2011 Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro

MSRP: $161,000
525 hp; zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds; top speed 195 mph; V10 engine.

2011 Audi A3 Sketch

Like all the editions held before it, the 2011 Geneva Motor Show promises quite the set of surprises. Weirdly, this year, the 2011 Audi A3 may be one of them.

2011 Audi A3 Sketch

After the Ingolstadters have released some sketches and information we’ve found that the 2011 Audi A3 may not be as familiar a shape as you’d imagine.

As it happens, the Germans have presented the new Audi A3 as having the body shape of a four-seater “notchback” sedan.

Now, while notchback is blatantly one of those stupid ways of avoiding the cheap sounding category of hatchbacks, the fact that Audi would call their 2011 A3 a sedan somehow is rather worrying.

2011 Audi A3 Sketch

Truth and reality hasn’t always been a proper asset of the car making industry’s marketing strong points but Audi are beginning to take this a bit too far.

What we have here is in no way a competitor for the Audi A4 or an actual sedan.

What the 2011 Audi A3 genuinely is can be simply described as a halfbreed between the Audi A4′s front and the Audi A7′s rear end.

The combination doesn’t sound or look half back but don’t expect much of a revolution from the 2011 Audi A3 as it will be as it should.

Better in every way than the previous generation Audi A3 but still nothing entirely special no matter how it’s called.

2011 Audi A1 and Alfa Romeo MiTo models

A Mini official have recently said that the new Alfa Romeo MiTo and Audi A1 are fierce rivals, but that they can not modify the sales of the British automaker.

This year was marked by a strong rivalry on the segment that Mini Cooperdominated so far. One by one, Audi and Alfa Romeo have expressed their wish to take a piece of the segment dominated by the Brits, with their A1 and MiTo models. Although all hurried to announce that Mini might see their sales dropping in the next few years, it seems that the Brits want to rule out the rumors.

Davit Woolcott, the CEO of Mini Australian Division, said a few days ago hat the company’s sales are not threatened by the Audi A1 and Alfa Romeo MiTo models, although he admits that the two cars are fierce and competitive rivals.

Woolcott wanted to add that, unlike the competition, Mini can count on a series of advantages, considered as main features of the brand: a wide range of models and versions, the road behavior comparable to one of a kart, for the top versions, and the emotional element around which the models are built. Even this last feature may tilt the balance decisively in favor of Mini.

Audi R8 V10 test: 320 km/h

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 V10 Engine Reviews

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

While everybody and their brother likes the R8, there is a small, but vocal minority that's always thought coupe looked a little funny. Well, that group of naysayers can now put a sock in it, as the R8 Spyder is simply gorgeous. Gone are the carbon fiber side blades, in are sensible but somehow better looking slab sides. Regardless, it's simply hot. Exceptional performance and breathtaking dynamism coupled with the intense sensations of open-top driving: Audi presents the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro. Its lightweight cloth top opens and closes fully automatically; several body parts are made of a carbon fiber composite material.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The V10 engine produces 386 kW (525 hp) and launches the open-top two-seater to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 4.1 seconds; 0 – 200 km/h (124.27 mph) in 12.7 seconds; on its way to a top speed of 313 km/h (194.49 mph) with the six-speed manual transmission. The 5.2-liter engine features FSI direct fuel injection. Equipped with a manual transmission, the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro consumes an average of 14.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (15.79 US mpg) – a good figure given its power. With R tronic, this figure improves to 13.9 liters (16.92 US mpg). Featuring technologies such as the Audi Space Frame (ASF), quattro permanent all-wheel drive, full-LED headlights and with an innovative seatbelt microphone available as an option, the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro is the new top-of-the-range Audi.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

Unlike the Coupé, the Spyder does not have sideblades behind the doors. The side panels and the large cover over the storage compartment for the cloth top are made of a carbon fiber composite. Two arched cowls, which extend to the spoiler lip and include large, integrated air vents, give the rear of the open-top two-seater a powerful profile.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The electrohydraulic soft top opens and closes in 19 seconds, even while driving at speeds up to 50 km/h (31.07 mph). When opened, it folds like a Z into its storage compartment over the V10 engine. The compartment cover opens and closes automatically. The heated glass window, which is separate from the cloth top, is lowered into the bulkhead. It can be independently raised and lowered at the press of a switch, with the top up or down. Audi offers the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro with a choice of three colors for the top. The body is available in eleven paint finishes, with metallic and pearl effect finishes standard. The windshield frame is coated with anodized aluminum. The leather for the seats are colored with pigments that reflect the infrared component of sunlight, which keeps the seats up to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

