With only 6 days until Christmas, those struggling to find a gift to satisfy those with specialized German luxury tastes are engaged in a desperate search. For others, the after holiday shopping sends some searching for that one indulgence to ring in the new year. Luxury carmaker Audi provides a collection of pleasure-filled options that requires neither a driver’s license nor insurance to enjoy.

Sold under the Audi Collection, the lovers of the Audi TT or R8 sports car be rewarded or award themselves with lifestyle items. The Following list of available Audi Collection items are a few suggestions that could be found at the company’s official outfitter website in the United States.

Audi Leather Business Card Case
Price: $35.00 US

Looking to make a powerful statement for the important power lunch? Mixing business and pleasure, the businessperson would find themselves returning to work with an extra spring in their step for the new year thanks to a powerful business card case. The Audi Leather Business Card Case is a stylized organizer wearing the four rings logo discretely on the corner. Also suitable for containing important plastic such as credit cards or a driver’s license, the Audi Leather Business Card Case would fit easily in a jacket pocket.

Audi Silk Tie
Price: $76.83 US

For the gentleman looking to proudly advertise their allegiance to Audi in a formal setting, the Audi Collection offers a proper piece of clothing for the occasion. The Audi Silk Tie is a hand-sewn, high quality cut from 100% Italian fabric. Available in two of Audi’s most popularly exhibited colours, the high-end silk tie can be ordered in red or gray.

Audi R8 GT Scarf
Price: $59.60 US

Perfect for the Audi drop-top fan (especially those cruising in an R8 Spyder), there may be encouragement from the sheer forces of open-air performance motoring to ride with the roof retracted on a cooler than average day or night. While the driver may be caught up in the emotion of driving to be focused on temperature, maybe a passenger gains a chill from the rushing breezes. Offered in brown, gray and silver, the Audi R8 GT Scarf is a high performance item against uncomfortable coldness. A blend of 45 percent cotton and 55 percent linen, the quality Audi R8 GT Scarf is also a stylish fashion item inside or outside of an Audi product.

Audi Comforter with Teddy Bear Head
Price: $24.74 US

A novelty item guaranteed capable of bringing delight to the faces of children or even some adults, the Audi Comforter is a cute and assuring product. A comforter designed to infuse Audi motorsport interests, the appliqué of a 1930s era Auto Union racer is attached to the corner. Serving as a centerpiece to the Audi Motorsport comforter is a plush teddy bear wearing what appears to be an old-style race car driver headgear. When cheering on the Audi R18 prototype through the upcoming sports car racing season, the Audi Comforter with Teddy Bear Head could be a viewing companion for a budding child fan.

Audi Chronograph Wristwatch
Price: $272.17 US

When a motorist is lost in the adventure of quattro all-wheel drive or wrapping their hands around the performance of Audi’s newest TFSI engine, time can be easily lost. Perhaps a companion timepiece to the sleekest Audi S7 Sportback or Audi TT RS could act as a friendly warning that family and friends are missing the German performance aficionado. A product of Germany (just like the Audi brand), the Audi ‘double-stop’ Chronograph is a water resistant wrist piece operating on Swiss Ronda 5030.D quartz movement. A silver, gray and black chronograph is an extension of Audi’s modern elegance. A cow skin leather strap features a gentle stitching similar to the pattern found on S-Line Audi cars. The large numbers on the hour face are reminiscent a tachometer read-out like that of a 2012 Audi S6 or A7 Sportback.

Information source: Audi AG

photo source: Audi AG, Chris Nagy

Debuting at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Audi’s entrance into the popular sub-category where sedans and coupes merge. A premium car grouping popularized with the entrance of the Maserati Quattroporte and the Mercedes-Benz CLS, vehicle designs began to conceive the sporty athleticism of a coupe with more than the conventional two passenger doors.

Audi is considered a late adopter to the bold fusion trend waiting this year to enter the unique vehicle segment. Creating the captivating, new A7 Sportback five-door coupe, the new Audi was presented to the United States with a 310 horsepower supercharged V-6 powerplant. Capable of delivering luxury comfort and excitement, Audi fans awaited the high-powered version of the A7 Sportback. Dropping a V-8 engine into their five-door coupe, the Audi S7 Sportback unleashes heightened performance in concert with the slippery shape.

