Audi Auto Shows Cars

Audi is arguably the most active automaker that’s electrifying its lineup. Barely a few days after debuting the Q4 e-tron SUV and Sportback, the German automaker has now given us a preview of the A6 e-tron, the electric version of the luxury namesake sedan. Teased at the 2021 Auto Shanghai, the A6 e-tron concept showcases what to expect from the production version of the EV and also goes on to show that Audi is not getting rid of sedans anytime soon.

Slow Demand put the Audi A3 Sportback in a tight spot, but it’s still popular enough to come back for a fourth-generation in one way or another. This time, however, it will only be offered with five doors, and there’s no hope of the three-door model ever making a comeback. But, that’s okay, as the fourth-gen A3 just looks right in this configuration, and we’re pretty sure the S3 will look even hotter. Changes for 2021 include a revised exterior look, larger footprint, better aerodynamics, a set of engines pulled from other MQB-supported compact cars in VAG’s group of companies. Want more specifics? Keep Reading!

Audi introduced its second all-electric crossover at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. It’s called the 2021 e-tron Sportback and it’s essentially a sportier looking version of the e-tron SUV introduced in 2018. While the SUV looks like an electric version of the Q7, the e-tron Sportback is essentially an EV variant of the Q8.

Audi just unveiled the 2021 RS Q8, and it’s pretty much a Lamborghini Urus with a different design. While most RS and S models in the SUV range aren’t as spectacular, the RS Q8 steps in as a Lambo Urus in disguise. Built on the same underpinnings and fitted with the same twin-turbo V-8 engine, the RS Q8 is the most powerful SUV in the Audi lineup and almost as quick as the Urus. How do they compare? Let’s find out below.

Audi has made a tradition of dropping stunning concepts whenever an auto show opened its doors. It did it earlier this year in Geneva with the Q4 e-tron and e-tron GT concepts, so we’ve been expecting a similar move for the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. Well, it happened once again, this time with less “e-tron” and more “quattro”: meet the Audi AI:TRAIL Quattro concept in all its off-road might.

For the longest time, the RS7 has represented Audi in the high-end performance saloon segment. It’s done its job about as well as it can, but there was always something about the RS7 that somehow kept it from reaching its full potential. It has never lacked in power or driving dynamics so it’s neither of those things. What kept the RS7 from completely standing out in a sea of high-performance four-door saloons was its design.

To be clear, past RS7s didn’t look bad; they just didn’t stand out, either. They looked like your typical era-correct Audis that just happened to come with bigger bodies and far more luxurious interiors. Audi wants to change that narrative, and with the arrival of the 2020 RS7 Sportback, it just might have found that perfect balance of design and performance that could change the way we look at the RS7 Sportback moving forward.

The current Audi A7 is a real looker, it offers pretty decent performance for a car its size, and you can’t argue with its interior quality of technology. But, the one technology it wasn’t privy to was electrification. Well, not at least until now, anyway. That’s right, folks, Audi has just introduced the A7 Sportback 55 TFSI E Quattro PHEV. What does that mean for performance and fuel economy? Well, Audi didn’t just toss in an electric motor and battery – there are some serious changes here, and you should probably be aware of them.

The 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show will be graced by this new electric off-road concept from Audi called the AI:Trail Quattro. The German automaker has not revealed a lot of details about it yet, but it does not look like merely an autonomous luxurious pod. It is an electric off-roader and even looks the part. The AI:Trail Quattro happens to be the fourth model in the series of design studies, and Audi will be debuting it on September 10, 2019. So, naturally, we are excited to see what it brings to the table.

Audi’s lineup of performance SUVs is adding another member to the fold when the flagship model, the Q8 RS, finally makes its long-awaited debut in September at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. We’re less than three weeks away before Audi unveils the Q8 RS so ahead of the big day, the German automaker brought its newest performance SUV to the Nurburgring for some last-minute tweaking. This video of the Q8 RS running around the ‘Ring has been making the rounds, in part because of a particular sound the SUV is generating. That’s not the sound of a diesel engine, folks. That’s the sound of a V-8 gas engine with — heaven forbid — a mild-hybrid setup? Audi hasn’t confirmed the powertrain details of the Q8 RS, but all shall be revealed in a matter of weeks. For now, watch the video of the Q8 RS running roughshod over the Nurburgring and listen to the sound it’s making while doing it.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a great place to go if you want to see some of the world’s most revered racing cars of the past as well as a vast array of modern machinery and peeks into the future. The festival that takes places annually since 1993 on the grounds of the Goodwood House is also the place favored by some manufacturers to unveil their new products. The 2019 edition was chosen by Audi as the perfect occasion to pull the wraps off Audi Sport’s latest creation: the 640 horsepower Audi R8 LMS GT2, the most powerful racing car Audi has ever sold through its Customer Racing department. It’s designed for a new formula of Grand Touring racing that slots between GT3 and GT4 and caters for amateur racers looking for hight output machinery that’s quick down a straight line and easy to manage through the twisty bits.

Audi is a pragmatic company. Audi doesn’t put out a product for a class it doesn’t think will succeed. When Audi finally built a GT3-spec car, the class had been around for three full seasons, and it showed no signs of slowing down with more cars joining in (that same year Alpina debuted a B6-based contender, for instance) at a steady pace. Then there was the R8 LMS GT4, the GT3’s baby brother, its more pedestrian relative that is still tremendously fast (it puts out somewhere between 580 horsepower and 600 horsepower sans limiter, as much as the GT3 car without restrictions) and also expensive.