A worldwide first is the optional seatbelt microphone for the hands-free unit, which makes it possible to talk on the phone even with the top down on the highway. Three small, flat microphones are integrated into both seatbelts. At least one of them is ideally positioned relative to the speaker when the belt is on. There is a fourth microphone in the windshield frame.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The quattro permanent all-wheel drive features a central viscous coupling and distributes power to all four wheels with a heavy rear bias. It works together with the locking differential on the rear axle to provide significantly greater traction, stability, cornering speed and precision. It is the superior technology – in particular for a high-performance sports car.

2011 Audi R8 GT Sports Car

2011 Audi R8 GT Front View

2011 Audi R8 GT Side View

2011 Audi R8 GT Rear View

2011 Audi R8 GT Wheels View

2011 Audi R8 GT Steering Wheel View

2011 Audi R8 GT Engine View

The R8 high-performance sports car has been a winner from the very beginning. This applies to both the production models, winners of the “World Performance Car” Award in 2008 (R8) and in 2010 (R8 V10), and to the race car, the R8 LMS, which won 23 races in its first season and claimed three championships. The genes of the race version are now coming to the street – in the R8 GT. The exclusive series is limited to 333 units. Each R8 GT has a badge with its production number on the shift lever knob.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

While everybody and their brother likes the R8, there is a small, but vocal minority that's always thought coupe looked a little funny. Well, that group of naysayers can now put a sock in it, as the R8 Spyder is simply gorgeous. Gone are the carbon fiber side blades, in are sensible but somehow better looking slab sides. Regardless, it's simply hot. Exceptional performance and breathtaking dynamism coupled with the intense sensations of open-top driving: Audi presents the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro. Its lightweight cloth top opens and closes fully automatically; several body parts are made of a carbon fiber composite material.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The V10 engine produces 386 kW (525 hp) and launches the open-top two-seater to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 4.1 seconds; 0 – 200 km/h (124.27 mph) in 12.7 seconds; on its way to a top speed of 313 km/h (194.49 mph) with the six-speed manual transmission. The 5.2-liter engine features FSI direct fuel injection. Equipped with a manual transmission, the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro consumes an average of 14.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (15.79 US mpg) – a good figure given its power. With R tronic, this figure improves to 13.9 liters (16.92 US mpg). Featuring technologies such as the Audi Space Frame (ASF), quattro permanent all-wheel drive, full-LED headlights and with an innovative seatbelt microphone available as an option, the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro is the new top-of-the-range Audi.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

Unlike the Coupé, the Spyder does not have sideblades behind the doors. The side panels and the large cover over the storage compartment for the cloth top are made of a carbon fiber composite. Two arched cowls, which extend to the spoiler lip and include large, integrated air vents, give the rear of the open-top two-seater a powerful profile.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The electrohydraulic soft top opens and closes in 19 seconds, even while driving at speeds up to 50 km/h (31.07 mph). When opened, it folds like a Z into its storage compartment over the V10 engine. The compartment cover opens and closes automatically. The heated glass window, which is separate from the cloth top, is lowered into the bulkhead. It can be independently raised and lowered at the press of a switch, with the top up or down. Audi offers the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro with a choice of three colors for the top. The body is available in eleven paint finishes, with metallic and pearl effect finishes standard. The windshield frame is coated with anodized aluminum. The leather for the seats are colored with pigments that reflect the infrared component of sunlight, which keeps the seats up to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

A worldwide first is the optional seatbelt microphone for the hands-free unit, which makes it possible to talk on the phone even with the top down on the highway. Three small, flat microphones are integrated into both seatbelts. At least one of them is ideally positioned relative to the speaker when the belt is on. There is a fourth microphone in the windshield frame.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro V10 Engine

The quattro permanent all-wheel drive features a central viscous coupling and distributes power to all four wheels with a heavy rear bias. It works together with the locking differential on the rear axle to provide significantly greater traction, stability, cornering speed and precision. It is the superior technology – in particular for a high-performance sports car.