Unlike the S6 and S8 cars debuting to the public alongside at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Audi S7 Sportback has no previously established benchmark. The premiere of a high-performance five-door coupe, the Audi S7 Sportback starts on the aggressively elegant exterior design of the A7 featuring Audi’s extensive use of aluminum body panels. Depending on only subtle, shiny enhancements to dress up the modern vehicle look, detailing is provided to the grille, front and rear bumper as well as to the side mirrors of the Audi S7 Sportback. Admirers of the Audi S7 Sportback will also take note of the vivid badging identifying the special vehicle with ‘V8 T’ and ‘S7’ markings. A diffuser is integrated with the S7 Sportback’s rear companioning with the fastback window. Presented in 9 exterior colours, Estoril Blue and Prism Silver is added to the S7 Sportback edition selection list. While the colours give the Audi S7 Sportback definition during daylight, night time has powerful xenon headlamps and LED signals.

The meat of the Audi S7 Sportback allure comes with the introduction of a 4-liter twin turbocharged engine. Much stronger than the A7’s 3-liter engine, Audi’s 4.0 TFSI powerplant belts out 420 horsepower and just under 406 foot-pounds of torque under the S7 Sportback’s hood. Contrary to the powerful nature of the 4.0 TFSI engine, cylinder on demand and direct injection insures highly evolved fuel consumption. Average fuel economy for the Audi S7 Sportback is above 24 miles per gallon.

Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive performance is the centerpiece to the S7 Sportback’s handling package. Audi has lent the adaptive air suspension for a driver tailored ride through standard 19-inch aluminum wheels. Optional sets of 19 and 20 inch wheels are available on the Audi S7 Sportback customizing the exterior look. Standard equipped four-wheel disc braking can also be upgraded to carbon-ceramic units.

With the 4.0 TFSI and the quattro all-wheel drive system working in concert, the Audi S7 Sportback is a certified performer. Accelerating from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds, the S7 Sportback registers a time about 0.3 seconds faster than the Audi A7 model. Top speed of the Audi S7 Sportback is 155 miles per hour limited electronically.

Providing motorists with an option for how they wish to experience the merger of performance and luxury, the Audi S7 Sportback’s cabin projects a wide-open space. Featuring special S brand trim, buyers can opt for two types of wood, aluminum or even carbon inlays to modify the interior appearance of this Audi Sportback model. Despite reasonable rear seat comfort and the firm comfort of sport seats for the forward passenger, the driver experiences the real pleasure of the Audi S7 Sportback. Taking full advantage of the S7 Sportback’s performance reach, the driver punches through Audi’s S Tronic gearbox. Audi’s MMI system is included with a full range of control functions. An additional feature the Audi S7 Sportback delivers is something few would except from a 155-mile per hour vehicle. With the rear seats folded down, there is 49.1 cubic feet of cargo storage room inside the sizable cabin.

Expected stateside by 2012, further details on the Audi S7 Sportback including pricing will be provided at a later date.

Information and photo source: Audi AG

The kick-off to the world indoor auto show season, 2011 is the lucky biennial year where automotive enthusiasts get to relish in the spectacle of the Frankfurt Motor Show. Guaranteed already to be a showcase of new ideas in the ever-evolving auto industry, production and concept vehicles are presented in abundance for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show even as more than two weeks separate the exhibit’s grand opening. A motor show of world intrigue, Ford Motor Company, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been wetting the appetites of potential show goers through previews of their Frankfurt Motor Show presentations. An exhibition based in their home country, Volkswagen’s luxury car brand Audi will also be making a strong showing on September 15th.

In preparation for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor show, Audi has a history of bringing profound guidance for where they want to take their brand’s image. In the last Frankfurt show in 2009, Audi presented their e-tron concept for the very first time to the public. Since the showing almost two years ago, Audi’s continuing development of e-tron is likely to directly lead to a production-based vehicle. Audi also publicly premiered the R8 Spyder at the 2009 show generating some more tradition open-motoring performance buzz. As their world sales increased by 15 percent in 2010 (just one year following the Audi’s last Frankfurt display), the German auto company’s success will garner more focus on their upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show plans. Supplying samples for performance and low-impact driving, Audi seems ready to entertain the German city’s crowd.

Presented in early to mid August, Audi’s prospect for exploiting a full city car design led to the urban concept brainchild. The urban concept car was unveiled ahead of the Frankfurt show in illustrated form ahead of the lightweight 1+1 passenger vehicle’s presentation in real life. Since the debut of the Audi urban concept sketches on August 10th, Audi immediately followed-up the early images with an open top version of the unique smaller car. The Spyder version of the urban concept shares the impressive sport style in a small, electric vehicle package.

