one in the United States.
As if that's not enough, there will also be an Audi R8 GT Spyder - one of only 50 slated for production and the only one in red to be made available in the U.S. - as well as a Lamborghini Aventador and a whole mess of special-edition Shelby muscle cars, with proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Follow the link for more info, or head down on February 25th to see the bidding frenzy at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
Some may beg to differ, but from where we sit, the acquisition Audi made of Lamborghini back in 1998 was a good thing, and remains as such. The resulting supercars to roll out of Sant'Agata Bolognese have been better than those made under prior owners by leaps and bounds. But who would have thought the relationship would benefit Audi as much as it has?
Not only did the partnership give Ingolstadt the sweet-revving V10 engine that powered the RS6 and S8 (until recent pressures necessitated a switch to a twin-turbo V8 instead), but it also gave Audi the underpinnings for the R8 ... and a page or two out of the Lamborghini playbook.
The R8 has since grown to include two different engine specs, a convertible version and the hard-core R8 GT. But as if all that weren't enough, it led to the crême-de-la-crêmeR8 GT Spyder. The limited-edition roadster packs the 5.2-liter V10 engine tuned up to 560 horsepower and unburdened of 187 pounds of excess weight, all without a roof to get between driver and the wind rushing rapidly by.
The hard-core, tire-burning attitude, however, is not all the R8 GT Spyder got from its Italian cousins. It also picked up a Lamborghini's price tag, as Audi USA has just announced the sticker on the exclusive roadster: $210,000. That doesn't include the $1,200 destination charge, taxes or optional equipment like carbon-ceramic brakes or Bang & Olufsen sound system.
That may seem mighty steep, but if you've got the cash to burn, don't hesitate for too long, because with only 333 units to be built in total and just 50 earmarked for the United States, they're bound to go fast. Like, Lamborghini fast. Follow the jump for the full press release, and seeing as how Audi has released a whole mess of new photos since the car's initial launch, we've put those together for you in a fresh high-res image gallery.
If you're in the market for a new car and diesel's among the options you'd consider, your local Audi showroom should be among your first destinations. The German automaker has made burning oil a cause célèbre right up there with Quattro all-wheel drive, but it's not about to sit on its proverbial laurels and let the competition catch up. To that end, Audi has just announced its most powerful V6 TDI yet.
Called the BiTDI, the 3.0-liter, six-cylinder twin-turbo-diesel packs 313 metric horsepower (309hp on our scale) and a whopping 480 pound-feet of torque. It's being rolled out initially in the UK on the A6 (sedan, Avant wagon and Allroad high-rider) and A7 Sportback, but we're told to expect its arrival soon as an option on the Q7 crossover.
In the A6 sedan, the BiTDI is said to be good for a 5.1-second dash to 62 mph, with top speed (as per usual) limited to 155 mph while returning a 44.1 mph rating on the combined UK cycle. But if that's not full enough a package for you, Audi has also fitted a sound actuator to give its throaty new diesel the exhaust note you'd expect from a hi-po gasoline engine. But you don't have to take our word for it - just click through the jump to listen to a sound file of the new engine, as well as read the official press release.
Downsizing? What downsizing? While rivals may be replacing cylinders with turbochargers - heck, even Audi itself has done that with the twin-turbo V8 succeeding the V10 in the S8 and such - the new RS4 is reportedly on its way in full-fat 4.2-liter V8 FSI trim.
The report comes courtesy of AMAG, the importer for Audi in Switzerland, which has confirmed that the RS4 Avant (oft spied in prototype guise) is scheduled to debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show this coming March. Along with it, we're told to expect a series of new TSFI engines and an upgraded TT-RS with 360 horses.
As for the RS4 Avant, we're looking at 450 horsepower with all-wheel drive and enough cargo capacity to make any luxury crossover buyer reconsider (much like the S4 Avant pictured above, only more so). That is, buyers in Europe, anyway, as we're not expecting the RS4 to make the trek across the Atlantic.
