Tag Archives: Audi

CARS 101, Opinions

Don’t Let The Dieselgate Recall Ruin Your VW TDI Experience

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Volkswagen TDI Dieselgate

Volkswagen TDIs are incredible vehicles, despite much of the public sentiment right now, propagated by the whole Dieselgate debacle. 

Disagree? Then try achieving over 50 MPG while cruising at 90mph in any other car… a Pruis will barely even go that fast, let alone be efficient there.

Many Volkswagen TDI owners are very worried about the Dieselgate recall ruining their car’s performance, fuel mileage, and resale value — more so than the possibility of their car killing a few extra birds.

This article is for the informed diesel buyers, and probably not the those who bought their cars based on some vast “green” marketing fantasy. Everyone who knows diesel, knows it’s not the cleanest option, but they also know that its durabiltiy and efficiency makes up for that.

So if you’re starting to feel angry about the bird comment, then I suggest you stop reading here because the rest of this article will only piss you off even more.

For the rest of you, I want to discuss the best course of action for TDI owners who want to keep their diesels running solid after the recall is implemented. And yes, that means running a bit dirty to retain the outstanding performance and fuel economy, which are likely the main reasons you purchased a TDI. I will also discuss my take on what will most likely happen with the value of TDIs in the coming years (utilizing my degree in economics!).

Continue reading Don’t Let The Dieselgate Recall Ruin Your VW TDI Experience →

Car Shows

Audi LMP Cars At The Radnor Hunt Concours

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Audi R10 TDI LMP Race Car

Audi brought two of their diesel LMP racing cars to the Radnor Hunt Concours this year. With all the emphasis on making supercars into “racing cars for the road”, why haven’t we seen a diesel supercar yet? I mean over the last decade Audi has dominated the 24hrs of Le Mans with these TDI prototype cars.

We’d sure love a diesel Audi R8?

-Nick

Auto Idolatry

Motor Trend Tests The Le Mans-Winning Audi R18 E-Tron

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Race cars don’t come much more awesome than this. Motor Trend’s Randy Pobst gets behind the wheel of the 2014 Le Mans winner, the Audi R18 E-Tron.

Enjoy!

-Nick

CARS 101

Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R 2.0T Modification and Tuning Guide

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L-Mk6-Volkswagen-Golf-R-Engine

Volkswagen’s 2.0T has been the backbone of their lineup, at least here in the US, for nearly a decade now. It has nestled itself into a versitile position, powering the higher-end VW models as well as the lower level Audi models.

Volkswagens equipped with the 2.0T include: the GTI, Golf R, Jetta GLI, Passat, Beetle Turbo, CC, Eos, and Tiguan.

Audis equipped with the 2.0T include: the A3, S3, A4, A5, A6, Q3, Q5, and TT.

The 2.0T has wide-ranging capabilities, and, what luck, it just so happens to be quite tuneable. While there are a few varying versions of the 2.0T out there, depending on the model, the general modification path is pretty standard fare.

Continue reading Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R 2.0T Modification and Tuning Guide →

Cars We've Seen

One Nasty Audi R8 Spotted In Carmel, CA

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Black Audi R8 Carmel

We spotted this sinister Audi R8 with some seriously bitchin’ wheels in the Fuel Run lineup when they came through Carmel. Such a great look!

-Nick

Automotive Lifestyle, Car Games

Our Picks, the $40,000 question

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In today’s market, $40,000 marks a sort of barrier between “normal” cars and “luxury” cars. You can basically find any sort of car for under $40 grand, so it can be argued that nobody needs to spend more than that unless they’re interested in fluff. It is a realistic budget for many middle class Americans, and that is why we have chosen to kick off our new “Our Picks” segment with it.

We will give our picks for two $40,000 budget scenarios, one as an only car, and the other as a second car. We will also give our second choices for each. Keep in mind, this is how we would spend our own money, with our rather discerning tastes in cars, and not necessarily our recommendations for more average buyers.

Continue reading Our Picks, the $40,000 question →

Auto Idolatry

Matt Farah drives the Audi RS5 Cabriolet

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Sweet sounding machine with no roof to quiet it down. Enjoy!

-Nick

Opinions

Paul Walker’s soul wants you to sign this petition so the US can have Nissan Skylines

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Paul Walker Nissan Skyline

Petrolicious has put forth a petition to get the American government to change the DOT/EPA’s import rule from 25 years to 15 years. What this means is that instead of just being able to import R32 generation Nissan Skylines right now, we would be able to import all of the R32 and R33 generation Skylines, and even some R34 generation Skylines… as seen in The Fast and Furious movies. The rule goes far beyond Nissan Skylines, though. Just think of all the awesome cars in Europe that haven’t made their way over here to the States…. Audi RS2, soon to be Audi RS5 (B5 gen), BMW M5 Wagons, all of those wonderful hot-hatches, and even a first-generation PAGANI ZONDA.

