14 posts tagged “audi”

Here is my personal transportation this weekend, courtesy of Audi. ‘Fire up the Quattro!’
   Not bad, and miles better than the A4 1·8 front-wheel-drive model I sampled last year. The power is certainly there, as is the grip, which solves two issues I had with the other B8 Audi I drove. The chassis feels very well balanced and can handle the power—something I really liked about the A5 and S5 models, which are on the same platform.

Some days I love life. My personal transport from Thursday to Monday, the Audi RS6 Avant, the world’s fastest estate car (the twin-turbo V10 is limited to only 175 mph).

 

   Considering it does 16 mpg on a good day, anyone find the number plate somewhat ironic?

I am a bit behind getting my write-ups of this Audi A3 Cabriolet done, but boy it was a nice ride. The fabric roof is so solid you’d swear you were in a hardtop.
   But last weekend’s motor was a real treat:

   This is going to be a slightly harder sell to Lucire readers but I loved it—all 306 bhp of it.

Got this baby till Monday. First time I played with sat-nav in New Zealand and it is surprisingly accurate. Without the ass-warmers, I mean, seat warmers, and heavier steering you kind of feel you are taking a step down from the A5 with the S-Line pack, but the sat-nav partly makes up for it. Quite sprightly for a 1·8 and better than the previous BMW 320i, though to be fair I need to compare it with the latest model. Easily better than the Mercedes-Benz C200K in terms of the gearbox (eight speeds in this sucker) but that heavy steering is a surprise. Full review in Lucire later.

Not the best shots since they are off a cell but the better ones are on my 35 mm.

I really love this shape from the rear, too. It looks very low and purposeful but the car is narrower than you think when behind the wheel (I kept parking it far from the kerb), and it’s also reasonably high for front-seat passengers. Audi, Walter da’Silva and his team have done a good job.

I love it. Haven’t really opened it up yet—the fastest I have gone so far is 60 km/h. I need to find some tougher roads.
   This is after I cleaned the bird poop off.

I am looking forward to picking up one of these babies shortly … the Audi A5 V6.

Yesterday wasn’t all Audis. Some of my journalist colleagues came in other press cars.

   There were plenty of jokes being bandied about the BMW X6, the car that blends a coupé roofline with a four-wheel-drive concept. I even joked that someone had left the Rover SD1 files around when BMW owned Rover. But really, I quite like the shape and I even think a market exists for it. This is not because of any “category” but because there are people who want something looks butch—yet they do not want to have the “domestic” feeling of an upright tailgate, particularly from the inside. I reminded my colleagues of the AMC Eagle SX/4 of 1981, which found buyers—ultimately the market will decide, not us.
   The registration is BMW 630, which was something else altogether 30 years ago.    Everyone loved the Jaguar XF, apart from its thirst. Again, it’s a coupé roofline—just that it’s mated to a saloon. It’s on my must-drive list.
   All in all, I found the journos on this press launch far nicer as a group than what I confront in the fashion media. Maybe it’s a gender thing but everyone was so relaxed. We in the fashion media tend to be uptight most of the time and the only people who appear relaxed are the people who can fake looking relaxed. There were some genuine friendships and colleagial respect at Pukekohe.

Last night, Vox (or probably the Java-featured ads) was crashing badly and I couldn’t post the remaining images. Here they are, from yesterday’s time out at Pukekohe.

   Damien from Driver magazine and I went out to shoot this one, so I take credit for the location! But I think he will run his pics before me. This is the A3 Cabriolet, which looks far better in the metal than when Lucire did a preview article about it earlier this year.

   The A3 Sportback 1·4T was torquey and powerful—I loved it. I had the refinement of a much larger car and I never felt I was driving a smaller-engined model. It’s very much like driving a regular Golf 1·8.

   Finally, two more TTSs for y’all to enjoy.  

Today was a fun day: flying to Pukekohe for the launch of three Audis.
   The first was the Audi TTS—the TT with a turbocharged two-litre, replacing the V6 (which I drove last year) in the New Zealand market. I always said that the car could do with this powerplant, which is also in the S3—and the TTS has the lovely flappy-paddle gearchange. I only managed to see 210 km/h though due to my lack of experience on the Pukekohe track.
   Secondly, the Audi A3 Cabriolet, for the aspiring Laura Holts who can no longer buy a traditional, Karmann-style Volkswagen convertible. The hood is incredibly quiet—I noticed virtually no difference between this and a regular A3 in driving.
   Thirdly, the Audi A3 Sportback 1·4T, in response to the demand for lower-capacity vehicles—but it has more power than the outgoing 1·6 and compares nicely to the two-litre.
   They will be covered in more depth in Lucire, and I will have photos from the 35 mm, but for now, here are some low-res shots via cellphone.

Above: Audi A3 Cabriolets in harsh morning sunlight. Above: A meatier Audi TT: the TTS. Above: A very discreet S is added to the TT badge. Above: Audi TTS in white.

   I will end the post here as Vox is crashing (I have been trying to save for the last hour—I even changed to Firefox which took seven minutes just to paste this text in, without the pictures). More shots in the next one, if I get some time.