Audi Unveils R18 TDI with Big Changes, Including a Roof

With nine 24 Hours of Le Mans wins under its belt, the Audi factory team will return in 2011 with a brand-new race car in which to compete. The R18 TDI is, like past entries, a turbo-diesel endurance car that will campaign in the LMP1 class. The car will make its racing debut at Spa-Francorchamps in March, and Audi plans to enter three of them in next June's Le Mans race.

The R18's carbon-fiber body holds a 3.7-liter TDI V-6 engine of undisclosed power output, coupled to a new six-speed sequential manual transmission. The engine has been downsized significantly compared to those of Audi's past Le Mans entries—the R15 TDI employed a 5.5-liter V-10 and the R10 TDI had a 5.5-liter V-12—because new rules for 2011 dictate smaller powerplants in order reduce overall engine power.

New Le Mans rules also permit hybrid-like energy-recovery systems, like the KERS setup used in Formula 1. Audi says the R18 was "designed for progressive electrification," but the company hasn't decided whether to employ such technology in the car.

The R18 has a closed cockpit, the first time for an Audi Le Mans entry since 1999, which the company says drastically improves aerodynamics. The change is likely in response to rival Peugeot's closed-cockpit design; the trade-off is that the rules require a cooling system for roofed cars. The R18 has new full-LED front lighting elements—hey, it is an Audi. It uses the same wheel sizes front and rear, which the company says helps with even weight distribution.

We say the new closed-cockpit arrangement, coupled with the fancy lights, makes for one intimidating-looking racer. (It's matte gray, for heaven's sake.) The car's first on-track performance will come at the April Le Mans test day, where the team will gather data for the most important race of the season.

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Audi Quattro Concept – First Drive Review

Audi's homage to its historic rally monster is a real driver—and really capable.

Decker Canyon Road branches off the Pacific Coast Highway in northern Malibu to snake up the contours of the coastal range to the Mulholland Highway and Westlake Village. The road is narrow, sinuous, and challenging, edged by rock and unyielding Armco—and it is the road Audi management picked for us to try out the company's priceless, hand-made Quattro concept.

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2012 Audi A6 – Official Photos and Info

Audi plays it safe with its next-generation A6.

About a decade ago, when Mercedes-Benz was plagued with quality problems and BMW was about to launch its curiously styled E60 5-series, the Audi A6's rise to European executive-sedan favorite began. Behind its trademark grille lurked powerful engines (with 580 hp eventually available in the RS6); all-wheel drive was standard in many versions, and the fit and finish and attention to detail—especially in the interior—was enough to make the competition weep.

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Audi A1 E-Tron concept – First Drive Review

It's like a Volt with a rotary engine from Audi. But still a lot like a Volt.

It used to be that the phrases "fun to drive" and "electric car" were mutually exclusive, with no real hope for reconciliation—heck, seeing the phrases "regular production" and "electric car" so close together is still a novelty. Then came the Tesla Roadster. Now, witness the 525-hp Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell, which its maker will sell to the driving public at a speculated quarter-million dollars per, and the somewhat cheaper but still out-of-reach Audi e-tron sports car, which should cost about $150,000 when production begins in 2012.

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Audi Plans TT GT4 Racer Based on TT RS

Audi used yesterday's DTM finale in Shanghai to show off a new GT4-spec TT it plans to sell in Europe and—you guessed it—China. It's based on the TT RS and as such the prototype shown uses that car's turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five tuned for 335 hp; we're told the final version may use a different engine, possibly a high-powered four-cylinder, instead. The engine couples to Audi's S tronic dual-clutch automated manual transmission and, as the name implies, the TT GT4 will comply with the FIA's GT4-class rules.

On the outside, the TT GT4 wears a fixed rear wing, front fascia, and rear diffuser inspired by those of the roadgoing TT RS. To save weight, the hood, doors, and trunk lid are composed of carbon fiber, and the windows have been swapped for plastic pieces. The car rides on a firmer, adjustable suspension and lightweight 18-inch wheels shod in race tires. It's fitted with a roll cage and racing fuel cell. Needless to say, it won't be street-legal.

The TT GT4 should cost €120,000, about $157K, when it goes on sale to race teams in a year or so. It will definitely be available throughout Europe and Asia, while a U.S. offering is not currently planned.

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