This is really a petition to change a stupid law that needlessly infringes upon the freedom of American consumers to purchase whatever vehicle they want. It serves absolutely no safety purpose, given that all cars from 15 years ago are way less safe than newer cars. Even if you personally would not import a car, you should sign the petition out of good will to your fellow car-lovers, and in return, you will have the pleasure of seeing more beautiful Alfa Romeos roaming the streets. This change will only serve to improve everyone’s lives!

You can sign the petition HERE. All it requires is your name, email, and zip code. It take 2 seconds.

Let’s all use the power of social media to make the United States a better place!

-Nick

Car Shows

Slammed Audi Allroad at Waterfest 20

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Slammed Audi Allroad at Waterfest 20

This demonic-looking Audi Allroad demanded my attention at Waterfest 20 last week. Just something about it’s aura, and the fact that it was stanced just right (none of that froggy-look in the back). The Allroad comes standard with those fender flares, just begging to be filled with some nice wheels, so it seems a prime candidate to be slammed. That said, I haven’t personally seen too many slammed Allroads around, as they are pretty pricy, so this was really cool.

Enjoy the photos!

Continue reading Slammed Audi Allroad at Waterfest 20 →

Car Shows

Waterfest 20 Highlights

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Waterfest 20 Beetle with Bentley Wheels

The thunder of revving engines mixes with pounding dubstep to create an unexpected aural harmony, while exhaust fumes mingle with the pungent aroma of burning cannabis inside your nostrils… this is Waterfest, and it is wonderful!

We’ve gone to Waterfest pretty regularly over the past few years because it is one of the Mecca events for european car enthusiasts. It’s all about Volkswagen Group and their products, but they own many different companies, so you never know what you will see there. Obviously, it is predominantly a slammed car show, and stanceheads from all over flock to Englishtown, NJ so they can judge the “lowness” of everyone’s cars.

While I do like to poke fun at the stance car culture, I must say that I love going to these events because they are always very interesting. Sure many people have the same types of cars, but very few are alike. The stance culture is creative for sure, and it’s always awesome to to see how people deck out their rides. It’s mostly younger people too, members of the individualistic “millennial” generation.

This young demographic is coveted by many automotive marketers, especially GM, but Volkswagen seems to have it down to a tee. VW supports the event, and utilizes it to further build brand loyalty. They are fortunate enough to be at the center of a major automotive trend, and they have whole-heartedly embraced it.

Customization, both in terms of looks and performance, is at the center of this car culture, and Waterfest is as much a marketing bonanza as it is a car show or drag racing competition. Overall, it is one of the most complete events out there, and that is what sets it apart. Heck, Volkswagen even had an autocross course set up this year, and they were letting everyone run the new 2015 GTI through its paces… it was a blast.

So with that, enjoy the photo gallery of all of these fun and interesting cars!

Continue reading Waterfest 20 Highlights →

Car Shows

Bucks County Exotics Meet 5/2/2014

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Rossion Q1 at Bucks County Exotics
This Rossion Q1 and Ferrari 458 Spider were just the tip of the iceberg of awesome cars at the meet.

We were in attendance for the Bucks County Exotics meet last Saturday morning. I had a bit of an unexpected late night the previous evening, so it took everything I could muster to climb out of bed and drive over to Doylestown, PA for the meet. It is a cars and coffee style event, and many great cars show up each time, everything from hot rods to classics to supercars. Bucks County is a great area to enjoy driving fun cars, with lots of winding back roads cutting through the woods, and lots of scenic destinations to visit. It also happens to be a pretty affluent area, so everything seems to add up nicely to make an event like the Bucks County Exotics car meet possible.

Enjoy the photos and captions!

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Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Autocar pits the C7 Corvette against its European rivals

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The Corvette has always been an American hero, able to rival Porsches and whatnot in lap times and speed. However, by almost all counts, the Corvette was never on the same level in terms of its driving experience, when compared to the Europeans. The Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray is probably the best Vette yet in terms of driving dynamics, so Autocar decided to see how it stacked up directly to its fiercest rivals from across the pond.

Keep in mind, British journalists, especially, tend to be heavy critics of Corvettes. Maybe they feel threatened by such a great American icon, I mean, the Vette is basically “the George Washington of cars”, and that might bring up some of their cultural bad memories from the late 1700s. Either way, all pokes aside, the Brits seem to like the C7 Stingray quite a lot, and it seems it is finally able to take on the Europeans on their own turf.

Enjoy, and let us know what you think in the comments.

-Nick