After finally losing the top spot on the Le Mans podium to Peugeot last June, Audi is bound and determined to recapture victory this year. To that end the automaker has signed on three new drivers for this year’s squad including one Peugeot veteran.

The Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro, top model of the R8 family, delivers breathtaking performance.

The new quattro with sport differential in the Audi S4 lifts driving dynamics to a new level.

Testing 0-400 Tune 2 Race’s Audi S3 3.2lt Turbo 800PS 0-100km/h: 3,11sec 400m: 10,43sec@230km/h Boost: 1.55Bar

Wouldn’t it be nice to select cars from an automaker’s fleet the way you select lobsters from a tank? Some, like King Juan Carlos of Spain, can do exactly that, and this is his latest lobster: a blackout-remixed Audi RS6 sedan. About the only things not given the midnight treatment are the headlights, taillights, and signal indicators on the mirrors. Even the exhaust tips are black.

A book last year alleged that the king owned 71 cars and had a team of 65 attendants to care for them. If true, this one makes a worthy 72nd. Somehow we don’t think the royal standards and light bars mounted behind the grille are normal Audi options – but we might ask next time we stop by the showroom.

The Audi R8 Spyder couples exceptional dynamism with the intense joy of open-top driving.

For the third year in a row, Audi will be running an add during the Superbowl. First there was the Godfather parody where the “Old Luxury” dude was put on notice about the R8 (which is a sports car, but who cares). Then last year’s really excellent Jason Statham spot called, “Chase.” This year things are going to be a bit, well, more rocking.

Ditching the notion of parodying films, Audi is instead employing the talents of the ageless (though quite well aged) rockers in Cheap Trick to promote the A3 TDI. The ad will focus on the diesel A3 being named Green Car Journal’s Car of the Year. In it, Cheap Trick will be reinterpreting one of their classics and the spot should sport a, “fun, tongue-in-cheek environmental theme.” Any guesses as to which song? We’re thinking “He’s a Whore.”

Audi first unveiled the R8 V10 Spyder at the 2009 Frankfurt International Motor Show in September 2009. It runs the same 5.2-litre V10 engine found in the coupe. Maximum power is 386kw (518 PS) and peak torque is 530Nm (391 lb-ft)

We knew Audi had its eyes on the Mini with the imminent arrival of the A1 premium hatchback, but we didn’t know just how closely they’d be following (or besting) the formula until Audi released a few more details on its new compact hatch.

According to the project’s exterior designer Jurgen Loffler, the Audi A1 – earmarked for release next month ahead of its anticipated Geneva Motor Show debut – will be available in “a variety of colors, regardless of the body color of the car.” Now that’s taking the fight to the Mini, which can be ordered with a roof painted white, black, or the same color as the body, not to mention the host of roof graphics the Cooper available.

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