Labels: Audi

Labels: Audi

Labels: Audi

inning european car’s 2008 Editors’ Choice award by a significant margin, the R8 distinguished itself among the european car staff as a completely viable supercar – a vehicle capable of getting groceries or going flat-out at LeMans.

“It’s rare to find a car like the R8, because it manages to bring supercar performance and styling to the point where it can be used every day,” said Les Bidrawn, european car’s editor. “We tend to ask a lot from our cars—we’re hard on them. The fact that the R8 stood up to our exhaustive tests speaks volumes about its fantastic technology and user-friendly ergonomics. I guess you could consider the R8 the world’s most reliable supercar… we like that.”

In addition to performance, the Editors’ Choice takes into account ergonomics, styling, user-friendliness and price. Also considered is the difficult-to-explain excitement that comes from a great car—basically, a ‘how does this car make you feel?’ gauge.

Obviously, the editors at european car feel the Audi R8 excelled across the board. “To be honest, this is the type of excellence we’ve come to expect from Audi,” added Bidrawn. “The company set the bar very high and managed to exceed it.”

Labels: Audi

Although both factory teams are racing similar turbodiesel-powered prototypes, to date they have only clashed once. That was at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, where the Germans came out on top.

Audi has been contesting the American Le Mans Series while, on its return to top-level sportscar racing, Peugeot has taken victory in all six rounds of the predominantly European-based Le Mans Series.

Neither outfit has confirmed its future intentions, but both are likely to lock horns in Florida, US, at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the spring, as well as at Le Mans next summer. And now, with 12 months of experience under its belt, Peugeot is sure to provide an even stiffer challenge to all-conquering Audi.

Labels: Audi

Four Audi models have taken first place in their classes in the "Auto Trophy 2007" awards. This was the verdict of the readers of the motoring magazine "Auto Zeitung". They voted to give the Audi A3, A4, A6 and R8 four of the year's most prized awards. Another Auto Trophy went to the current A5 advertisement as Print Advertisement of the Year. The models Audi Q7, TT Roadster, A8 and S5 were runners-up in their classes.

350 vehicles in total were competing for votes in 31 categories this year, in addition to the year's best print advertisements. A total of 103,721 readers of the Auto Zeitung, published in Cologne, and of www.autozeitung.de voted for their favourites.
The Audi A3 was the preferred choice of 23.5 percent of voters in the compact class. The rest of the field of competitors finished a considerable way behind.

The A6 picked up even more votes, taking first place in the executive class for the fourth successive time. The A6 received 29.4 percent of the vote, leaving the runner-up trailing by almost 10 percentage points.

As the champion of the super sports car class, the R8 won a respectable 30.5 percent of the readers' votes to claim its second victory – another clear first place, some 12 percentage points ahead of its closest competitor.

The victory of the new Audi A4 in the mid-size class is also particular pleasing for Audi. Even before customers take receipt of the first cars, 35.7 percent of readers voted for the Ingolstadt-built saloon – the best result of all the winning Audi vehicles and one of the best results of this year's Auto Trophy awards as a whole.

For the second year running, Audi advertising won the award for the best print advertisement of the year. The Auto Zeitung readers' most popular choice for the Auto Trophy was the image "The new A5 meets its equal".

The Audi brand has already won 39 of the coveted awards in the 20-year history of the Auto Trophy.

Labels: Audi

Labels: VW

The readers of AUTO ZEITUNG have made their choice. With more than 39 Auto Trophy awards collected over the past 20 years, Volkswagen is the “Most Successful Brand” and has therefore been awarded the anniversary Auto Trophy in this special category. Prof Martin Winterkorn personally attended the ceremony to accept the prize.

“I am extremely proud,” said Prof Martin Winterkorn, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, in his acceptance speech before 400 guests at the Meilenwerk Berlin forum for automobile culture. “We feel very honoured by this award, because it is the choice of the readers, the people, and our customers. I accept this prize as a good sign of things to come. The Volkswagen brand can look back on a successful past and we will do everything in our power to make sure we continue being successful in future.”

Labels: VW

Hella has developed vehicle-specific LED daytime running lights for retrofitting to the Volkswagen Golf V and Ford Focus II. The fit perfectly into the front of the vehicle and look as if there were fitted as standard. Modern lighting technology and elegant design with a clear-glass look are combined to give a safety benefit while going easy on the environment: After all, two LED daytime running lights need just ten watts of power; additional consumption is not measurable.

The round lights are supplied with special covers that are tailor-made for the respective model. They fit exactly into the front apron and enhance the appearance of the vehicle. Three high-performance LEDs per light ensure a high level of recognizability during the day and therefore considerably improved safety in road traffic. They switch on automatically when the engine is started. The rest of the vehicle lighting is then not in operation. This eases the load on the energy balance. In addition, LEDs last for the life of a vehicle; their service life is about 10,000 hours of operation.

The LED daytime running lights consist of a robust, compact diecast aluminium housing. A shock-resistant plastic cover lens protects the light sources and the high-sheen metallized reflector. The lights are designed as a multi-voltage version and are therefore universally suitable for 12-volt and 24-volt vehicle electric systems. A relay integrated into the light saves an additional relay during installation.

The new vehicle-specific LED daytime running lights are type-approved (in accordance with ECE Directive 87) and will be available from specialist automotive aftermarket retailers from January 2008. The scope of supply includes corrosion-proof metal holders, plastic Design covers and a pre-assembled harness with perfectly sealed plug-connections and protectively-covered cable looms.

Labels: VW

Labels: VW