Spy Shots: Audi to Complete Revamped R8 Lineup with New Hardcore GT Plus Edition

When our spies caught up with a slightly modded version of the sold-out Audi R8 GT testing on the Nürburgring last year, we were wondering what Ingolstadt was up to, since it had already introduced the facelifted R8 family.

Now, with these latest spy shots, we can partially provide an answer to that question as a camouflage-free R8 GT prototype made its appearance on the German track again, only this time, it’s based on the updated R8 with the new LED front and rear lights, while also doing away with the vented hood.

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Spied: Audi Continues Family Facelift with 2014 A8 Luxury Sedan

Our spy photographers have captured another glimpse of the facelifted Audi A8, which will likely wear a 2014MY moniker when it goes on sale next year. As is the case with most Audi mid-life cycle updates, the A8 won't change that much, be that in terms of styling or under the sheet-metal.

In fact, the exterior revisions will be rather modest, limited to a tweaked front grille, more modern head- and tail-lamp fixtures, and possibly changes to the bumper and mirror designs, along with a fresh assortment of exterior colors and alloy wheel designs.

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Future Cars: 2014 Audi S3 Cabriolet Blows Its Top

When one's mind turns toward performance Audi's, initial thought usually conjures up images of the glorious Quattros from the 80's, R8s and countless hyper luxury cars carrying the famous 'RS' designation. I'll be the first to admit for having a soft spot for them - especially the now superseded ballistic twin-turbo V10 RS6 (and gosh how I'd trade in my family for one of those too). However, for those who want something rapid in a smaller, more open-plan configuration then Audi has the just prescription for you. Read more »

Spy Shots: Audi A8 to Receive an Ever So Light Facelift for 2014

Much like its adversary with the blue and white roundel logo from Munich, Audi also tends to keep styling updates to a minimum when time comes to facelift its models. In fact, sometimes it's even hard to tell the differences between one generation from the other – the 2013 A3 hatch is one such example…

In the case of the A8 flagship saloon, the mid-cycle update will bring some mild styling tweaks here and there, but you will have to be a dedicated fan of the brand to spot the differences.

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Spy Shots: Audi Continues Testing Canned R8 e-tron

Up until last year, Audi was talking about the market launch of its battery-powered R8 e-tron, and even set a new record for production electric cars at the Nürburgring lapping the winding 13-mile German racetrack in 8 minutes and 9 seconds with a pre-production model (if that makes sense…). Then, all of a sudden, Audi said the launch of the all-electric R8 e-tron has been "delayed indefinitely". Read more »

Fresh Spy Shots of New Audi A3 Convertible, This One Will be Sold in the U.S.

As German premium brands look outside of Europe and its financial problems for growth, companies like Audi are expanding their range to cover more and more segments.

Following the all-new A3 sedan that will be revealed this Wednesday, March 27, the next addition to Audi's lineup of compact models will be a convertible version of the A3 series, which for the first time, will be offered in North America.

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Spy Shots: Meet the All-new Audi S3 Convertible with a Sleeker Booty, Four Seats and 296HP

The launch of the new generation of the Audi A3 in three door, five-door "Sportback" and S3 trims over the past year is only the beginning for the brand with the four-ring badge from Ingolstadt, which has more in store for the premium compact segment.

Last week, we shared scoop pictures of Audi's upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA-rivaling A3 four-door sedan, and now, our spy photographers have nabbed the first images of the open top version of the series testing in Europe.

And mind you, this isn't just any A3 Convertible but the range-topping (unless Audi surprises us with an RS edition) S3, as evidenced by the quad exhaust tips and the design of the air-vents on the corners of the front bumper, which are identical to the S3 hatchback.

Unlike the current A3 Convertible that’s shares its platform with the previous hatchback, the new model is based on the upcoming A3 sedan's longer wheelbase MQB architecture, something that will not only help improve rear passenger and luggage space, but also affords the car a sleeker look with more balanced proportions.

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First Scoop Shots of the New Audi A3 Sedan, will Compete Against the Mercedes-Benz CLA

After setting foot on the compact hatchback segment, Germany's premium car brands are now eyeing the sedan category, with Mercedes-Benz being the first to present its proposal in the form of the CLA sports saloon.

Even though Audi told us it would launch an A3-based sedan at the end of 2012, that never happened. Instead, we're now waiting for the premiere of the A3 Sedan to take place at a major international auto show in the coming months before it begins to arrive in showrooms at the end of the year or for some markets, in the first quarter of 2014.

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Spied: Audi Also Working on Sportback Version of New S1 Quattro

Back in the summer, our spies snooped out a three-door Audi A1 prototype in Europe, which we believed to be the future S1 Quattro. As it turns out, the Ingolstadt carmaker is also testing a five-door version of its pocket rocket, the S1 Quattro Sportback. Read more »

Scoop: What's Audi Doing with This Modified R8 GT on the Nürburgring?

Earlier today, our man with the long lens photographed what he described as a "strange looking" Audi R8 GT performing some test runs on the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack.

The reason why the test car captured our spy photographer's attention is that, while based on the hardcore 2012 R8 GT of which only 333 units are to be made, it featured some visible upgrades, but not of the sort seen on the recently facelifted R8 series.

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Upcoming 2013 Audi A3 Sportback Illustrated Ahead of its Paris Motor Show Debut

On Wednesday, we told you about Audi's plans to blow the covers off the second member of its new A3 family of compact models, the five-door Sportback at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, and now, we gave give you an idea of what it will look like thanks to this rendering made by Khalil Bouguerra.

The artist shortened the front doors to create space for a second set of doors behind while also making the necessary changes to the roofline and the side windows, the styling of which is similar to the outgoing Sportback.

