Audi cars

Video: Audi R8 E-tron Featured in New Iron Man 3 Commercial

In the previous movie, Iron Man drove a standard Audi R8 sports car, but for the third installment of the series, Iron Man will be switching to the E-tron version. In fact, he will be among only a few in the world who have had the opportunity to actually enjoy the R8 E-tron, as Audi decided not to offer a production version.

The new commercial for the Iron Man 3 shows the electric supercar in action, and as we can see from the video, is a shame a production version will not follow.

The R8 E-tron is powered by four electric motors with a total output of 313 horsepower. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds, so bad guys won’t have a chance to outrun the Iron Man.

Iron Man 3 will be released on theaters on April 24.

Confirmed: Next Audi TT will Mix Design Elements from Previous Generations

We are still waiting for an updated version of the current-gen TT, but that’s not stopping Audi from testing the third-generation TT. Unfortunately, our spy photographers have only been able to snap images of the next TT’s test mule, but Walter de Silva - head of Volkswagen Group design - revealed in a recent interview that the next-generation TT will be a combine design elements from the first and second generations with some fresh design elements.

de Silva confirmed that the next TT will combine the strong elements we saw in the first generation with the elegance of the second generation and the resulting car will be one that "looks TT, 100 percent, but in a different way."

When viewed from the front, the TT will look like no other Audi, but the side and rear will retain the character of the TT. The new TT will be built on Volkswagen’s new MQB platform, which is not only lighter and stiffer than the current platform, but it will also carry a longer wheelbase. This change will make the car lighter and offer a whole new lineup of turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines that will deliver improved fuel consumption.

Expect the new Audi TT to arrive in 2014.

TopSpeed Rendering: Audi R10 supercar

A few months ago, we first learned that Audi was planning a new supercar inspired by the automaker’s very successful LeMans racecar, the R18, and that it would feature a hybrid powertrain. Initial rumors suggested the model could be named R20,. New rumors are now pointing toward the new supercar being called the R10, which makes more sense to us, considering it will sit right above the upcoming second-generation R8. With this new rumor comes an all-new rendering for you to enjoy (above).

The R10 is rumored to combine a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engine driving the rear wheels with a pair of electric motors driving the front wheels. The total output will be in the 600-horsepower area.

Ok, so how we designed our rendering? We started with an R8 and increased the proportions to make it more hypercar-ish. The front is enhanced with design elements from the e-tron Concept and quattro Concept, while the A-pillars are inspired by the R18 racecar.

Why do we think this car will really happen? Because Audi spent lots of money on the R8 E-tron that won’t make it to production because of the current market situation and all the things they have learned designing it need to be used somewhere.

However, don’t expect to hit up your local Audi dealer for one next year, as the R10 is currently in the product-evaluation stage and likely won’t arrive until 2016 or 2017.

Click past the jump to read more on the Audi R10 and its history

2014 Audi S3 Sedan

Audi has finally pulled the covers off of the new Audi A3 Sedan and with it, the German automaker also introduced its S-variant, the equally new S3 Sedan. Oh joy.

Scheduled to meet the world at the New York Auto Show, the new S3 is already getting quite the attention from a lot of people in large part because Audi hasn’t had a small sports sedan in its line-up in a long time.

So you can say that the new S3 has a lot of expectations attached to it, in large part because you can never have enough people clamoring for a German sports sedan that they can actually afford.

Mercedes went ahead and revealed the CLA-Class earlier this year, so it was only the right time for Audi to join the German sports sedan party in America. There’s a sentence we never thought we’d write.

If you’ve been waiting for this day to come, well, wait no longer because details of the new Audi S3 Sedan can be found after the jump.

2015 Audi A3 Sedan

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Audi unveiled the A3 Concept sedan, but the unveiling of the production version took longer than we expected. After we brought you a series of spy shots of the A3 prototypes, today the new A3 sedan made its world debut at the 2013 New York Auto Show.

The new A3 sedan retains much of the design elements we have seen in the concept version and adds numerous innovative features on the A-segment: signature Singleframe grille and available full-LED headlights.

The new Audi A3 sedan will go on sale on the U.S. market showrooms in the first quarter of 2014. European customers will be able to enjoy it starting this summer. In there the new A3 sedan will start at €25,000 - about $32,000 at the current exchange rates.

Updated 03/27/2013: This review has been updated with the official details, images and specs.

Hit the jump to read more about the new Audi A3 Sedan.

Driver Embeds His Audi TT into the Side of a House

Imagine this: is a nice Sunday morning, you are at home with your family and suddenly an Audi TT is parked in your living room. No, we are not telling you the plot of an action movie here; this is real life.

This incident happened to a British family in Long Meadow Walk in Lowestoft, UK who had the unfortunate experience of seeing an Audi TT crash through its house. We cannot tell you up to this point how this incredible incident really happened, but it looks like the road was wet, the driver lost control, crashed through a fence, launched in the air, drove over two parked cars and plunged half of his car into the house.