Aside from the debut of a radical new way of motoring, Audi will use Frankfurt as the official public introduction of three new models of their S performance line. Added to the 2012 Audi portfolio, the S6 (including the S6 Avant) and the large S8 sedan will debut as new generation vehicles. For the first time since its introduction last year, the Audi A7 Sportback receives its initial taste of S line enthusiasm. Receiving its first eight-cylinder powerplant, the S7 Sportback, along with the S6 and S8, will receive a new generation engine engineered to provide top performance along with improved fuel economy.

Taking a similar approach as with Mercedes-Benz and BMW by consolidating engines used in their performance line-ups, a new 4.0 liter V-8 engine will beat under the hood of all three S models. Smaller than the S line’s previous benchmark, the more compact Audi engine is just as exciting as the next generation models. Providing up to 520 horsepower of sheer driving excitement, the S6, S7 Sportback and the S8 will be guided by Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system.

As a third separate feature ready to attract spectators at the Audi pavilion, the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show will debut a concept version of the A2. The Audi A2 concept displays a compact car form optimizing cargo space thanks to an electric powertrain. Just recently announced, the Audi A2 concept has become the latest edition to a flashy auto show presentation.

Starting September 15th, the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show will play host to more than 850,000 spectators and over 13,000 members of the esteemed media. With only two weeks remaining until Audi’s near and distant future vision of premium motoring is unveiled to the public, Audisite.com will provide fans of the German luxury brand with in-depth information on the vehicles being profiled.

Information and photo source: Audi AG

WorldCarFans photographers were lucky enough to spot a prototype Audi S7 out in the wild near the Nurburgring test track in Germany. What we can deduce from the photos is fairly typical of what we’d expect – a quad-pipe exhaust, sexy S-type wheels with big brakes, a retractable rear spoiler, and what will surely be a slightly modified, more aggressive appearance.

The expected powertrain, although we’ve been wrong about this before, is a 440+ hp, 4.2-liter V8. Make sure to check out WCF for more details and images.

2010 Audi A7 Spied

Today we find ourselves with a few more spy shots of the upcoming Audi A7, this time courtesy of Car Magazine. The heavily camo’d A7 test mule doesn’t give away anything more than we didn’t already know, but it’s good to see one on the streets.

The 2010 Audi A7 will compete with the Mercedes CLS, and is essentially a sexier hatchback version of the A6 sedan. Expect the North American version of the A7 to include a 204 hp, 2.8-liter V6 and a 300 hp, 3.0-liter supercharged V6, while upgrading to the 2011 S7 to be released a year later will get you into a 4.0-liter V8 engine producing 397 hp. The European version, as always, will have a wider choice of engines including diesel variants. The engines will be mated to either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7- or 8-speed automatic transmission.

Head over to Car Magazine for more images.

2011 Audi A7 Spied

Some lucky photographers got a sneak peek at the upcoming Audi A7 recently.

The A7 line, including the S7 and RS7 variants will come with a large variety of powerplants, starting with a 204 hp, 2.8-liter V6 and a 300 hp, 3.0-liter supercharged V6. Upgrading to the S7 (not to be confused with the Saleen S7 supercar) will bag you a 4.0-liter V8 engine pushing 397 hp. The RS7, the most powerful of the trims, will likely feature the same 5.0-liter 600 hp twin-turbo V10 engine rumored to be powering the R8 successor.

Expect a 6-speed manual gearbox standard and a 7- or 8-speed automatic available as well. All-wheel-drive quattro will be standard on all North American versions.

We should start seeing the A7 in 2010, with the S7 a year later and the RS7 two years after that.

Head over to MotorAuthority for more images.

Audi A7 Sportback Concept

The Mercedes-Benz CLS four-door coupe will soon have another competitor – the Audi A7. This new Audi model will be for sale in Europe beginning 2010 as a 2011 model, says German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, and will likely hit US shores in 2011.

US models will likely receive a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 putting out 300 hp, while the Europeans can expect a lesser 2.8-liter 204 hp engine as the low-end choice. A high-end S7 is expected, and is likely to receive a 394-horsepower V8 engine, while some rumors say an even more powerful RS7 would get a 600 hp twin-turbo V10. I’m not entirely convinced of that.

While the AWD quattro system is likely to be standard on the A7 (at least in the States,) power will be routed through a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic gearbox, with a 7-speed dual-clutch system possible as well. In an effort to stay on track with the Mercedes CLS, Audi will be giving the A7 an air-ride suspension setup instead of the typical spring system.

Audi expects annual sales of 40,000 units, but is the A7 a necessary vehicle? It will slot between the A6 and A8, but do we need another car between those models? I know Mercedes has a car for every possible segment and more, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Audi needs to follow suit. It looks good and reads good on paper, but we’ll see if it’s really necessary come closer to launch.