2011 AUDI A1 BLADE AND GOLDIE BY AZNOM

 
The Audi A1 Blade and Goldie have been developed and designed by Aznom, a specialist company in leather goods, design and car’s aesthetic tuning, the first special version is dedicated to men, the second to women. The goal of this work is to enhance the Audi A1 with a strong personality, elegance and not ostentatious. Both versions Blade and Goldie therefore enhance the spirit of the car, steering it to even more customers to offer a unique customization.
BLADE: version designed for men is called Blade, based on the A1 1.6 TDI. The painting is two-tone (on a red base), pillars, roof spoiler, bumper details and rear bumper in dark gray. Just to highlight the masculine design, the Audi A1 Blade comes with kit Competition – also in dark gray – while mirror covers are made of carbon fiber. The sporty personality is shown alos for the interior, starting with black leather seats with Alcantara inserts Starlight black and red leather, while vents are made of carbon fiber. Finally; for male audience Aznom thought a bag also made with the same interior’s materials.
GOLDIE: Audi A1 Goldie is somewhat complementary to the Blade and aimed to women. In fact the engine is a 1.4 TFSI to delivery a more linear and progressive behaviour compared to diesel. Externally it has a two-tone paint white and gold matte with purple metallic reflections, enven in this case roof and rear-view mirror housings. The interior is unique just in Aznom’s style, with leather upholstery alternating white and gold leather with a special purple and beige damask print. A coordinated bag and box set completes the customization.
Accessories and equipment designed for these versions, however, does not limit customers to indulge for further customization according to their tastes and needs.

2011 Audi TT

The 2011 TT is a 2-door, up to 4-passenger luxury sports coupe, or luxury convertible, available in two trims, the 2.0T Prem Plus Coupe quattro S tronic and the 2.0T Prem Plus Roadster quattro S tronic.

Upon introduction, both trims are equipped with a standard 2.0-liter, I4, 211-horsepower, turbo engine that achieves 22-mpg in the city and 31-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard. 
Lyra, who always wanted to drive Audi's TT, brought high expectations to the little convertible. Peter, never particularly impressed with the roadster's styling, had few expectations. The end result: Lyra was disappointed, while Peter loved the car. Go figure.
Appearance: The squat roadster sits on 18-inch tires and has a wide stance that recalls Audi's R8 supercar, which we loved. The TT's design, however, is simple, with fender flares and a backward-sweeping body crease as its only sheet-metal flourishes. The black grille, which got tweaked for 2011, is trimmed in chrome, and Audi's signature LED "eyeliner" lights are sharp.
Performance: Here's what we agreed on: The 6-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic shifted flawlessly. We always prefer a manual transmission, but this automatic was almost as fun. For a small roadster, the TT absorbs bumps well and has a firm, composed ride. There's also an auto-deployed spoiler and, of course, Audi's quattro all-wheel-drive system. The 2-liter, 211-horsepower 4-cylinder is more than enough power (0-60 in 5.6 seconds) for the small car, which has an exhaust note that is subtle and throaty. Here's what we didn't agree on: Lyra was let down by the "significant" turbo lag; Peter felt it was only "slight." The steering was a "bit too light" for Lyra's taste, while Peter thought it gave just the right amount of feedback.
Interior: We may have disagreed on the car's performance, but we are unified on the well-appointed interior. The Nappa leather seats are well-bolstered and comfortable. Our tester had bright red seats that contrasted beautifully with the rich black exterior. The instrument gauges are simple and uncluttered yet easy to read. The flat-bottom steering wheel might take some getting used to for some. Peter drove the TT to Miami and he had enough head- and legroom. Impressive. And he arrived in South Florida not feeling like a pretzel. Another surprise: The TT's trunk, even with the folding soft top, actually had enough room for the bags he and his wife took on their weekend getaway. That's impressive for a small convertible. A few nits: The storage panel behind seats felt a bit plasticky considering the rest of the interior; the driver's floor mat was flimsy and popped easily off its anchor. We both spent time popping it back on.
Protection: Front, head/thorax and knee airbags plus side intrusion protection and roll bars.
Profile: The roadster looks slick with top up or down.
Seats: Bright red seats and interior trim scream "sports car."