Apparently the driver was in his early 20s, and was taken to the James Paget Hospital with serious head injuries and he is currently in critical condition. The car belonged to his father.

No people inside the house were hurt during this incident. We wish the young man a speedy recovery.

Hit the jump for some video taken from the scene.

Spy shots: Audi A3 Convertible caught testing

The next-generation Audi A3 Convertible was caught testing for the first time back in January and now we get to see the car in action again. This time, Audi engineers were caught driving it around in Germany.

As these new spy shots reveal, the next A3/S3 Convertible looks like a little brother to the A5 Convertible - a smart decision made by Audi considering the current generation is not the prettiest in its class. The new A3 Convertible will be based on the A3 sedan set to be unveiled in just two days at the 2013 New York Auto Show, minus a pair of doors of course.

Rumors suggest that the future A3 Convertible will be offered with one TDI and two TFSI engines, with power ranging from 122 to 180 horsepower, while the S3 version goes up to 300 horsepower. Up to this point there are no indications on whether Audi will offer a RS3 Convertible or not.

Expect the new Audi A3 Convertible to arrive later in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

2013 Audi RS5 Cabriolet

Back when Audi was planning the RS5, they promised us a convertible model. Now that the RS5 is alive, well, and leading the British cops on its fastest chase ever, we are anxiously awaiting the RS5 Cabriolet. While there is some time to wait, Audi is at least gracing us with all of the RS5 Cabriolet’s ins and outs.

As you can expect, the Cabriolet takes most of its queues from the hardtop model, but is does have its own little styling differences – besides the rag top, of course. With fierce competition coming from BMW and Mercedes, how well can this newcomer in the performance convertible realm really do? We’re going to into all of the specifications and features that Audi has graced us with and give you a full review of what to expect from this new model.

UPDATE 03/20/2013: Audi announced today that the new RS5 Convertible will be available in the U.S. starting this spring at a price of $77,900.

Click past the jump to read the full review and see how it stacks up to the competition.

2013 Audi TT-RS by FolienCenter-NRW

Some people might overlook the Audi TT-RS because of the presence of the mighty R8, but we’re of the opinion that the TT-RS is still one heck of a sports car.

Aftermarket company, FolienCenter-NRW, seems to agree with us. Known more for its expertise in the art of auto wrapping, FolienCenter-NRW veered away from its norm with this program, giving the TT-RS a ridiculous engine upgrade that, as far as we can tell, is one of the most powerful output upgrades we’ve seen in a TT-RS.

The work done under the hood is nothing short of spectacular. Taking the sports coupe’s 2.5-liter engine, FolienCenter dropped a number of LOBA motorsports components into the mix, highlighted by a LO500P turbo charger, a charge air intercooler and a fuel pump. From there, the tuner also sought FTS Fahrzeugtechnik to add high-performance ignition plugs and software optimization into the mix. As you can expect, that much work resulted in some serious power improvements to the tune of 501 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque, allowing the car to hit 200 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.6 seconds with a blistering top speed of 199 mph.

And to put the proverbial cherry on top of this tuning sundae, FolienCenter gave the TT-RS some new skin. FolienCenter calls this color "Chromium Red,” and it goes with matte-silver elements that give off a nice contrast to the eye-popping body color. Last but not least, a set of 20-inch rims were installed wrapped in Hankook S1 Evo tires with a new Bilstein B16 coil-over suspension system taking care of lowering the car’s ride height.

This is a real treat of a program, if we do say so ourselves. A shade under 200 mph for an Audi TT-RS?

We’re buying in.

Video: Nokian Tyres Sets Ice Speed Record With Audi RS6

Trying to figure out the most impressive land-speed record in the world is an exercise in futility because of the sheer number of them and the circumstances surrounding each of these records.

That being said, there’s still a certain level of respect we have to give for each new world record, including the recent one set by Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian Tyres.

Using a stock Audi RS6, Nokian Tires fitted the sports saloon with its eighth-generation Hakkapeliitta studded winter tires and proceeded to set a new ice-driving speed record with a top speed of 208.6 mph, beating the previous record it also set two years ago when it clocked a top speed of 206.1 mph.

The new record was set by the company’s test driver, Janne Laitinen, over the frozen waters of the Gulf of Bothnia. We’re not going to pretend to know where that is, but the record in itself is pretty impressive, especially when you consider certain rules the tire manufacturer had to adhere to.

It may sound ridiculous, but the ice which the RS6 ran on had to be natural with no chemical treatment done to it, but such are the aforementioned circumstances that makes picking the most impressive land-speed record such a chore.

Whatever the case may be, a big congratulations goes out to Nokian Tyres for breaking its own world record.