Rent A Racer: Audi Race Experience Program Puts You in Race-Spec R8

Forget the fantasy baseball camp -- if you've got a good chunk of change at hand, we'd recommend signing up for Audi's Race Experience program, which will ultimately put you behind the wheel of a race-prepped R8 LMS on the famed Nürburgring.

The program, crafted in partnership with Team Joest, essentially allows participants to play race car driver for a day. After a series of driving lessons (including earning a current racing license), participants will field one of two Joest-owned R8 LMS cars in a VLN race on the 'Ring. Joest and Audi Sport will provide everything else needed to go racing, including tires, fuel, a pit crew, telemetry -- and, if so desired, a professional co-driver.



"For the first time, customers have the opportunity to participate in a race with a professional Audi 'factory' team without having to enter a long-term commitment, or making a high financial investment," said Klaus Demel, head of Audi's Driving Experience programs.

Demel's last point may be true -- this will be less expensive than sponsoring and running an entire race team on your own -- but we don't expect the Race Experience program to come cheap. Audi hasn't talked pricing, but seeing as there are more costs to amortize than the company's Sportscar Experience (which runs roughly $3500 for a two-day program), we know this experience will carry a lengthy bill.

If cost is no object to you, add this to your bucket list -- and quickly. Team Joest is only running these cars in six VLN races at the Nürburgring, so despite the high prices, expect openings to disappear quickly.

Source: Audi

READ MORE - Rent A Racer: Audi Race Experience Program Puts You in Race-Spec R8

Dartz Audi R8 gets a checkered skin, on-lookers bamboozled by the exquisiteness

Dartz, the Latvian tuner specialists are up at it again with their latest artwork, and what’s the canvas? Yes, you are right it’s the Audi R8 hiding under the checkered skin that resembles the look of a chess board in black and purple colors. Dartz call it their Chess R8 and it definitely more than meets the eye. Nothing was left un-checkered right from the Audi logo, side panels, bumpers or the front grills. Maybe game developers can take a cue from this and add custom full bodied checkered modifications in their future titles.

READ MORE - Dartz Audi R8 gets a checkered skin, on-lookers bamboozled by the exquisiteness

Audi’s most luxurious and costliest A9 car to come in 2015

We all know that Audi’s A1 lineup has already reached to A8 and fans are desperately waiting for A9 to appear. Well, little more wait for the vehicle to see in the clear light of the day as Audi is already planning on an A9. The four-door sedan will be placed above current A8 and will be the most luxurious as well as costliest model Audi has ever offered.
Audi A9 is expected to have a 3.0 TFSI engine with around 300HP for the base version, whereas the top model will get a V8 with 500hp. Future Audi A9 will be built on the Volkswagen’s new modular building block (MSB) platform that will be used for different models from Audi, Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini.
Coming to the exterior and interior of A9, the luxury car will have the design cues from latest Audi models including A7 Sportback. Interiors will be one of the most impressing factors. The interior is to feature highest quality material, leather, wood insertions, Alcantara and will be equipped with most advanced technologies as per the year 2015.
A9 is to take Audi’s design language to a new level altogether and is aimed at high-end luxury market. The vehicle is targeted at other brands in the category like Aston Martin Rapide, Porsche Panamera Turbo, or even the future Lamborghini sedan. It will go on sale sometimes in 2015 with an expected price tag of $140,0000, reports Topspeed.

READ MORE - Audi’s most luxurious and costliest A9 car to come in 2015

Le Futur: Audi R8 E-tron Makes an Appearance at Le Mans EV Demonstration

Before the roaring race cars took to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, only the squeal of protesting tires could be heard as Audi’s E-tron, clothed in an R8 skin, took to the track.

Audi gave fans a demonstration of its electric sports car before the endurance race began as part of “Le Mans vers le futur.” Vers le futur was a demonstration run specifically for electric vehicles to showcase the future of sports cars. Five-time Le Mans winner Frank Biela was behind the wheel to put the R8 E-tron through its paces.



Audi has shown no less than two E-tron sports car concepts, a larger one at the Frankfurt auto show last year, and a second, smaller one in Detroit this year. Both concept models were based on the R8 platform. The E-tron that took to the track was based on Frankfurt’s larger, more powerful E-tron, sans fancy concept exterior.

R8 E-tron used the same powertrain setup as the E-tron shown at Frankfurt, with electric motors driving each wheel to give it Audi’s signature Quattro all-wheel-drive. In total, the motors put out 313 horsepower and 3319 pound-feet of torque, according to Audi, but we’ve shown that to be more like 252 pound-feet of torque at the crankshaft. However you look at the torque, it’s enough to propel the car to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds.

The car continues with the R8’s handling balance as the batteries are placed behind the driver where the gasoline engine would sit in a conventional R8. This gives the car a 42:58 front/rear weight balance, but the car exhibits extremely neutral handling coupled with Audi’s centrally controlled electric Quattro all-wheel-drive. Also featured was active torque vectoring, seen on the new S4’s optional rear differential, but because of the nature of the centrally controlled electric motors, it can be implemented only by using electronics on the E-tron.

We know Audi is planning a production E-tron to compete with Mercedes-Benz’s upcoming electric SLS AMG. Audi has also made no secret about turning E-tron into a corporate sub-brand similar to TDI or Quattro. The first of the E-trons is slated to go into production alongside the R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo next year.

