Audi unveiled another entry in the performance diesel segment it dominates today, showing off a conceptual version of its A3 known as the TDI clubsport quattro. The racy new A3 joins the diesel-burning Audi TT, and of course the wicked R8 TDI Le Mans, offering the thrill of racing power created with the torque-filled goodness of diesel power.
The pert A3 TDI certainly looks the part of a motorsports contender. The car has been presented in a red and white racing-style livery, with simply massive 20 inch alloy wheels, and a rear wing that looks as if it had been snatched straight from a DTM parts bin.
The 2.0-liter TDI punches out a more than respectable 224 horsepower and a deeply-moving 332 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers may make a 0-62 mph sprint of 6.6 seconds sound a little measly, but a top end of almost 150 mph, and gobs of speed in the mid-range surely make up for being a little slow off of the line. Have a look at some high-resolution images of the A3 TDI clubsport quattro in our gallery below or click through the jump to read Audi’s official press release.
Driven by former Ferrari stalwarts Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi, this 412 T2 chassis number 163 is race-tested machine that could be the ultimate purchase for a true fan of the prancing horse.
Campaigned during the 1995 Formula One season, the 412 was built to the new 3.0-liter requirements following the 1994 deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and the incomparable Ayrton Senna. True to the formula, the Ferrari rocks a 3.0-liter V-12 engine that was powerful enough to make the car fast right out of the box in the 1995 season. Chassis 163 never claimed a podium finish (or a finish at all apparently) but it did lead for a moment at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, and was driven by both Alesi and Berger during the season.
Fresh from a factory Ferrari tune up, they don’t come much more original, expensive, or terrifying than this.
Thanks to WINDING ROAD dime-dropper Nick for the tip!
Just in time for warm weather to grace our Michigan office, a 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 rolled into our test fleet for a fourteen-day stay. For 2009, Benz has removed the manual transmission from the 350, which was one of the best parts of the SLK we tested last year, but we weren’t completely turned off by the 7G-Tronic manu-matic setup which has been added in its place. The new SLK boasts more power and a revised appearance, and it quickly became a dear friend to all of us on staff.
Click through the jump to read our full impressions and click the images below to launch a gallery of our SLK350 test car.
While Volkswagen was experimenting with self-parking systems as early as 1992’s IRVW concept car (pictured), new reports from Brit magazine Autocar indicate that a completely driverless version of the technology is in the works for production.
Unlike the Toyota developed parking aids, which allow a driver to parallel park a car without touching the wheel, VW’s system is said to do be capable of doing its thing with no human inside the car at all. Maybe we’re just being a little short sighted but we can’t think of too many situations in which that would come in handy.
Nevertheless, VW tells Autocar, “the technology the system uses is all in use today in one form or another. It is now a matter of perfecting the system for everyday use.”
It’s Friday again which means that it’s time for another Ask It candidate to step up under the harsh glare of reader questioning. This week we’re offering up the brand new segment-busting X6 from BMW. While we’re still trying to wrap our heads around how to drive, utilize, and feel about the sleek CUV, we’re more than ready to plumb the cars depths at your behest. Let us know what you want to know, in comments.
(Have a look at our growing Ask It gallery below.)
Enthusiast site Camaro5 has gotten its hands on yet another batch of 2009 Camaro interior shots, this batch showing an even more dressed up automatic transmission version of the car. There’s an interesting bank of gauges down by the shift lever, and one photo also shows an intriguing display in front of the passenger seat.
Overall it looks as if the interior quality is coming up though it’s still a bit difficult to make any real judgments without seeing the cabin live and in person. Click through to Camaro5 to see the rest of the story or on the thumbnails below to see an older set of spy photos, and then share your thoughts with us, in comments.
For some time now, reports and rumors had us believing that a U.S.-market diesel variant of the Volkswagen Tiguan was a done deal. Today at the Boulder, Colorado launch of VW’s new compact softroader, we were reminded that you can’t always believe what you hear—and you can’t always get what you want.
The first 2009 Tigs are rolling into dealerships as you read this, but all of them will be powered by the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four that’s found under the hood of the GTI hot hatch. In U.S.-spec guise, that means an even 200 horsepower and 207 pound feet of torque, yoked to either a 6-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic with a manumatic gear lever. EPA mileage figures range depending on transmission choice and the number of driven wheels, but a front-drive manual S model receives a rating of 19 city / 26 highway. The full-boat SEL with 4Motion and automatic transmission returns 18 city / 24 highway.
In the Bricklin v. Delorean battle of the ages, another round of cannon shots has cut through the cold internet air, begging us once again to pick sides for our favorite non-Mercedes gull wing supercar. While Bricklin and Delorean fans have long accused the other of inferiority, rarely have officials of the companies ever weighed in…until now.
Let’s review:
• Copycat claims: The Bricklin SV-1 debuted in 1974 and went south in 1976. While Delorean was designing his car around the same time, it didn’t go on sale until 1981, giving Bricklin fans the opportunity to claim copycat. Both cars had gull wing doors, positioned themselves as supreme safety exercises, and were mostly government-funded. But, the Bricklin has its engine in the front while the Delorean’s is mounted in the back.
• Delorean’s rebuttal: Delorean privately and publicly denied any connection between the DMC-12 and the Bricklin (or the Lotus Espirit, for that matter). He died in 2005, though, so we’re going to have to think that he’d still call bullshit on Bricklin even today.
• Bricklin openly claims DMC-12 is clone: Malcolm Bricklin gives an interview wherein he claims John Delorean bought the original SV1 prototype after Bricklin’s self-titled car company went into bankruptcy. “He wanted to copy it in every way….John Delorean’s car is the exact car that I rejected and still have that prototype that was designed in 1972.”
Mercedes-Benz is apparently going crazy for aluminum in the next iteration of its E-class, planning to make “extensive use” of the material in the upcoming version of the car. Autocar is reporting in the print version of its April 30 issue that M-B will use the lightweight metal for “some key body panels “.
While the German automaker hopes to keep the size of the E-class about the same as the current model, it plans on bringing weight down while increasing interior space, fuel economy, and overall refinement in the new vehicle.
No word yet on how the added aluminum will weigh on the car’s price tag however.
True comedy can break any language barrier. That’s what we think after watching this late 1980s ad for the Citroen Visa GTI anyway. Which, despite our marginal French skills, we found both hilarious and completely riveting. Get your French Navy on with the vintage advert above.
Toyota announced today that worldwide sales of its Prius hybrid have passed the 1 million mark, with 1,028,000 examples of the iconic car sold as of the end of April 2008.
Launched in Japan in 1997 with global sales beginning in 2000, the Prius really only started to become a major hit for Toyota when the drastically revised second-generation car went on sale in 2003. The Japanese automaker speculates that, when compared with gasoline powered vehicles of the same size and class, the Prius has spared the world from an extra 4.5 million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.
The popularity of the car, in concert with a rapidly changing automotive marketplace, has helped to revolutionize how automakers approach the idea of “green” vehicles. Prius was the world’s first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle; a class in which almost every major automaker today can claim to produce a product in.
(Click through the jump for Toyota’s official press release or on the thumbnails below for a few different imaginings of the Prius.)
