Oct 22 2011
There is a lot to love about the 2014 Audi e-tron Spyder. It’s a compact roadster with a torque-happy, twin-turbo diesel V6 mated to two electric motors capable of more instant twist. When we recently took the e-tron Spyder for a spin, we were limited to just 40 miles per hour, but the Four-Ringed automaker tells us that a trip to 62 takes only 4.4 seconds.
Oct 17 2011
After the September 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show debut of the R8-based all-electric e-tron, we then got the surprise of seeing an even smaller one – also called “e-tron” (perhaps to confuse and/or not give too much away regarding the design’s important future) at last January’s Detroit Auto Show. This second electric car, a hardtop, carried two electric motors pushing the rear wheels (versus the four motors of the R8 e-tron’s all-wheel drive, an ongoing programming challenge referred to within Audi as e-Quattro).
The e-tron Spyder, however, is not just a roofless version of that stunning Detroit e-tron coupe, as the model we’re driving here comes with an all-new plug-in diesel hybrid-electric drivetrain, and it’s 5.1 inches longer with more wheelbase, along with being 1.2 inches wider. On the other hand, the current Audi TT is 4.7 inches longer than the e-tron Spyder, so we’re still operating on a very small scale here.
Source: AutoBlog
Aug 31 2011
When Audi introduces a new S model, enthusiasts sit up straight and listen. Don’t even ask what happens when the German automaker rolls out two at a time, let alone three or four. But that’s what Ingolstadt has in store for us in Frankfurt this year.
Once the show opens in a couple of weeks from now, we’ll have a new S6 (both sedan and Avant wagon), S7 and S8 on our hands. And they’re looking pretty sweet so far.
At the top of the heap is the new S8 sedan, which adopts the new twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 that Audi has developed with Bentley, driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox. With 512 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque on tap, the big sedan is said to be good for a hugely fast 4.2-second sprint to 62 miles per hour and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
The S6 and S7, meanwhile, get a detuned version of the same turbo eight with 420 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, good for 4.8 and 4.9-second acceleration runs, respectively. Cylinder deactivation and an active noise cancelation system are also part of the package on the entire range, and we’re anticipating getting each of these models – minus the S6 Avant – in American showrooms.
Source: Audi