The RS3 LMS followed suit, the first sedan built by Audi Sport, one that, again, was built to be raced in a burgeoning category: TCR Touring Cars. The RS3 arrived in 2017, three years after the TCR format was first introduced. This is what makes the R8 LMS GT2 the odd one out. It’s the first Audi Sport-built car to be launched before any cars built to this ruleset ever took the track. So Audi must already know that it will be a success.

The 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed was the stage for many impressive firsts and among them has been the worldwide debut of Audi Sport Customer Racing’s latest product, the ludicrous Audi R8 LMS GT2. With 640 horsepower, it’s faster than its GT3 and GT4 brethren but, somehow, it slots in between the two. Audi Sport says it’s the most potent car to come out of the Customer Racing program, and you’ll be able to see it on track next year as Stephane Ratel Organization (SRO) will allow the GT2 class to compete in series like the GT Sports Club in Europe and the GT World Challenge America across the Atlantic.

Racing has a tendency to become more and more expensive as time goes on. The pattern is as follows: a sanctioning body or a championship organizer proposes a new ruleset for a new category that’s supposed to replace an older, prohibitively expensive one. Everyone involved is happy, the new class is launched, it becomes popular, and as it starts to gain momentum, the cars evolve pushed by factory involvement and, in a matter of years, they become too expensive, and we’re back to square one. This is, broadly, what happened with the (still) highly popular GT3 formula that turned, from one category catering for amateur drivers, to one that comprises the bulk of today’s leading sports car and luxury car manufacturers, many of them pouring serious amounts of money in developing race cars able to win on the world stage. Let’s see how GT2 plans to fix this issue. In a way...

Audi revealed the AI:me concept at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show, and it clearly gives a preview of what our future will look like. Audi has been on an electric vehicle onslaught, and this concept shows one of the many facets that the company is capable of. Audi’s creation prior to the AI:me, the Q4 e-tron EV, looks like it could be ’production-ized’ soon. But with the AI:me, Audi aims to show what an urban, electric autonomous car could look like in a couple of decades from now.

Audi’s 2019 Shanghai auto show stand will feature the brand’s idea of an all-electric city car, the AI:ME, a futuristic concept that in the automaker’s own words, “demonstrates how emotion and spatial economy can form a perfect synthesis in an electrically driven compact car.” We have no idea what that exactly means, but we suspect it’s referring to the fact that this study is envisioned to be as space effective as possible for its footprint while offering all the amenities you’ve come to expect from an Audi.

Introduced globally in July 2018, the second-generation Audi Q3 made its public U.S. debut at the 2019 New York Auto Show. The second-gen Q3, which replaces a dated eight-year old model, brings a sportier design, better tech, and a more powerful engine.

Audi has kicked off its 2019 Geneva Motor Show journey by launching its all-new compact electric SUV, the Q4 e-tron. The crossover will slot below the full-sized E-tron, and will be the fifth electric vehicle in the German automaker’s stable. It is expected to start production by the end of 2020. The Audi Q4 e-tron will take on the upcoming Tesla Model Y.

Ten years ago, Audi shocked the auto world when it uncorked an all-wheel drive, ten-cylinder supercar that ushered in a new era of performance for the German automaker. This year, the Audi R8 turns a decade old, and Audi’s throwing a party for its beloved performance machine with a special edition model called the R8 V10 Decennium. Taken from the Latin word that literally means “decade,” the R8 V10 Decennium is a fitting ode to a supercar that played a huge role in redefining the supercar segment. Only 222 models of the anniversary R8 will be available. Each model is priced at €220,000, which converts to about $250,000 based on current exchange rates. The Audi R8 Decennium becomes available starting in the spring of 2019.

Audi released the new 2019 Audi SQ5 TDI, and it will showcase the brute at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. Yet, before I get into all the “what’s new” jazz, let me give you some perspective here, right in the introduction. The 2015 Ford Mustang GT comes with a V-8 with 435 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque and can accelerate to 60 in 4.4 seconds. The 2016 Chevy Camaro SS comes with a V-8 with 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque and can accelerate to 60 in 4.3 seconds. The 2018 Durango SRT comes with a V-8 with 475 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque and can accelerate to 60 in 4.4 seconds. Now, the new Audi SQ5 TDI isn’t as quick. It will accelerate to 60 mph in 5 seconds. So, around half a second slower, but not far off.

So, why the hell am I mentioning American muscle cars here? Well, unlike them, Audi doesn’t run on gasoline, it does not have a V-8, and its engine is around 25-percent smaller in terms of displacement compared to any of the cars listed here. Ladies and gentlemen, I know that comparing a compact SUV with muscle cars and a massive SUV like the Dodge Durango is, basically, blasphemy, but the Audi SQ5 is that insane, amazing, and incredible. In its newest iteration it is, by far, the most amazing diesel-powered performance SUV I know of. Yes, Alpina does have that mad

based XD3 with 388 horsepower, but I consider that to be an aftermarket offering despite the car being produced on the same production line as the regular X3.

Audi has released a handful of teaser renderings of the Q4 e-Tron Concept, an electric compact crossover study. The concept, which will make its début at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, finally unlocks the mystery on when Audi plans to use the Q4 name, the last holdout to the automaker’s Q-family of crossovers and SUVs. Teasers notwithstanding, details about the Q4 e-Tron Concept are scarce at this point, but since it’s carrying the “e-Tron” name, we can at least confirm that this concept will be of the electric persuasion. The Q4 e-Tron Concept’s information mother lode drops in Geneva, which starts on Thursday, March 7, 2019.