BMW M goes Diesel, Ford Focus fleet sales numbers, California 2025 green car mandate
Episode #267 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, Zach and Chris Paukert this week. Topics include the addition of diesel-powered BMW M models overseas, the surprisingly high fleet sales figure for the Ford Focus, and a new green car mandate coming out of California. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jumpfor you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
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The world would be considerably less entertaining if we could all predict the future. Even so, the classic car gurus at Hagerty Insurance have cast a few chicken bones in an attempt to figure out which vehicles produced today might eventually turn collectible.
For starters, it begins with none other than the mighty Buick Regal GS. Hagerty says the vehicle is a win because it's the first Buick with a manual transmission since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. The Fiat 500 Abarth also makes an appearance alongside an even hotter hatch, the Volkswagen Golf R. Of course, we're simply thrilled to see the sinister Audi TT RS make a showing. Hit the jump for the full list or view each vehicle in our gallery above.
Audi apparently couldn't wait until the Super Bowl to show off the ad it will run during the Big Game. The German automaker has released its spot, and sure enough, the quick clip has cashed in on the current vampire craze. The commercial features a clutch of gen x/y/millennial 20-something vamps out for an impromptu fireside party. When their hero arrives in an Audi S7 with an extra cooler of O Negative, disaster ensues. At least the company chose an excellent soundtrack. The whole drama plays out under the silky tones of Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon."
Audi unveiled the spot mere days after teasing its Super Bowl ad after Facebook fans beat the company's Race The Light game on the social network.
We have to say, we're a little underwhelmed by the spot. Audi is on an undeniable roll right now with products like the TT-RS and A7 littering showrooms across the country, so it's a bit sad that this was the best feature they could muster to highlight in a Super Bowl commercial. Hit the jump to see the spot for yourself.
We've entered a new age of advertising, friends. One where manufacturers gleefully shill for their own ads instead of actual products. We've seen it with the teaser as for the Volkswagen Super Bowl spot, and now Audi has jumped into the game. It's Inception gone marketing - an ad within an ad. In order to get us all fired up for the commercial to come, Audi has unveiled a teaser that features some of the best moments from the company's Super Bowl marketing past as well as a quick glimpse of what we can expect from this year's high-budget number.
From the looks of things, the commercial will feature everyone's favorite creature of the night: vampires. We're not sure how we can possibly contain our anticipation. Or something. Hit the jump to check out the commercial for a commercial for yourself.
Do We Really Want Audi To Think This Small In America? Perhaps...
It is perhaps with all the speed of a mighty iceberg, but increasingly, more and more North American buyers appear willing to think smaller when pondering their next auto purchase. The other shoe, which still has largely yet to drop, is for automakers to convince consumers of the merits of a luxury subcompact, paying a price premium for a longer list of creature comforts, options and badge appeal. However small, this trend in the States is best represented by BMW and its Mini range, followed (with a few stumbles out of the gate) by the Fiat 500.
In Europe, however, there is already a well-defined tradition of premium minicars on which buyers happily lavish extra dollars, and there is no model quite so indulgent for the masses as the Audi A1. Through its first complete year of sales in 2011, the Bavarians built at their factory in Brussels, Belgium - and sold - nearly 120,000 A1 three-doors.
Now we've finally gotten the chance to drive an Audi A1 Sportback with five doors, a model first shown publicly at last October's Tokyo Motor Show. The five-door model carries on with the basic A1 recipe of offering big things in small packages, and rather unusually, we think the model with more doors might actually look better this time. That may not seem altogether based on reason at first glance, since both the three- and five-door A1 designs have a length of 155.7 inches and a wheelbase of 97.2 inches. (Only the Fiat 500, Jeep Wrangler, Scion iQ, Smart ForTwo and various two-door Mini models take up less parking space.)