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

The Audi e-tron Concept 2009, a high-performance sports car with a purely electric drive system. Four motors - two each at the front and rear axles - drive the wheels, making the concept car a true quattro. Producing 230 kW (313 hp) and 4,500 Nm (3,319.03 lb-ft) of torque, the two-seater accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (0 - 62.14 mph) in 4.8 seconds, and from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 - 74.56 mph) in 4.1 seconds. The lithium-ion battery provides a truly useable energy content of 42.4 kilowatt hours to enable a range of approximately 248 kilometers.

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

The performance figures are by no means the only evidence of the consistent and holistic strategy. The design makes it clear that the Audi e-tron Concept belongs in the major leagues of sports cars, and the package takes into account the specific realities of an electric vehicle. The battery is directly behind the passenger cabin for an optimal center of gravity and axle load distribution.

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

The Audi e-tron Concept is able to freely distribute the powerful torque of its four electric motors to the wheels as required. This so-called torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an undreamed-of level of agility and precision when cornering.

The electric driving potentially offers numerous advantages. Electric cars reduce the dependence of transportation and the economy on the raw material petroleum. They produce no direct exhaust emissions and thus ease the local burden on the environment.

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

Electric drive systems are also significantly more efficient than combustion engines, consequently making them easier on the customers' wallets. Other strengths include sportiness and the fun they bring to driving. All of Audi has taken a new and in some cases revolutionary approach to many of the technical modules. A heat pump is used to efficiently warm up and heat the interior.

2009 Audi e-Tron Concept Car

The drive system, the power electronics and the battery are controlled by an innovative thermal management system that is a crucial component for achieving the car's range without compromising its high level of interior comfort. Networking the vehicle electronics with the surroundings, which is referred to as car-to-x communication, opens new dimensions for the optimization of efficiency, safety and convenience.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

Audi announced that the price for the highly anticipated 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro V10 sports car will be rolled out in Germany in the second quarter of 2009 at a basic price of EUR 142,400. The Audi R8 V10 is the result of cumulative know-how from Audi's string of Le Mans victories. Its naturally aspirated engine combines racing technology such as dry sump lubrication with FSI gasoline direct injection. The ten-cylinder design is the perfect synthesis for impressive top performance, mighty pulling power, and low weight. Starting in 2009, this engine will also prove its potential on the world's racetracks - in the new Audi R8 GT3 racing car Audi is developing for customer teams in conformance with the GT3 rules.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI quattro is the next variant of its top-of-the-line model. With the Audi R8, the brand has established itself at the forefront of high-end sports cars from the very start - and now comes the Audi R8 V10. Its 5.2-liter, ten-cylinder engine churns out 386 kW (525 hp) and 530 Nm (390.91 lb-ft) of torque, which makes for breathtaking performance. With superior Audi technologies such as quattro all-wheel drive, the lightweight aluminum body, the innovative all-LED headlights, and its striking design, the Audi R8 V10 takes pole position against the competition.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

The V10 engine in the production sports car will be almost identical in construction to the one in the racing version. Its displacement is 5,204 cc, at 6,500 rpm it delivers 530 Nm (390.91 lb-ft) of torque, at 8,000 rpm its power tops out at 386 kW (525 hp). The specific power output is 100.9 hp per liter of displacement - and each hp has to propel only 3.09 kilograms (6.91 lb) of weight, because the Audi R8 V10 in the version with the six-speed manual gearshift weighs only 1,620 kilograms (3571 lb). The engine accounts for 258 of these kilograms (569 lb) - that's only 31 kilos (68 lb) more than the V8.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

The 5.2-liter powerplant uses direct injection according to the FSI principle developed by Audi. The Audi R8 V10 with R tronic gets by on an average of 13.7 liters per 100 km (17.17 US mpg). The Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI quattro rockets from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 3.9 seconds. In the version with the sequentially shifting R tronic it reaches 200 km/h (124.27 mph) in another 8.1 seconds. Even then its propulsive power hardly lessens: it's sufficient to reach a top speed of 316 km/h (196.35 mph). The immense force, the spontaneity and the thrust of the acceleration, plus the sound of the engine - all these impressions coalesce into a breathtaking sports car experience. The V10 plays a concert with growling bass tones and powerful high notes, which grows into a grandiose fortissimo as the engine revs up. This sonorous acceleration doesn't reach its limit until 8,700 rpm.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

A contributing factor to the wide lead in traction and driving safety of the Audi R8 V10 over the competition is quattro all-wheel drive - it's the superior technology especially for a high-performance sports car. Four powered wheels get more grip than two. They enable the driver to step on the gas sooner when coming out of a curve. It's not only the traction that benefits, but also the transverse dynamics and the stability.

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro V10

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

The Detroit Audi e-tron Concept is 3.93 meter (154.72 in) long and 1.78 meter (70.08 in) wide but just 1.22 meter (48.03 in) tall two-seater; just a few months after the debut of the Audi e-tron Concept at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, this is now the second electric concept vehicle from the brand with the four rings. Audi is showing an uncompromising purist compact sports car with all-electric drive at the 2010 NAIAS. Lithium-ion batteries, located for an optimal center of gravity behind the passenger compartment and ahead of the rear axle, make an effective energy content of 45 kilowatt-hours available. This makes an operating range of up to 250 kilometers (155.34 miles) realistically possible.

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

Coupled with the Detroit Audi e-tron Concept's low gross weight of around only 1,350 kilograms (2976.24 lb), high-torque power units driving the rear wheels guarantee commensurate road performance. Two electric motors with a combined output of 150 kW (204 hp) and 2,650 Nm (1954.54 lb-ft) accelerate the coupe with ASF-design aluminum body from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. The Audi e-tron Concept accomplishes the sprint from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 - 74.56 mph) in a mere 5.1 seconds.

As previously with the first Audi e-tron Concept car shown in Frankfurt, Audi again bases all components in this electric vehicle on an integral concept with many revolutionary details: a heat pump as an efficient means of heating up and maintaining the interior temperature. The drive system, power electronics and battery have innovative thermal management - crucial for maintaining a high operating range coupled with outstanding interior comfort.

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

The two electric motors, which have their own cooling system, are mounted on the rear axle. This special package, featuring a 40:60 weight distribution, ensures perfect balance, which contributes to the driving dynamics of the Audi e-tron Concept.

The trapeze of the single-frame grille dominates the distinctly wedge-shaped front end and is flanked by two large air intakes. The top of the grille merges into the flat strips of the adaptive matrix beam headlight modules with their clear glass covers. All light units use ultra-efficient LED technology.

One design element that is specific to electric vehicles developed by Audi - such as the Audi e-tron - are the air intakes in the single-frame grille and behind the side windows on the C-post. They are closed flush under normal circumstances and opened by retracting slats when additional cooling air is required. The slats above the drive unit then also open to provide a better through-flow of air. These measures, too, maximize efficiency - the concept car is outstanding for an already low drag coefficient that is further improved when the flaps are closed.

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

The combination of aluminum and carbon fiber-reinforced composite material guarantees supreme rigidity coupled with low weight. Audi will soon use this technology in a similar form for future production vehicles. Despite the complex drive system layout with two electric motors and a high-capacity battery system, the total weight of the Audi e-tron Concept on display in Detroit is only around 1,350 kilograms (2,976.24 lb).

The MMI is controlled via a scroll pad with a touch-sensitive surface on the steering wheel ("MMI touch") - an element inspired by modern smartphones. The steering wheel itself is clearly flattened off at both the top and bottom, in a clear reference to motor sport.

A smartphone that can be integrated into the front section of the center console interfaces between the vehicle, the driver and external information sources. The driver can use a suitably equipped conventional smartphone as a car phone, address database, navigation system and video player. At the same time they can also use it as an operating unit for many specific on-board systems in the Audi e-tron Concept. Many phones that are suitable for these functions are already available from various manufacturers.

Audi E-tron Sports Car Concept

Characteristic for the concept of the Audi e-tron - and therefore also characteristic for a further development in an electric vehicle - is the near total elimination of switches and small components such as the ignition. The climate control unit is located to the right above the steering wheel. The display provides temperature and ventilation information. Again drawing inspiration from a smartphone, the system is controlled by means of a touch-sensitive sliding control.