We’ve seen the Audi e-tron electric supercar in red since the Frankfurt Motor Show, but Audi just repainted it orange and brought it to the 2009 LA Auto Show for North America.

As you know, the e-tron sports four motors – one on each wheel – and creates only 313 horsepower, but an incredible 3,319 lb-ft of torque. This allows the e-tron to travel from 0 to 62 mpg in 4.8 seconds – a decent number – and 37 to 75 mph in 4.1 seconds, much more impressive. The top speed is limited to 124 mph, probably to stop the batteries from discharging too quickly.

The e-tron resembles the R8 in appearance, but Audi assures us the resemblance is in spirit only. They built the e-tron from the ground up, but gave it a similar look to convey its high performance characteristics. I’m really interested to see what this thing will really be able to do once we start seeing them “in limited production” in 2012.

Check out the photo gallery below:

View Photo Album

Just-added photos of the orange colored e-tron courtesy of Autoblog and Wired.

Exo-Audi Concept

As a driving enthusiast, I love the driver-vehicle connection. To me, there is no better pleasure (ok, almost no better pleasure) than driving down a smooth, curvy road at 20 mph over the posted limit in a proper sports car. The feeling of being one with the car that only a good manual transmission can give you. The feeling that you aren’t driving the car, rather you and the car are working together as a team to propel you down the road.

The new Exo-Audi Concept is an extreme example of this driver-vehicle connection – maybe even a little creepy…

The Exo-Audi has no engine. Instead, it’s powered by the driver’s kinetic energy (movement.) “Taking advantage of the exoskeleton and nanotechnology evolution, we can create a potential energy source and produce a new generation of human powered vehicles: faster and stronger.”

I’m not exactly sure what that means, and I’m no scientist, but I do know that energy cannot be created or destroyed – only transferred and converted. This means that it would take an immense amount of effort for a vehicle powered solely by a human to travel at high speeds. Think of riding a bicycle – they’re small, light, and have few parts. They’re also powered solely by our own movement. I don’t know about you, but I get tired after riding a bike any sort of distance, and it’s most definitely not at highway speeds.

Obviously they had something more complex than that in mind, given the comment on evolving nanotechnology, but my point remains the same in that we as humans only have so much energy to use at any given point, and to create any more would require an external power source. I’d be interested in hearing more details on this concept.

source: Yanko Design

Audi Q5 custom concept

Audi made their first appearance at the Wörthersee Tour in Austria this year, with quite a display. They showcased 20 cars total in their 3,000 sq ft stand, from the TT RS, to the R8 V10, and A1 Sportback Concept.

The highlight of the Audi display however was a heavily modified version of the 2009 Q5, called (quite descriptively) the Audi Q5 custom concept. For this new concept, Audi engineers lowered the Q5’s suspension by 2.36 inches, widened the track by 3.54 inches, added big 21-inch custom wheels, and gave it a special Daytona Gray paint finish.

Audi Q5 custom concept Engine bay

They didn’t stop there, of course. They also tuned the output of the Q5’s 3.0-liter TFSI V6 engine from a decent 333hp to 408hp, which gives this Q5 an incredible 0-62 mph time of only 4.4 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited at 155 mph.

Some vehicles of note on display at the Audi booth were both the coupe and roadster versions of the TT RS, the R8 5.2 V10, R8 GT3, and the A1 Sportback Concept. Also on display were the production A3 Cabriolet, A4 allroad quattro, A5 Cabriolet, S5, RS 6, TT Coupe, A4 Avant, and A3 Sportback. They also displayed some historic Audi models: Audi 50, 100 Coupé S, Ur-quattro, 100, TT Coupé (1st generation), and the A2.

Also announced at the Wörthersee Tour is the Audi Customizing club, which allows chosen participants from the event to submit creative design ideas for Audi A3 accessories (spoilers, headlights, steering wheels, wheels, etc.) The participants will log in at www.audi-customizing-club.de with their invitation code and submit their designs this summer. Three winners will be chosen, and their designs will be featured on an upcoming Audi showcar and shown to the public at an event in the future.

See below for a photo gallery of the Q5 custom concept:

Audi Q5 custom concept

Despite everyone lusting over the R8 V12 TDI Concept from last year, Audi has decided to halt plans on development, citing that “the market isn’t strong enough to make it realistic.” According to AutoExpress, the final blow was a lack of demand in the United States for diesels – the US accounts for one-third of global R8 sales. What a shame, we should absolutely be adopting the idea of diesel engines right now.

Audi claims the cost of re-engineering the petrol R8 to accommodate the massive twin-turbocharged diesel engine is simply too great – and that it would be unable to recoup its investment through sales alone.

But man, what an engine it is. The 5.5-liter TDI engine produced 500 horsepower and over 738 lb-ft of torque for a 0-60 mph blast of 4.2 seconds.

Source: AutoExpress

Audi A0 Mini-Car Concept

Theophilus Chin is at it again, this time creating a mini-car Audi concept called the A0 (pronounced A-Oh, not A-Zero.) The A0 is based off of the 2007 Audi Metroproject Quattro Concept, and would compete with the likes of the Smart ForTwo and Toyota iQ.

I, for one would hate to see Audi to do something like this. In fact I think the A3 is too small. Audi doesn’t need to go to a compact, and they damn better not ever try to make an economy car. Cute concept though!

source: TheophilusChin.com