2001 Audi A6 Quattro Luxury Sedan 4-door 2.8l on 2040-cars

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IIHS bestows 2015 Audi A3 with Top Safety Pick+ [w/video]

There's some good news for Audi today, as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has named the all-new A3 one of its Top Safety Pick+, the institute's highest award for safety.
While there are no shortage of cars that can handle the standard IIHS trial, the tough small overlap test needed to earn TSP+ has flummoxed more than a few vehicles from prestigious, safety minded manufacturers. In the A3's case, though, it handled the small-overlap tests well.
According to the IIHS, there wasn't much intrusion into the cabin from the impact, which simulates a 40-mile-per-hour impact on 25 percent of a car's front end. The crash test dummy was held in place, with just a low risk of injuries. You can view the crash test video below, as well as read a brief press release from the IIHS.

Audi TT Sportback Concept evolves the five-door breed

One week after a leaked sketch ran on these very pages, Audi has introduced the latest member of a "potential TT family," according to Audi board member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg. This is the TT Sportback Concept, a five-door, 400-horsepower version of the brand's stylish sports car and at this point, it looks darn likely to herald the debut of a third body style for Audi's design icon.
Unveiled at the expansive Volkswagen group night celebration ahead of the 2014 Paris Motor Show, the TT Sportback Concept is the most evolved version of a form factor that's seen a slow striptease throughout 2014, first with the Allroad Shooting Brake Concept in Detroit and, more recently, in the Offroad Concept from the Beijing Motor Show.
For Paris, the car being shown by Audi is absent traditional concept car traits like oversized wheels, miniscule mirrors and bizarre interior treatments, giving it a far more production ready appearance than either of the previous TT-based concepts. The exterior, meanwhile, is clearly reminiscent of the third-generation car (that roofline is pure TT), although there are a number of styling decisions that remind us of the compact A3, particularly in regards to the taillights.

Audi A3 E-Tron plug-in hybrid set to whiz into Geneva

The Audi A3 E-tron, which we drove in prototype form last year, is headed to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show next month. The plug-in hybrid will feature a total of 204 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque from the combination of a turbocharged 1.4-liter engine and a 75-kW electric motor. That motor itself is positioned between the internal combustion engine and the machine's six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The setup is good enough to scoot the A3 E-tron to 62 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds and crank out a top speed of 138 mph. Perhaps more impressively, the hatch can whir its way to 80 mph on all-electric power with an EV range of 31 miles.
Audi claims the A3 E-tron gives the world a "realistic glimpse into the future of mobility," so it's a bit unclear if the model will see production. We're encouraged by the specificity of Audi's press release (which is full of stats) and the fact that they don't label this vehicle a concept. You can check out the full press release below and judge for yourself.