Some vehicles are made to be stretched. Others, less so. A Lincoln Town Car, for example, is a good platform for a limo. A Mercedes-Benz S-Class, sure. A Rolls-Royce Phantom. We could even see the attraction behind a Cadillac Escalade limo, if we had to. But not an exotic supercar.
The folks over at Carbonyte would beg to differ, though. The British coachbuilder made its reputation, such as it is, by helping Mercedes-Benz and McLaren develop the chassis for the SLR. But after that, things took a drastic turn for the worse.
We're glad we never saw those projects come to fruition, but the company is now reportedly preparing to do the same with an Audi R8. Whereas the Ferrari job incorporated two giant gullwing doors to give access to all the rear buckets at once, the R8 project - commissioned by the same company that owns the Ferrari limo - appears to feature individual gullwing doors for each of the passenger seats.
The vehicle is reportedly tipped to be completed by this coming summer, and will retain the donor car's 5.2-liter V10 - but we'd guess not its all-wheel drive system, and none of its handling dynamics. Check out the renderings in the image gallery above and the ludicrously dramatic video after the jump.
Good things come in small packages. Or smaller packages, anyway, as Audi has been discovering with its SUV range. What started with the mammoth Q7 has since grown - or shrank - to include the smaller Q5 and the even smaller Q3, which was just confirmed for the North American market. Keen to capitalize on a positive trend, Audi has been rumored to be considering adding a Q1 to its line-up, details of which are now emerging.
The last time we checked, Audi wasn't sure if it would base a potential Q1 off the A1, upcoming A2 or next-generation A3 platform. According to reports, the decision has been made to use the A1's platform, which itself was recently expanded to include a five-door variant and even all-wheel drive. Along the same tangent, though, we're told not to expect an A1 convertible.
We're not to expect the Q1 to arrive all that soon, either. While previous reports indicated that Audi could rush its tiniest crossover onto the market within a year or two from now, the latest word is that it could take considerably longer than that. One way or another, we wouldn't expect this baby premium crossover to find its way across the Atlantic anytime soon.
Facebook has rapidly emerged as one of the most visited websites on the internet. So it only makes sense that automakers would launch their new cars there, right?
Audi evidently thinks so. And so it has launched a new special edition U.S. model of its sexy S5 coupe on the popular social media site. The model is characterized by a unique shade of dark silver, special five-spoke wheels, a two-tone white and black leather interior, and of course, special badging.
Only 125 examples will be offered, though specific pricing parameters have not been immediately revealed.
Among other things, Audi is known for the brash and bold styling elements of its front fascias. From the giant chiseled trapezoid grille to its highly stylized LED headlamps, there's no mistaking the face of an Audi for anything else on the road.
Audi's LED lighting will be on full display during the upcoming Super Bowl as the German automaker has purchased a 60-second plot of airtime during the first quarter, marking the fifth year in a row that Audi has advertised during the big game.
If those eyes truly are the windows to the soul, the 420-horsepower 4.0-liter TFSI V8 nestled behind the peepers of the 2013 Audi S7 is one soul we're eagerly looking forward to seeing stirred during SB XLVI on February 5th. In the meantime, we'll just have to live with the press release after the break and the image above, which you can enlarge with a click of the mouse.
Though we still can't explain the technology, we're becoming big fans of projection mapping, as can also be seen in this video that has also been featured on these pages.
From what we can gather, a Russian marketing team called Radugadesign was behind this production, and we can only assume that a lot of hard work and some sinister numbers crunching from a swath of powerful computers and graphics cards went into its making.
As to why this presentation existed in the first place, we have no idea... other than some vague notion that it was produced for Marlboro. Yes, we're assuming it's the cigarette company. What Marlboro has to do with an Audi A7, we won't even attempt to explain.
In any case, we suggest you see the results for yourself in the video after the break.