Was the R8 E-tron taken around the Circuit de la Sarthe our first look at the production car?

Source: Audi

READ MORE - Le Futur: Audi R8 E-tron Makes an Appearance at Le Mans EV Demonstration

Audi Sound Engineers Place 62 Speakers into a Q7

After orchestrating the design and installation of some pretty far-out Bang & Olufsen sound systems into vehicles like the R8, A8, and Q7, you'd think Audi's sound engineers would be perfectly content. Not so. In fact, in pursuit of the perfect sound, some engineers within the company have created their dream sound system, which involves stuffing 62 speakers into a Q7.




The venture, dubbed the Audi Sound Project, is the pet project of infotainment development engineer Peter Gleim. His goal -- to focus on wave field synthesis -- sounds like a scientist's fantasy, but is actually quite impressive. The object is to recreate a sound wave with several sources (i.e. speakers) placed closely together. Each speaker is controlled separately, so the signal can be delayed and staggered, allowing the listener to hear an exact reproduction of the original sound. Better yet, the sound is produced in an identical fashion for each seating position.

"We can simulate any wave front," Gleim said in a release. "With stereo, we can generate a sound as if the two speakers were located far outside the car. We can also add any desired spatial impression computationally -- not as a sound effect, but as a mathematically precise simulation."

Gleim's team managed to cram all 62 speakers, baffles, and amplifiers into the Q7, but its interior looks anything but normal. The ASP system includes five tweeters, five subwoofers, and 52 midrange speakers, all connected to a large power amplifier. Speakers are integrated into the dashboard, pillars, door panels -- virtually anywhere engineers could find space. Three separate PCs are needed to control both the amplifier and the entire speaker array.

"Our goal was to show what is technically feasible; to explore the limits," said Denis Credé, head of Audi's sound development. "What we are learning will be integrated into the sound systems of tomorrow. It's like with racing: A lot of what is first tried out on the race tracks of this world later shows up in modified in production vehicles. The Audi Sound Concept project is like racing for sound systems."

We imagine both packaging and cost are two major hurdles in pushing the ASC into production. On that later note, adding the 14-speaker Bang & Olufsen system in an A8 or Q7 adds roughly $6300. We suspect that figure would grow exponentially for a 62-speaker system.
We're fans of excellent sound systems, but aren't always convinced they're worth the investment. What say you -- when shopping for a car, is the sound system an important component, or do you skip that option box?

Source: Audi

READ MORE - Audi Sound Engineers Place 62 Speakers into a Q7

FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1988)

1988 Audi Aztec/Aspid
The idea of a futuristic Audi-powered, Kevlar-bodied, dual-cockpit speedster concept entering limited production is quite absurd -- but that's exactly what happened to the Italdesign Aztec.

Italdesign prepared three concept cars -- the Aztec roadster, the Aspid coupe, and the Asgard minivan -- for the 1988 Turin motor show. In spite of their different bodywork, each featured a rear-mounted, turbocharged 2.5-liter Audi I-5 mated to an all-wheel-drive system cribbed from a Lancia Delta Integrale. Both the Aztec and Aspid bore some resemblance to Giugario's 1984 Ford Maya concept, save for the unusual-looking rear fenders and wheelskirts.

All three designs were simply intended to be show vehicles, but a Japanese industrialist -- smitten with the looks of the Aztec -- bought the production rights to the car, and pushed the car into limited production. Each car was identical to the concept, and ran buyers nearly $750,000 a piece. At least 18 were completed, although a production run of 50 cars was originally planned.

...next page >>
source by automobi

READ MORE - FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1988)

FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1973)

1973 Audi Asso Di Picche

Italdesign and Karmann teamed up once again in 1973 to craft a Volkswagen concept car, but the finished product would have a much more profound influence on other production vehicles than the Cheetah before it.



Although Audi was enjoying the fiscal stability provided by new parent Volkswagen, it was Karmann who approached Italdesign with the idea of creating a concept coupe built off the Audi 80. At the very least, the company had a vested interest in the project -- should VW/Audi brass enjoy the proposal, Karmann felt it could attain a contract to mass-produce the car.

Dubbed the Asso di Picche (Italian for Ace of Spades), the finished product looked nothing like the humble 80 it was built upon. Giugiaro envisioned a sleek, wedge-shaped coupe with a slender nose, long hood, and a short, angular fastback. The show car looked nothing like any other Audi model at the time -- arguably, the only visual link to the 80 was the front fascia, which sported a full-width grille housing large quad headlamps and the fabled four-ring logo.

VW executives liked the car, but didn't push it into production exactly like Karmann hoped. Instead, it called upon Giugiaro to pen the first-generation Scirocco, which bears a striking resemblance to the Asso di Picche -- gaping grille and all. Lucky for Karmann, it found a way to score a contract building the bodies for the little sport coupe.

Giugiaro eventually extrapolated the Asso di Picche into a line of "Ace" concepts. The Asso di Quadri (Ace of Clubs), shown in 1976, was built from a BMW 320i, and bears a remarkable resemblance to the second-generation Scirocco. The Asso di Fiore, unveiled in 1979, was a dead ringer for the 1982 Isuzu Piazza/Impulse

 ...next page >>
source by automobi

READ MORE - FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1973)