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Scoop: Next Audi RS6 Avant Rendered

Among the few station wagon models that have captured the imagination of gearheads is the Audi RS6 Avant series, especially in its most recent iteration built from 2006 to 2010 that used a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V10 engine related to the naturally-aspirated V10 found in the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo supercars.

Now, Audi is preparing a new generation of its RS6 Avant based on the station wagon body style of the latest A6 codenamed C7.

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Spy Shots: 2013 Audi RS5 Cabriolet Put Through its Paces on the 'Ring

Audi engineers continue to rack up miles on the RS5 Cabriolet, a prototype model of which was captured on camera while testing on the Nürburgring circuit by one of our spy photographers.

The styling of the cloth-top flavored RS5 follows closely after the facelifted coupe model with a bespoke aero package comprising modified front grille and bumper designs, side skirts, swollen arches encircling 19-inch wheels and a new rear bumper incorporating a diffuser and the traditional RS oval-pipes.

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The Uninspiring Silence of an Audi R8 e-Tron vs The Screaming Sounds of a Pagani Zonda R at the 'Ring

Call us old fashion, but we believe that a sports car has to arouse all your senses with its acceleration, speed, handling, looks and of course, sounds.

The Audi R8 is by all means a sharp looking and handling automobile that will likely be fast even in e-tron guise, which is Audi talk for its pure-electric powertrain that uses two electric motors on each axle.

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Scoop: Is Audi Preparing New S1 Quattro Sport Hatch?

When Audi presented an 182hp (185PS) version of its A1 premium supermini equipped with a slightly more powerful version of the VW Polo GTI's 1.4-liter TFSI engine back in 2010, we were wondering why the German automaker didn't use the S1 moniker.

One reason could have been that the automaker had not yet readied a quattro system for the A1, which came the following year with the announcement on a new Quattro model powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four with 253hp (256PS).

Aside from the significant power and price gap between the A1 1.4 TFSI and the A1 Quattro, the latter will be produced in a limited number of 333 examples, which means the brand with the four rings will eventually be left without a high performance supermini in its range.

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SCOOP: 2013 Audi R8 Shows its Face, will Gain More Power and a 7-Speed Dual Clutch Transmission

Some six years after Audi wowed the world with its R8 supercar in 2006, Ingolstadt is getting ready to spruce up its flagship model with very mild styling updates on the outside but important changes under the skin.

Our spies sent us two sets of photos today, both of the R8 V10 model, with and without the swirly camouflage.

On the styling front, Audi's designers made a few tweaks here and there such as the new LED headlamp and tail light fixtures, the reshaped, six-point front grille with horizontal chrome slats and the circular instead of oval-shaped twin tail pipes on the V10 model.

Some may also notice that instead of two plastic slats on the front and rear side vents, the updated V10 model gets three plastic slats on both ends and corners.

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All-New Audi RS6 Avant Fully Revealed in Patent Images [Correction: It's the RS4...]

Update: As some of you rightfully pointed out, we fell victim to Audi's one-style fits all approach and took L'Automobile's report for granted. As it turns out, these patent images ARE NOT of the RS6 but of the new RS4 Avant that was revealed back in February 2012.

Over the past few months, we have been following around prototypes of the next generation Audi RS6 while testing across Europe, and today, we can show you what the most powerful version of the latest A6 series will look like thanks to these images from the patent office.

Developed from the ground-up by Quattro GmbH, Audi's high-performance sub-division, the new RS6 Avant employs all the usual design cues you expect to find on an RS model.

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Spied: All-Electric Audi R8 e-Tron Hits the Nürburgring, will be Presented in Paris

Audi is putting the finishing touches to the most revolutionary edition of its R8 sports car ever, the pure electric e-Tron. From what we hear, the production R8 e-Tron will make its first public outing at the Paris Motor Show this September.

Our spies caught up with an undisguised prototype in production trim silently testing on the Nürburgring. The only thing missing from the test car are the chrome bars on the side vents under the barely noticeable modified LED headlamps, while the production car will also get a different set of wheels.

The prototype is fitted with a six-point grille that will also make its appearance on the soon-to-be-revealed facelifted 2013 R8. The e-Tron version can be identified by the special black cover that replaces the regular model's window, the deep scoop on the hood and the absence of exhaust pipes on the modified rear apron.

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Spy Shots: Next Audi S3 Prototype Tries Out its New 2.0 TFSI on the 'Ring

We have just snapped the first spy photos of a next generation Audi S3 while testing on the Nürburgring racetrack.

The prototype would have gone by unnoticed if weren't for the S3's trademark quad tail pipes at the back. The production model that will follow next year will also sport a different front bumper with larger air-inlets and a chrome-trimmed grille along with a rear diffuser and bespoke alloy rims shod in wider wheels.

The current Audi S3 is powered by a 2.0-liter TFSI delivering 262hp (265PS) and 350Nm. We hear that the next iteration of Ingolstadt's hot hatch features a new 2.0-liter force-fed four generating around 280-horses.

Naturally, the S3 is equipped with Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system while transmission options will include a six-speed manual and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

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Spied: 2014 Audi RS6 Avant Caught on Film, Can You Tell from the Sound if it has a V8 or a V10 Turbo?

We have just snapped a prototype of the new 2014 Audi RS6 Avant testing in and around the Nürburgring track in Germany.

While you have no doubt seen the spy pictures of the RS6 Avant, the new video footage gives us the chance to see and more importantly, hear Audi's super-duper station wagon on the move.

It is widely believed, but not officially confirmed, that the new generation of the RS6 in both Avant and later on in sedan trims is powered by a boosted version of Audi's new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine that takes the place of the previous model's 571bhp 5.0-liter bi-turbo V10.

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