Audi Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News

The KTM X-Bow only weighs 1700 pounds and with 240 horsepower from a 2.0 liter turbocharged VW Group four-cylinder it definitely offers a nice power to weight. KTM decided to up the ante with the 2013 X-Bow GT revealed in Geneva with 285 horsepower from the 2.0 liter motor but will also give buyers the option of the TT-RS 2.5 TFSI powerplant with 360 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque. KTM is also testing a dual clutch transmission with this motor (the X-Bow is currently manual only). ...

Here is the new 2013 Audi R8 LMS Ultra which Audi unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show. The new R8 LMS Ultra features design elements from the new facelifted R8 road car namely the updated front and rear lights. Beyond just styling changes the new race car also gets new aerodynamics including changes to the front, rear, and also the underbody. There also is a very large new wing designed obviously to help with stability. ...

We are going to see all the 2013 DTM cars make their debut shortly and here is Audi's effort for the upcoming season. The 2013 Audi RS5 DTM will make its season debut at the Hockenheim track on May 5th. Audi will field 8 cars again. So what are the differences from the 2012 car? Well, the specifications for the cars were "frozen" so to speak at the conclusion of the 2012 season so the 2013 cars will not differ all that much. ...

So good the good news the USA is getting another A3 variant. The bad news is it is not the one enthusiasts want. Say hello to the 2013 Audi 8V generation A3 E-Tron. The car has a 1.4 liter TFSI turbo inline-4 which produces 150 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. When combined with the electric motor the result is 204 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. This is all sent through a dual clutch transmission to the front wheels. ...

Fifth gear recently tested the new Audi S8 and happened to put the sporty new Audi luxury cruiser against the R8 4.2 V8 in a drag race. Note, this R8 is the pre-facelift model that does not have the new dual clutch transmission although it seems that would not matter either way. So how does the S8 do? It quite simply trounces the R8 from a stop. Not all too surprising considering the big sedan has hit 11's in the 1/4 mile stock and 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. ...

E-Tron, G-Tron, Audi just keeps coming up with the funky names for its alternative fuel vehicles. This latest vehicle is the A3 G-Tron which uses something Audi calls e-gas. What is e-gas? Well, Audi uses an electrical current to split water into its components (hydrogen and oxygen). This is what is done to produce fuel for hydrogen fuel cell cars but Audi mixes in carbon dioxide to create a sort of synthetic methane. This results in synthetic compressed natural gas. ...

After seeing the excellent 2013 Audi R8 V10 plus dyno pull video here is another vehicle of this model this time in real world action. MotorSport Magazine France was able to do a launch control test all the way up to 300 km/h (186 miles per hour). The car flat out flies to 160 km/h or 100 miles per hour and then charges quickly and steadily to 300 km/h. It does slow a bit past the 260 km/h range but that is to be expected. ...

This is a hell of a trailer for a car. Simply take off the bumper, pop the mid-engine hood, and show it doing an acceleration sprint on the dyno. Obviously, the high revving 5.2 liter direct injected V10 sounds glorious with all 542 horses galloping. The new dual clutch S-Tronic transmission for the facelift completes shifts in blazingly quick fashion. With the bumper removed one is able to also see the cats off the manifold heat up and the car shoot flames. ...

Here is the blower that will be used for the 3.0 TFSI Stage III supercharger upgrade from APR, the Eaton TVS 1740. This is a new blower designed to slot in between TVS1320 and TVS1900. The B8 RS4, RS5, and R8 with the 4.2 FSI will also have this supercharger available as an option from APR. APR has been working with this blower for the past 12 months getting it right and chose it due to having to deal with packaging constraints. ...

Well here it finally officially is, the APR 4.0 TFSI Audi twin turbo V8 tune. APR teased this upgrade with some great content including before and after drag strip results as well as a speedometer before and after tune overlay. Suffice it to say the tune makes a noticeable difference and on pump gas gets the car practically into the mid 11's in the 1/4 mile tune only. Now we have the full overlay of maps, dyno graphs, and pricing. ...

Here is the official Audi trailer video for the new RS Q3 which was just revealed. A nice little teaser video which shows off the styling as well as the engine sound of the car. Audi has the the vehicle playing in the snow while chasing and passing a dog sled essentially showing off the Quattro traction and grip in adverse conditions. Your US fans are sufficiently teased Audi. Please, please bring this vehicle to the USA. Pretty please? ...

Audi was quick to jump on the announcement after the press photos of the RS Q3 leaked out yesterday. Initially thoughts were that the car would mirror the concept but there are some significant changes. No 360 horsepower from the 2.5 liter inline-5 engine. Instead, power is set at 310 horses apparently in order to avoid stepping on the toes of the SQ5. That's fine, nothing an aftermarket tune won't be able to fix meaning a lot be gained software only on this car. ...

Well here is the the 2014 RS Q3 which leaked out a little bit early. Audi stated four RS models would be revealed this year and that makes this the RS Q3 the final model. The previous three being the RS5 convertible, the RS6, and the new RS7. As AudiBoost correctly guessed once the SQ5 made its debut and was announced as slated for the USA the RS Q3 made the most sense as the final RS model simply having been presented in concept form already. ...

A lot of 4.0 TFSI hype from APR and if it continues to be data and videos of this quality AudiBoost has no problems putting it all up. Simply an incredible result here for a tune only Audi S7 with the APR Stage I software. How about an improvement in the 1/4 mile from the stock 12.216@112.42 to 11.634@117.83? That is just over 5 miles per hour in trap speed and almost 6/10's in elapsed time all on pump 93 octane tune only. Wow. ...

APR sure is hyping their ECU upgrade for the 4.0 TFSI turbo V8 motors in the Audi S6 and A7. Just over a week ago a teaser video was posted showing an overlay of the acceleration between the stock car and the APR tuned car. Yes, quite a large difference between the stock and tuned car. Well, here is another teaser although this time with a dyno graph showing what an APR tuned 4.0 TFSI looks like on 100 octane at all four wheels before/after. ...

Well here is the new 2013 Audi S3 Sportback. Nothing shocking here and the car mimics its two door Audi S3 sibling in every way except in the number of doors. So yes it includes the same potent 300 horsepower 2.0 TFSI direct injected turbo four-cylinder powerplant. What is interesting to note is how much weight Audi was able to shave with the total curb weight coming in at just 3,186 pounds which just like the coupe undercuts the previous model by 154 pounds. ...

APR has released software for 3.0 TDI diesel equipped Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg vehicles. The upgrade appears to be rather mild with peak figures at the wheels increasing form 218 all wheel horsepower to 225 all wheel horsepower and all wheel torque up from 387 at all four wheels to 419 wheel torque at all four wheels. Peak gains however increase by up to 34 horsepower and 40 pound-feet of torque through the curve. ...

Here is a new exhaust option for Audi S6 4.0 TFSI V8 courtesy of Milltek. The exhaust system is turbo back consisting of a front pipes, a center section, rear mufflers, and of course exhaust tips. The system is available either in a resonated or non-resonated version the non-resonated being the louder of the two so if one prefers a quieter the resonated version would be the choice. The 100mm exhaust tips add a nice bit of aggression to the rear of the car. ...

Just a couple days ago an article was posted regarding the 4.0 TFSI Stage I tune from APR on an Audi S7. APR decided to release a new video which is very cool and well done showing how the stock speedo compares with the speed of the car running the tune for a nice result. The difference is pretty eye opening with a claimed 60-130 improvement of 2.2 seconds which certainly appears from the video to be accurate. ...