| 2008 Audi A5 | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 10:47:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | Caught for the first time in production form, the 2008 Audi A5 is an all-new midsize luxury coupe slated for a 2007 debut. Based on the Nuvolari concept shown in Geneva three years ago, the A5 will introduce an all-new chassis design while maintaining Audi's signature styling cues. Audi's 4.2-liter FSI V8 will be the standard engine. Rated at 350 horsepower in the current A6 sedan, the A5's version should have at least that much power if not more. Three different transmissions will be offered — manual, automatic and DSG — and all of them will send power through Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system. During a recent conversation with Johan de Nysschen, head of Audi in North America, we were given some insight into the new chassis design that will debut in the A5 and eventually make its way across the Audi line.... | |
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| | | Auto suppliers master art of imitating luxury looks | | Posted Monday, October 09, 2006 6:45:53 PM by Blog57 Team | | Auto suppliers, already grappling with production cuts and rising raw material prices, now are being asked to make auto interiors look more luxurious for less money. Like other suppliers, Lear Corp. and Visteon spend millions every year on consumer panels and other research. Tests include whether consumers can smell the difference between real leather and substitutes, whether a car door being slammed sounds sturdy and whether seats in a $20,000 compact car feel like those in a $50,000 luxury sedan. To satisfy quality-conscious car shoppers, automakers push their suppliers to make interiors look and feel better -- without increasing the cost to the automaker. ''The fact of the matter is, we have a conflict,'' said Dave Rand, General Motors's executive director of interior styling for North America.... | |
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| | | Report: Audi Super TT a No Go | | Posted Saturday, September 16, 2006 2:46:18 PM by Blog57 Team | | Bad news for Audi TT fans hoping for a superfreaky version of the coupe: It's not happening, says AutoExpress. Apparently the high-powered TT rumored to have been in the works is a big nein. The company doesn't want to create any manner of hotness that would horn in on the new R8's spotlight. TT-loving sportos will just have to be satisfied with S-Line cosmetics upgrades and maybe an aftermarket chip or two. That and a nice Riesling. [Photo courtesy of Fourtitude] Audi rules out faster TT [AutoExpress] Related: Report: Audi Working on Super TT [internal] .... | |
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| | | Audi TT RS with 350-hp could be on its way | | Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 4:46:03 AM by Blog57 Team | | (autoinsidernews) - While we know that Audi is launching a sportier-looking TT S-line, now we are hearing that versions producing as much as 350-hp are on their way. There are few details about the high-performance RS, but it expected to make its debut by the end of the year. IT is unknown what engine will motivate the RS version. In one corner is a twin-turbocharged version of the 2.0L FSI, but other sources are saying a five-cylinder 2.5L — basically half of the Lamborghini Gallardo engine — is an option, reports Trend. Expect the RS to be feature quattro all-wheel drive, and offer either a six-speed manual or S-tronic (DSG) transmission. The styling is expected to hinted at by the S-line package but be even more agressively styled. No word if the TT RS will be for Europe only or if it will make its way to the States.... | |
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| | | Spy Photos: 2007 Audi TT in the Wilds of Los Angeles | | Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 4:46:06 AM by Blog57 Team | | Our main main in Hollywood, Hue Hughes, spotted a new 2007 Audi TT on the 405 yesterday. He whipped out his cameraphone, but alas, could only catch the thumbnail-sized pics above. Check it: ... the popup spoiler was a dead giveaway. it looks a lot better in person, the press photos don't do it justice. it had dealer tags on the back and the dealer's girlfriend in the front seat. it wasn't drawing much attention, prob cause it looks almost like the original. i dont think these photos could be any smaller. camera phone + driving = shitty pictures. That's fine, Hue. if nothing else, they'll make excellent first-class stamps. Related: Defying the World Cup: Fifth Gear Drives the 2007 Audi TT; More on the Audi TT [internal] .... | |
