New Audi R18 E-tron Quattro Long-Tail To Undergo Testing!

Audi will field a trio of R18 E-tron quattro racecars — one of them with a unique aerodynamic shape — in the 6 Hours of Spa, the second round of the World Endurance Championship, on May 4.

The third entry — the Audi R18 E-tron Quattro Le Mans prototype — will have an extended rear body section, an enhancement tailored to the high-speed Circuit de la Sarthe, site of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The long-tail will give drivers and engineers a chance to compare the two versions in competition before the Le Mans classic June 22-23.

Audi says the aero package has been "optimized for the high-speed Le Mans track."
The long-tail design has appeared on other endurance racers.

Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, who won the WEC opener at Silverstone April 14, will drive one of the conventional entries and Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, who won last year's WEC title, will drive the other.

The long-tail car will be piloted by Marc Gené, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis.
The performance of the conventional cars compared to the low-downforce model will be compared on their performance in different sectors of the 4.352-mile Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to add to the expansive data already in possession of the team for the Le Mans race.

Le Mans is the primary goal of all Le Mans Prototype teams, but it has been all but exclusive property of Audi, which has won the last three in a row and 11 out of the last 13.

"As always, Audi will be using the race at Spa as a 'dress rehearsal' for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June," said Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, head of Audi Motorsport.

Only two challengers have interrupted Audi's streak at Le Mans. Bentley won in 2003 and Peugeot got a victory in 2009. Toyota is the latest to take aim at knocking Audi off the top of the podium.

"We can expect our opponent Toyota to compete with the latest technological update," said Ralf Jüttner, technical director for Audi Sport Team Joest.

Edmunds says: Even with an incredible record like the one Audi has amassed at Le Mans, nothing can be taken for granted.

Courtesy of Edmunds.com

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Monday Maintenance Tip: How often does Audi brake fluid need to be changed?

We recommend flushing the brake fluid system about every 30,000 miles or three years. Changing Audi brake fluid is recommended and easiest when performing Audi brake rotor or pad service. Most Audi's came from the factory with a light amber colored brake fluid. If your original Audi brake fluid has turned a dark amber color it can be changed using the DOT 4 brake fluid above.
Note: If your Audi brake fluid was filled with a lower grade brake fluid, it needs to be changed sooner. This is because lower wet boiling point brake fluids accumulate more moisture (see the paragraph below for the dangers of moisture in the brake fluid).

For assistance, please call or visit: www.audivirginiabeach.com/index.htm

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Audi mulls a more practival RS5 – and a minvan?

Audi is quickly climbing the luxury ladder, becoming the second best-selling luxury automaker in the world. Despite its heavy-hitting lineup, it still has a few models missing, including a shooting brake (a type of two-door wagon) and a minivan.

What might it look like? Car mad digital artist Garrett Bradford rendered these two images based on current sedan designs.

Audi recently unveiled the new RS 5, which is based upon the same platform as the RS 4, which itself has a wagon variant. So it stands to reason that the automaker has the chassis architecture at hand to make an RS 5 shooting brake.

As we imagine it, Audi would do away with the virtually ancient normally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 in the current RS 5 and replace it with its latest TFSI 4.0-liter V8, which produces 520 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque.

Admittedly, wagons don’t sell very well here in the States so it might be a bit of a push. Recently, Audi unveiled its RS 6 Avant and excluded the U.S. from its sales markets. We hope they’d make an exception for an RS 5 shooting brake.

As for the question of whether Audi might ever build a minivan: “I think yes. I would exclude boxy body styling, a real people mover though. It would need to be stylish and present the values of the company,” said Audi technical chief Wolfgang Durheimer when speaking to Autocar last week.

Where an Audi minivan might actually sell quite well globally, a limited-run RS 5 shooting brake could garner the German brand with more notoriety, which bolsters sales of its lower-end vehicles.

Courtesy of DigitalTrends.com

Techno Tuesday: Audi takes new technology from 24 of Hours of Le Mans directly from the racetrack to your driveway.

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Porsche Boosts Deliveries in the First Quarter by 21 Percent!

The German sports cars from Zuffenhausen and Leipzig are very coveted in 2013 again: In the first three months, Porsche delivered 37,009 vehicles to customers the world over – an increase of 21.1 percent compared to the same period of the prior year. In March, the sports car manufacturer achieved over 14,000 deliveries for the first time in its company history.

“The success of the first quarter encourages us to implement our Strategy 2018 systematically,” said Bernhard Maier, Member of the Executive Board Sales and Marketing of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. “Our responses to the uncertainties on the market are products that induce great enthusiasm in customers, such as the new Panamera as well as a highly motivated workforce.” 

Porsche registered a heightened customer interest in the rear-engine and mid-engine models on the Chinese market: one third more Boxster, Cayman and 911 vehicles were delivered in the first quarter of 2013. All in all, Porsche sold 8,844 cars in China during this period – an increase by one fourth in comparison to the first quarter of 2012. At the end of the month, the new generation of the Panamera – with which Porsche launches the first plug-in hybrid worldwide in the luxury class – will have its world premiere at the Auto China in Shanghai, which opens on April 21, 2013.

The demand for the 911 continues unabated: from January through March, Porsche delivered 7,230 models of the sports car icon – an increase of 18.6 percent compared to the first three months of the previous year. The Cayenne also continued to expand its market position: Around 20,000 vehicles of the sporty SUV have been handed over to customers so far this year.

Courtesy of Porsche Newsroom

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