Audi Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News

Good news, the Audi R8 GT is coming to the US. The bad news? Only 99 are coming and at over $196,800 a pop. The car has the V10 5.2 FSI it shares with the Gallardo but in a higher state of tune of 560 horsepower vs. the regular V10 R8's. It is 180 pounds lighter thanks to the various lightweight parts. It is all wheel drive not rear wheel drive as some speculated and seems to be R-tronic only. Yes, we want one. ...

APR put the video up of the Stage III Supercharged RS4 making it's record 11.8 @ 122 mph 1/4 mile pass. Additional details on the run are that the car had an aftermarket racing clutch and a coilover suspension system. Density Altitude for the pass was up around 1000 feet and the vehicle weight with driver was 4014 pounds. Congratulations again to APR! ...

First, congratulations to APR. They set a new 1/4 mile record for the B7 RS4 using their supercharger kit. The car ran 11.838 @ 122.41 on pump gas, 93 octane. Even more impressive is it was done on the stock exhaust, on the stock wheels, with the stock street tires. The rear seats were pulled but other than the SC basically a stock car on pump gas. Weather was in the 70's so not even favorable conditions. This has more in it, once again, congratulations APR. ...

Audi of America boss Johan de Nysschen successfully lobbied the higher ups in Germany to convince them to build the A3 sedan. The reason for it is that he feels the A4 has grown in size and there is a market in the United States and China for the sedan as both of these markets prefer sedans. The production car won't have the retracting door handles or the 400 horsepower inline-5 turbo. We are hoping an RS3 version comes that is exactly like the concept. ...

Normally this first drive videos are rather boring but this one is well done by MotorTrend. The video delves into the motor choices for the USA as well as the transmissions. Motortrend highlights that the USA will not be getting a dual clutch transmission to go with the supercharged 3.0 TFSI 6 cylinder. Additonally, that the 2.0t base motor will be mated for a front wheel drive CVT. They also highlight the various technological aspects, definitely worth watching. ...

TheophilusChin has done some renderings of the next generation A3 based on the A3 sedan concept that was shown in Geneva. The headlights are obviously taken directly from that and the inspiration can be seen in the taillights as well. We like the rendering and hope the next generation looks something like this, check out the video of how it was done below. What we really want though is for them to produce the sedan concept. ...

Diesel sales have been exceptionally strong for Audi. The A3 and Q7 in particular have Audi of America president Johan de Nysschen declaring that the United States diesel market will expand the include the A8, A6, and Q5 in approximately 24 months. Now 2 years is not exactly a rapid change but definitely is progress on the diesel front for the United States. All this extra production is likely to lead to an Audi factory in the United States which is likely what will account for the delay. ...

Not too long ago this would have been science fiction. With an Ipad or Android phone APR will have EMCS software available for download. This will work much in same fashion as how you used to switch maps with the cruise control stalk. It doesn't end there, it will allow you to record logs to your phone, check/clear codes, have electronic gauges, and record performance measurements. Awesomeness. ...

ETKA is the Volkswagen Group's parts database. Remember when the leak confirming the motors for the new S6 and S8 along with their horsepower figures hit the web? Well, it would seem the same Russian group responsible has struck again this time revealing the 360 horsepower TT-RS Plus in the system. It would seem full details should be released around May. Will it come to the US? Stay tuned. ...

MotorAuthority caught the new Audi S6 out and about without any camoflauge. We have to think this is just about how the final product will look with the more aggressive front as well as the quad exhaust. The car will have the 4.0 liter turbo V8 motor putting out horsepower in the low 400's as previously reported. We would expect the official unveil to come very, very soon. ...

We have heard this rumor about the Audi R5 before. It was supposed to be a mid-engine car based on the e-tron concept but latest details seem to be showing a front engine 2 seat sports car. The car strikes as similar to the Quattro concept and this may be how Audi intends to bring that vision forward. If this does turn out to be true and in motion expect a lightweight 2 seat AWD sports car with over 400 horsepower from the TT-RS inline 5. ...

When the new A8 was released, we all knew an S8 model was going to follow shortly. We can see that model here spotted in a final testing phase with basically no disguise. The quad pipes in back give it away as well as the testing gear attached to it. As we reported last month, the S8 will get a twin turbo 4.0 V8 with about 520 horsepower. This should make it a nice rival for the Mercedes S63 AMG as well as the Alpina B7. ...

ABT Sportline showed off their R8 offering at the Geneva car show. In both cars the V10 gets boosted to 620 horsepower through tuning and a full exhaust system. The GT R is the coupe and the GT S is the spyder. Both get similar body kits with carbon accents as well as a set of 19 or 20 inch ABT wheels. The GT R is 220 pounds lighter than the stock coupe and only limited to 25 units. Custom interior options are also available as the color matched GT S shows. ...

Underground Racing's Tuner has announced that UGR is wrapping up the first V10 Twin Turbo R8. They are expecting 1000 whp on pump gas which is just stupid power, stupid good. This is the Stage 3 and specifications will be out soon. This being Stage 3 and 1000 whp on pump this means built motor. Pricing should be inline with the the Gallardo V10 built motor setups. Tuning is done by John Reed through a Motec standalone. ...

Here we have the actual concept car which Audi revealed at the Geneva show. As stated earlier, it has a tuned 2.5 liter turbo 5 cylinder under the hood out of the TT-RS putting out 408 horsepower. Torque is rated at 368 pound-feet. The car sends the power to the ground through a 7 speed DSG and 0-60 is claimed to be 4.1 seconds. This is the closest thing we have seen from Audi to being a proper successor to the B5 S4. Audi, build it, they will come. ...

OSIR Design has released a bevy of carbon parts for the TT-RS. These include exterior, interior, and engine bay components. The carbon hood is obviously the most noticeable along with the wing. A front lip and rear diffuser are also available in carbon. Carbon fenders with vents can be ordered although we would stay away from those. For the interior they have door trim and shifter trim carbon pieces. Carbon components for the engine cover are also available. ...

MTM has built a new twin turbo R8 package. They manage to get 777 horsepower out of the V10. The motor is build and displacement is reduced from 5.2 liter to 4.9 likely to reinforce the block with material. Impressive? Maybe, if the entire package did not go for around 400,000 euro and US tuners were not getting far more power for far less money. Top speed is claimed to be around 217 miles per hour. Just so everyone notices you going fast the car has been decked out in a chrome finish. To be honest, we feel the Underground Racing and Heffner twin turbo R8's are much better options but nice to see another turbo R8. ...

We just got a hold of these new renderings of the Audi S6. The renderings are so well done we weren't sure if we were looking at the real thing or not at first. We know the Audi S6 is coming and know it will have the singe turbo 4.0 liter V8 with 408 horsepower as the Russian leak we reported on earlier stated. The only we do don't know thus far is what it will look like but we would not surprised if it turned up looking exactly like these renderings. ...

Various sites are reporting that during a technology presentation at the Audi plant in Neckersulm, Germany that some of the senior Audi officials teased an upcoming R8 that will feature lightweight components. Audi would not allow any cameras into the presentation so the photos you see here are what Audi gave the journalists. The white R8 you see is believed to be the project NF prototype. ...