Audi A3 Sedan Concept with 408HP Officially Previews Next Generation Model

It's been rumored for a while now that Audi was exploring the possibility of adding a four-door sedan body style to its A3 range, but today, the German firm officially confirmed the news with the release of the first official sketches of the A3 Concept ahead of its world premiere at the 81st International Geneva Motor Show in early March.

Its main purpose is to preview both the saloon variant and the styling direction of the next A3, which is scheduled for a rollout in 2012 and will also include the successors to today's three-door hatchback, five-door Sportback and the two-door convertible models.

"The four-seater notchback sedan offers a glimpse of the future expansion of the A3 family," Audi said in a statement.

The A3 concept measures 4.44 meters (14.57 feet) long, 1.84 meters (6.04 feet) wide and just 1.39 meters (4.56 feet) high, meaning it's slightly smaller than the new Volkswagen Jetta (4.64 m long).

The sedan study embodies Audi's latest design language as seen on the recent A8, A6 and A7 Sportback models featuring a single-frame grille with tapered upper corners, angular headlights with LED technology and taut body lines.

The show car is fitted with an upgraded version of the 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbocharged engine found under the bonnet of the current RS3 and TT RS models, producing a peak output of 408-horses. The five-pot distributes power to all four wheels through a seven-speed S tronic transmission and permanent all-wheel drive.

We'll have more details on the A3 Concept from the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Post Title

→

Audi A3 Sedan Concept with 408HP Officially Previews Next Generation Model

Post URL

→

https://autoshow01.blogspot.com/2011/02/audi-a3-sedan-concept-with-408hp.html

Visit Auto show for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Report: Audi Working on a Production Version of the Quattro Coupe Study

If you thought we'd had enough of 'malignant rumors' with our last article reporting that Jaguar was seriously considering putting the C-X75 hypercar into limited production, you were wrong.

British magazine Autocar reports that a team of engineers at Audi's Ingolstadt headquarters are advancing plans to put the Quattro Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show into limited production. If approved, this would see the nouvea-Quattro being built in limited numbers at ItalDesign's plant near Milan.

Stefan Reil, Head of Development at Audi's Quattro GmbH alludes that the Paris Show car was always intended as more than a one-off, and that limited production plans are already at an advanced stage: "We know how to engineer it already." he said.

Though the newly acquired subsidiary has no facilities for vehicle assembly at present, ItalDesign does have some experience with low volume production, having assembled the BMW M1 supercar in the late 1970s. The Italian design house also has a history of producing one-off concept cars for Audi's parent firm Volkswagen.

The Quattro Concept features an aluminium / carbonfibre body and the four-wheel-drive underpinnings of the RS5 coupe. The powerplant is the same 2.5-liter turbocharged five-pot unit used in the TT RS, though Mr. Reil suggests it could be tuned beyond its existing 340 bhp (254 kw):

"A really good turbocharged petrol engine has around 140bhp [/ 104 kw per litre]. We're a little under that now. But with a larger turbocharger something around 350bhp [261 kw] is possible."

Mr. Reil, however, remains cautious: "We need feedback to see if it is possible. Audi has no heritage in building 200-500 cars that are really exotic. But it won't be over €100,000 [£86,000 / US$139,000]."

Furthering the possibility of a limited production run, Audi's Paris Motor Show booth hosted a scale model of a Quattro Concept dressed in rally livery and featuring an ur-Quattro-emulating front spoiler, flared arches and rear wing hints at a return to Audi's glory days at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

We will have further updates as they come through.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Autocar



_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Post Title

→

Report: Audi Working on a Production Version of the Quattro Coupe Study

Post URL

→

https://autoshow01.blogspot.com/2010/10/report-audi-working-on-production.html

Visit Auto show for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Paris Show: Audi e-tron Spyder Concept puts Porsche's Boxster on Notice

In order to keep its e-high rolling, Audi has created yet another pretty and efficient vehicle for Paris: the e-tron Spyder. Audi's latest plug-in no-top is powered by a 300-horse 3.0-liter V6 TDI outfitted with two turbochargers and two 88-horsepower / 64 kW electric motors; the results are impressive, to say the least.

The e-tron system in this car will help it hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.4 seconds on its way to a limited 250 km/h (155 mph), provide an all-electric range of 31 miles, return a combined 128.4 mpg, and only pollute your air with 59 g of CO2 per kilometer. Total range is 621 miles for the 1,450-kg car.

Underneath, Audi has installed an "e-quattro" torque-vectoring system that helps put its 1,002 Nm (650 Nm from the TDI and 352 Nm from the motors, aka 739 lb ft) to the ground properly should you give it the beans.

Dimensions for the little electric torque monster are 4.06 meters long, 1.81 m wide, and 1.11 m tall, all with a wheelbase of 2.43 meters. Like other Audi concepts, all the lights are LED and likely will be should a production version of this ever appear.

Audi says the four rings on the nose "disappear beneath the front hatch" to reveal a charging plug and a display showing the vehicle's charge. Inside, there'a bunch of technical wizardry feeding the display in the driver-centric layout, but nothing really worth writing home about.

Check out the pics below and let us know what you think. Hopefully, the reaction to the e-tron Spyder will be a wee bit more positive than the 'quattro concept' (which should have stolen the show).

By Phil Alex
____________________________________________________________________

Post Title

→

Paris Show: Audi e-tron Spyder Concept puts Porsche's Boxster on Notice

Post URL

→

https://autoshow01.blogspot.com/2010/09/paris-show-audi-e-tron-spyder-concept.html

Visit Auto show for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection