News & Reviews- Make: Audi

While motorsport might not play first fiddle in Audi's operations as it does for some pure performance car brands such as Ferrari, there's no denying that its decades of winning racing programs have built respect for the German brand, highlighted by its world rally dominating Quattros in the eighties and more recently, sports prototype dominance at Le Mans and throughout the FIA World Endurance Championship, plus its strong performance in Germany's popular DTM touring car series, where it currently occupies three of the top five positions.

In order to make certain its various motorsport programs remain competitive moving into the future, the four-ringed brand's racing division, Audi Sport, has moved into new digs in Neuburg, 19 kilometres west of the road car division's headquarters in Ingolstadt. The state-of-the-art 116-acre facility comes after 20 years of planning and two years of construction, and is now home to Audi Sport's top engineers, technicians and additional staff Read Full Story

Today, think of Audi and most who know the brand will also think of its Quattro all-wheel drive system. These fans may or may not know that Audi was the first to offer a modern-day permanent all-wheel drive system in a passenger car 34 years ago, a technology that's been seen as such an immense benefit to road cars in cold weather climates that most models sold in Canada by such rear-drive stalwarts as BMW and Mercedes-Benz are now all-wheel drive too, while Porsche offers optional all-wheel drive in every vehicle it produces except for its Boxster and Cayman.

Tally up the number of all-wheel drive models these rivals have individually produced over the last three and a half decades and it won't sum up to six million, however, the number of Quattro systems built by Audi since it introduced the drivetrain on its sporty Quattro Coupe way back in 1980.

"Dynamism and sportiness, the utmost technical precision and safety – that's what Audi's quattro technology stands Read Full Story

After only weeks of Audi's 2015 A7 update, the Ingolstadt, Germany-based premium brand has revealed the latest version of the sweptback five-door coupe's sportiest iteration, the 2015 RS 7 Sportback.

What's not changing is the car's powertrain, but this was hardly a sore point. The twin-turbocharged, direct-injection, cylinder deactivation-capable 4.0-litre (4.0 TFSI) V8 continues to produce a very healthy 560-horsepower and equally robust 516 lb-ft of torque, while a quick-shifting paddle-shift actuated eight-speed automatic transmission puts all that thrust down to the tarmac via Audi's legendary Quattro all-wheel drive system. The result of all this go-fast goodness is a sprint from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds and a top speed that ranges between 250 and 305 km/h.

Why the difference in top speed? The 2015 RS 7 Sportback will offer two optional Dynamics packages, upping top speeds to 280 km/h or optimally 305 km/h, neither of which will be much use here Read Full Story

In a move designed to streamline the service experience and provide every Audi repair facility - and every customer - with access to the company's most experienced technicians, Audi has developed a new robotic diagnostic tool called ART (Audi Remote Telepresence).

The remotely-controlled ART robot uses cameras and a video monitor to enable Audi Technical Service teams to interact and converse with service technicians at local dealerships, even while physically in a different location. It displays the operator's face on a screen while permitting the ability to move around the vehicle. An attached borescope and handheld camera allow the operator to further inspect engine components and other difficult-to-reach parts of the vehicle.

The telepresence robot was developed by the Audi Technical Support team in conjunction with VGo Communications, Inc., a provider of robotic telepresence solutions for healthcare, education, and the workplace, and is the first automotive application Read Full Story

If you were expecting a radical styling departure for Audi's sleek four-door coupe, hopefully you won't be disappointed with the subtle upgrades made to the upcoming 2015 model.

After five years on the road, the Stefan Sielaff-designed A7 Sportback will get a modernized version of Audi's trademark single-frame horseshoe-shaped grille up front, along with revised headlights and a reworked lower fascia, while the car's sharply edged profile will remain identical. Its aft quarters will continue to slope gently rearward in the hatchback configuration that gives the model its "Sportback" designation, culminating with an upgraded bumper and newly fashioned exhaust tips, however the taillights will maintain the same size and mostly the same shape as the current model, albeit with new lenses.

Those lenses will feature de rigueur LEDs, as will the lamps up front, but the DRLs within the headlight clusters will be available with optional Matrix Beam LEDs that "light the road Read Full Story