That’s More Like It, Audi

I’ve reviewed the A3 TDI and while I think it’s a nice car, I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would spend the extra $10,000+ over the Volkswagen Golf TDI, since they are essentially the exact same car. I suggested that Audi needed to do something different to set it appart – or at least do more than adding leather and a premium badge. One of my suggestions was to make the diesel more available on other models and it seems Audi took that advice to heart (you’re welcome Audi, by the way).

Audi says the A4, A5, A6, A8 and Q5 will join the A3 and Q7 for diesel availability by 2015. That’s every model in Audi’s lineup. Well, almost every model. Audi was quick to burst our bubble of having a R8 V12 TDI any time soon. Anyway, Audi would be the first automaker in North America to offer a diesel variant in every model it sells. And if they’re smart they’ll also make TDI’s available with Quattro models (as I also suggested). Although apparently Quattro isn’t as good as we once thought.

Audi is hoping their diesel increase will gaim them 20% of the diesel market in the States. Currently they have about 5.5% of the market with the A3 TDI alone.

[Automotive News]

Volkswagen Springs A Leak: 2011 Jetta Revealed

The official reveal of the 2011 Jetta wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow, but Auto Express apparently got their hands on some photos and decided the appropriate thing to do would be to leak them.

We saw spy shots a while back which pretty much revealed the entire design, but it’s nice to have official photos to look at.

There are no details for North American variants, but in Europe they will reportedly get a four engine choices: three gas engines ranging from 104 horsepower to 200 horsepower and a diesel. Speaking of the TDI, us Canucks will supposedly be getting the TDI version before the Amurricans do. Sweet deal.

The styling overall looks great, typical VW with non-flashy yet eye catching styling. The rear end styling is very Audi A4 and that’s definetly no a bad thing. I have a feeling VW is going to be setting the benchmark yet again in this segment for performance and refinement.

Two more pics after the jump.

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Bad Volvo! 2011 S60 Gets Naughty

Even though some of their models can hold their own, Volvos aren’t exactly known for their performance abilities. With Volvo’s new ‘naughty’ campaign, they’re hoping to change that perception.

Volvo released two short 10 second spots claiming that “naughty volvos are coming” and this sparked speculation that the new S60 would have an R variant. We got pretty excited of this notion, but the new S60 didn’t even show up at the Geneva Auto Show as expected. Naughty!

Turns out the whole campaign was to just showcase the abilities of the T6. With 300 horsepower and 325 pound feet of torque, the new S60 is more powerful than the previous generation S60 R and has the same AWD system. There are three spots for the naughty campaign. Level 1 sees the S60 perform a slalom course with ease, though not really pushed. Level 2 has the S60 (now in red) drive the slalom a lot more aggressively around breakable objects. In Level 3, the S60 does the same thing as level 2, only it does it all in reverse.

There’s also going to be a level 4, but just how much naughtier the S60 gets is up to you. If you join Volvo’s facebook group you can have a say in what you want the S60 to do next. Our vote is to have the S60 do the course in reverse with the driver blindfolded. That would be impressive. Actually we’d be even more impressed if the S60 did the slalom faster than the 3 series or A4.

There’s also a naughty elk test as well!

See all the videos  after the jump

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