Audi will begin construction of a new manufacturing facility in North America, according to Ward's Auto. While the German luxury manufacturer hasn't chosen a specific location as of yet, early whispers hint to a location in Mexico. Previously, Audi parent company Volkswagen had investigated the possibility of producing Audi models alongside its Passat sedan at the automaker's new facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but that options now appears to be off the table. Instead, Audi could be headed south of the border thanks to Mexico's labor flexibility and lower wages.
Audi boss Johan de Nysschen has been quick to say no final decision has been made, though the executive wasted no time in listing the advantages of a Mexican facility while at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. The automaker has committed to a North American facility to protect its operations against currency fluctuations. According to de Nyscchen, the plant will need to have at least one vehicle line capable of producing 100,000 units to be economically viable. Last year, the company only moved 117,500 vehicles across all of its lines in the States. That means the facility would likely produce some vehicles for export, just as BMW does with its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.
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Audi may have accidentally let slip the exterior design of its upcoming 2013 A3.The German automaker set about showing off the hatchback's cabin with a static display at Las Vegas' CES ahead of the vehicle's expected unveiling at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The display gives the world a sense of what to expect from the luxury compact's front seats, center console and dash, which features a stand-alone LCD display that rises out from above the instrument panel's center air vents. Like other Audi displays, the screen features various vehicle menus, including two that show off the full exterior of the three-door model.
Judging from these two quick glimpses at the hatchback, the three-door will feature a new, more aggressive face. From the looks of things, buyers can expect to continue to find a large, signature Audi single-frame grille flanked by more purposeful headlights and sporty air intakes set low int he front fascia. Head over to Audiboost.com for a closer look at the vehicle inside and out. Don't get too attached to what you see, however. Past reports have suggested the vehicle will only debut as a sedan here in the States.
One man's new toy can be another's Moby Dick. Typically we'd mean that in a figurative sense, but Audi has taken things one step towards the literal - or literary - with its latest advertising spot.
The commercial centers around a Captain Ahab-like tow truck driver who has, when the roads turn white with deep snow, hooked just about everything on the road. Everything, that is, except the elusive Quattro.
The 60-second spot - called "Ahab" - features the latest A6, and is scheduled to air tomorrow during the NFL division playoffs (making it something of a junior Super Bowl ad). It will be followed by a 30-second version that will air nationally on other broadcasts, and Audi is building a broader digital content campaign around the ad as well, including a Facebook app to follow. You, however, don't have to wait for all that to see the clever clip: just click past the jump.
The display comes in three parts: one in front of the driver, another in front of the passenger and yet another sitting between the two, viewable by both people in the front seats.
While the addition of two more displays is more novel than functional, the way you can pass information between them makes it noteworthy. If the passenger, say, looks up a restaurant on their display, they can push navigation instructions to the center display and on to the driver. It's a slick setup, but likely won't come to market for at least a few more years. Get the full details and a brief demo video below the fold.
Audi had plenty to announce at CES, including the debut of its new Audi Connect system and Touchpad-integrated MMI knob, modular entertainment platform, NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset and its planned expansion of both infotainment and active safety systems.
On the safety front, Audi execs announced plans to introduce a new system dubbed Traffic Jam Assistant, which recognizes when a driver is stuck in start-and-stop traffic and can be switched into an autonomous mode that takes complete control of the steering, acceleration and brakes.
The system uses the front-mounted adaptive cruise control sensors combined with wide-angle video cameras to detect lane markings, other vehicles, barriers and pedestrians, and can control the vehicle without any driver intervention up to 37 mph. Eight ultrasonic sensors also keep tabs on what's in front of and at the sides of the vehicle, with the front sensors not only tracking the vehicle ahead, but - like Nissan's latest Predictive Forward Collision Warning System - several vehicles ahead.
If this all sounds familiar, it should. And so should the name. Mercedes-Benz has been working on a similar system called Traffic Jam Assist, which we sampled in an S-Class last year.
Like Mercedes' system, Audi's implementation should make it to market sometime next year, likely in its refreshed range-topping A8.