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| | | Strong Demand for The NEW Audi TT | | Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2006 6:45:46 PM by Blog57 Team | | Budapest (ANTARA News) - German carmaker Audi is planning to almostquadruple the number of staff employed to assemble its new TT model in Hungary by the end of the year, Audi Hungaria spokeswoman Monika Czechmeister said Friday.Czechmeister told MTI news agency that the company would introduce two new shifts, bringing the number of workers up from 220 to 800, and boosting production from 20,000 this year to 50,000 next year.Audi began mass production of the second-generation sports car in its plant in Gyor, in north-western Hungary, in June, DPA reported. Read Article .... | |
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| | | Bid to increase killer driver’s sentence | | Posted Tuesday, July 25, 2006 4:46:27 AM by Blog57 Team | | SCOTLAND'S most senior law officer yesterday launched a bid to increase the sentence of a businessman, convicted of killing a toddler when the sports car he was driving hit her pushchair. Mohsin Raziq was jailed for three-and-a-half years after causing the death of 18-month-old Melissa McInnes by dangerous driving. His sentence was criticised by road safety campaigners for being too lenient. The 25-year-old self-employed businessman from Muirend, in Glasgow, had no licence and no insurance when the Audi TT belonging to his mother struck the child on June 12 last year, throwing her 100ft. The impact caused Melissa's neck to break, while Raziq's car ploughed into a crash barrier at the side of the road. Yesterday, the Crown Office announced Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, QC, is to appeal against the sentence.... | |
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| | | Shop the BMW Z4 against: | | Posted Sunday, July 23, 2006 6:45:57 PM by Blog57 Team | | AUDI TT ROADSTER Front- or all-wheel-drive models available. Engines of 180, 225, and 250 horsepower. Priced from the mid-30s to nearly $50,000. New design for 2007 will feature the big nose-hugging grille that is becoming an Audi trademark. FORD MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE Softer than the coupe, part of a combo among the best buys on the performance sports car market. It has 300 horsepower, great retro interior touches, leather seats, and you can squeeze two people into the small rear buckets. All for under $35,000. LOTUS ELISE More expensive, in the mid-40s to more than $50,000, but this car has a removable hardtop, and a 190-horse engine that feels like 350 horsepower. MERCEDES-BENZ SLK-CLASS You'll have to bottom feed in the SLK line if you want to remain even close in this price range (they start at about $45,000).... | |
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| | | Production begins on the new Audi TT | | Posted Sunday, July 02, 2006 8:46:04 AM by Blog57 Team | | As we sit and wait a year for the new Audi TT to arrive in the US, the German automaker has begun churning out the slickly-restyled little coupe for the rest of the world. As was the case with the previous TT, the new car is built as part of a joint effort: bodywork and paint are done at the plant in Ingolstadt, and vehicle assembly is completed at Audi Hungaria's plant int Gyor. Just because the car is built in the same two places as before doesn't mean that the task of building the TT is a business-as-usual proposition, however. A 230-million Euro investment by Audi has resulted in wholesale changes to the TT construction process.In Ingolstadt, most of the body components are pressed on site in the newly-modernized press shop. Those parts head over to a brand new body shop where they are assembled into the TT's shell.... | |
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| | | Neuer Meilenstein bei der Audi Hungaria in Gyr erreicht | | Posted Saturday, July 01, 2006 6:45:57 AM by Blog57 Team | | Am Dienstag vergangener Woche lief bei der Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. Gyr der erste Audi TT Coup der zweiten Generation vom Band. Der ungarische Wirtschafts- und Verkehrsminister Jnos Kka und Jochem Heizmann, Vorstand der Audi AG und Vorsitzender der Aufsichtskommission der Audi Hungaria Motor Kft., gaben im Beisein von zahlreichen Gsten aus Wirtschaft und Politik im Rahmen einer Feierstunde den offiziellen Startschuss fr die Produktion des neuen Audi TT Coup. .... | |
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