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Filed under: Etc., Europe, Videos, Audi, Racing
Certain videos, when the protagonists speak a foreign language, don't need subtitles: Mexican telenovelas, dolphins in love and auto racing are but three. Although the narration is in Spanish and there isn't any racing in this video of former WRC Champion Carlos Sainz and current DTM driver Miguel Molina lapping the Autódromo Terramar, the action needs no translation.
Terramar, in Spain, is the second oldest racing track in Europe after England's Brooklands, built in 1922 to host Grand Prix cars. Its owner's vision stretched further this his financial backing, so the two-kilometer oval track with 60-degree bankings hosted only one sanctioned race in 1923. After that, it was used sporadically, holding its last event in 1950. It is now part of land used for a chicken farm.
That didn't stop Sainz and Molina from seeing how fast they could lap the 80-year-old circuit in a Red Bull Racing
Audi R8 LMS. The video is a bit long, but it's well-shot and definitely worth watching for the high banking and bumpy airborn
Audi shots alone. Check out the action by
scrolling down to watch the video.
Continue reading Watch Carlos Sainz flog this Audi R8 LMS around an 80-year-old GP track
Watch Carlos Sainz flog this Audi R8 LMS around an 80-year-old GP track originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 14th, 2012
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WHP stands for "Wheel Horsepower," ie the ponies that make it through all the guibos and joints and friction and whatnot to become actual acceleration. Take 750 of those and let them loose with 590 friendly torques, in a home built
Audi Quattro piloted by the sternest man in Norway and you have a recipe for some serious speed. Emphasis on the serious.
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May 14th, 2012
Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Volkswagen
Running a high-end automobile manufacturer like
Bentley or
Bugatti has got to be a dream job for most any business executive. And Wolfgang Dürheimer gets to run them both - but not for much longer, according to the latest reports coming in from trade publication
Automotive News Europe.
According to
ANE, the former
Porsche development chief is set to move to
Audi in a broad management restructure aimed at reducing the average age of Ingolstadt's seven-member management board. In his new capacity, Dürheimer (53) is tipped to replace Audi's current development chief, Michael Dick (60), who is expected to retire later this year.
Along with Dürheimer,
Volkswagen marketing director Luca de Meo (44, formerly of
Fiat) is expected to replace Audi sales chief Peter Schwartzenbauer (60), while Volkswagen purchasing manager Bernd Martens replaces his Audi counterpart Ulf Berkenhagen, who will take up the same role at the group's commercial vehicles division. Audi production chief Frank Dreves is also expected to leave his post, though no replacement was named in the report.
Of course with any game of musical chairs - or "Reise nach Jerusalem" as they call it in German for some reason - replacements will need to be found for the positions being left vacant. We'll be watching who is named head of Bentley and Bugatti, both roles that Dürheimer assumed from Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (pictured above at right), who last we heard was still in the group organizing its classic vehicles division.
Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 May 2012 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 13th, 2012
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Wolfgang Duerheimer,
Wolfgang Dürheimer
Filed under: Concept Cars, Europe, Crossover, Audi, Luxury
Audi plans to show off a new concept version of the
Q3 at the Worthersee Tour in Austria next week. The Q3 Red Track boasts the same 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine found under the hood of the
Audi TT RS, and thus, there's a galloping 340 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque on hand. A seven-speed S Tronic gearbox handles shifting duties and drops the available grunt to all four tires via the company's Quattro all-wheel-drive system. In addition to the extra power, the Red Track wears unique Energy Red paint flecked with gold, while accents like the fender flares and lower fascia are coated in matte gray.
Likewise, the headlight arrays wear body-color accents, and massive 20-inch five-spoke wheels help set the crossover apart from its production kin. Audi also stretched the track by by 1.5 inches and lifted the machine by 1.2 inches for a beefier stance. The Red Track will be on display at the Worthersee Tour starting on May 16.
Scroll down for the full press release.
Continue reading Audi Q3 Red Track heads to Worthersee Tour
Audi Q3 Red Track heads to Worthersee Tour originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 11th, 2012
Filed under: Car Buying, China, Europe, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Earnings/Financials, Luxury
The global luxury war has three fierce combatants, all German, all producers of amazing vehicles, and all serious about besting their two other rivals. While
BMW has been winning as of late, the latest battle goes to
Audi.
The
Volkswagen luxury brand sold 125,200 vehicles in April, topping BMW's 121,476, according to
Reuters. It was the first time Audi outsold BMW since January 2011. BMW still holds the year-to-date lead with 478,030 units sold, compared to 471,300 for April's champ, according to the report. BMW sales are up 10.1 percent for the year, while Audi's have risen by 11.7 percent.
Mercedes-Benz sits over 50,000 units behind at 418,246, according to
Automotive News. Sales of Mercedes vehicles are up 9.7 percent on the year.
Audi's ascendency can be traced to China, where sales rose 44 percent in April, according to
AN. European sales, by comparison, were only up 4.9 percent, with U.S. sales rising by 15 percent.
Audi narrowly beats BMW in April to take premium sales crown originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 10th, 2012
Filed under: Sedan, Audi, Luxury
When
Audi announced the 2013
A8 with
the 3.0T V6, it didn't mention fuel economy numbers but did tout the 333-horsepower engine's "great efficiency." According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the V6 efficiency exactly matches that of the more powerful 372-horsepower, 4.2-liter V8 - the 3.0T was rated the same 18 city, 28 highway as the naturally aspirated 4.2.
It's figured that the stop/start system fitted to the V6 will provide a slight bump, which, since the EPA doesn't factory such tech into its testing, doesn't register in the official numbers. It's difficult to make fuel economy comparisons with the same engines in other countries since they have different power ratings; in Germany, for instance, the V6 is rated at 286 hp, the 4.2 isn't offered and the 4.0 TSFI V8 makes 414 hp - but in that case, the V6 does get better gas mileage, if you're wondering.
Speaking of wondering, that's what many including our own commenters are doing about the space between the 333-hp V6 and 520-hp V8 in the
S8. The report in
Car and Driver posits a detuned version of the S8's motor. No matter what, the V6 A8 will be less expensive than all of them, which was the real point all along.
2013 Audi A8 3.0T matches 4.2 V8 fuel economy numbers originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 May 2012 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 8th, 2012