First Drive: 2012 Audi R8 GT

Wörthersee, Austria • As a halo car, the R8 has done a lot for the Audi brand. With striking styling, all-wheel drive and a choice of V8 or V10 engines, the R8 can legitimately be considered a supercar, especially in the case of the 525-horsepower V10-powered 5.2 model, which sat at the very top of Audi’s pyramid — until now. You see, there’s a new kid in town and it’s called the Audi R8 GT. Designed for very demanding customers who occasionally attend track days or club level competitive driving events, the R8 GT has been crafted by the engineers at Quattro GmbH, Audi’s performance division, and their blueprints called for less weight and more power.
The GT version of the R8 gets a thinner windshield, the rear window and engine compartment bulkhead are made from polycarbonate, the engine cover is made of carbon fibre, as opposed to aluminium, and the matte carbon fibre composite fixed wing is mounted to the body with two bars, saving 1.2 kilograms of weight compared with the pop-up spoiler of other R8s. But that’s not all. The exhaust system is both thinner and lighter, the engine subframe is made of magnesium and they even went as far as shaving the carpets … The end result is that the R8 GT weighs 1,525 kg and is thus 100 kg lighter than the R8 5.2 model.
By revising the engine management software, the output of the 5.2-litre V10 has been increased to 560 horsepower, the exact same figure as the Lamborghini Gallardo. However, Lamborghini can still claim to have a more powerful car with its Gallardo Superleggera model, which has 10 more hp and is also lighter. These details become important as Audi and Lamborghini are both part of the Volkswagen Group and these subtle differences become key for the marketing and public relations divisions of their respective brands, but it probably won’t mean much to anybody else. The R8 GT also gets revised suspensions with conventional coil-over springs and different geometry in order to provide more negative camber front and rear.
Fire up the V10 and it comes to life with a deep and low growl that seems louder in the GT than in the R8 5.2. Get moving on the autobahn and the engine sound turns to a loud shriek above 5,000 rpm all the way to its 8,700-rpm redline as the car is hurled forward with a strong and very addictive surge of power. In terms of shear performance, this car is absolutely stellar, with the possible exception of its single-clutch R Tronic gearbox, which does shift gears faster than any driver could with a manual gearbox but is not as outstanding as Audi’s faster and seamless double-clutch S Tronic gearbox. On that front, Audi engineers are working on adapting the double-clutch gearbox for future R8s, but this may not happen for one or two years.
On the secondary roads of Germany and Austria between Munich and Wörthersee, the R8 GT felt more direct and precise in fast corners and showed less understeer than the R8 5.2, owing in part to its lower weight and to the modified calibration of its quattro all-wheel-drive system, which sends only 15% of the available power to the front wheels in normal driving conditions, with 85% being delivered to the rear wheels, giving this car a more rear-drive character. The internally vented and drilled brake discs of carbon fibre ceramic are both extremely powerful and easy to modulate, which is not the case with all ceramic brake disc systems.
Inside the cabin, the R8 GT is appointed with white gauges featuring red GT logos, aluminium and carbon fibre trim parts and a fabulous Alcantara steering wheel with shifter paddles. Despite its more radical character, the R8 GT still features air conditioning, navigation and a killer sound system. In Europe, it is also possible to order the R8 GT with a race option package including a roll cage, racing seats, four-point racing seat belts, a fire extinguisher mounted in the passenger footwell and two battery kill switches, but this option will not be available in Canada.
Exclusivity is assured as Audi will only build 333 R8 GTs for the world market, with 25 of those cars sold to Canadian customers for a price of $228,000, some $55,000 more than the V10-powered R8 5.2. Sorry to crush readers’ hopes, but, as can be expected, all cars are already spoken for. However, Audi has announced that production is now starting on a limited run of 333 R8 GT Spyders with a fold-down soft-top for those who want to combine supercar levels of performance with open-air motoring.

2010 Audi S4

We'll just come right out and say it: Audi lost the plot with the last generation S4. Unlike the twin-turbocharged V6-equipped B5, its B6 and B7 brethren did little to stoke the flames in our collective hearts. The "S" simply stood for, "I paid more for a bigger engine and some additional trim." Needless to say, that sort of behavior doesn't cut it when you're battling it out with one of the most competent sports sedan of the last decade: the BMW 335i.

So with the all-new A4 (B8) comes the 2010 Audi S4 – the most credible contender to BMW's hugely competent middle child. This time, Audi brings back the boost. And it's about damn time...
Sure, we miss the glorious 4.2-liter V-8 of the last S4—not to mention the delicious noises that went with it—but I have to say that this latest S-model is better in (nearly) every way. All of the tweaks to the A4 platform show through and have been capitalized upon to make the S4 feel more solid, connected, and nimble. I’m particularly impressed by steering that has a directness that’s missing in most other Audis. Compared to the S5 coupe—which will cling to the V-8 powertrain at least through the 2010 model year—the S4 is better balanced. Power is plentiful from the supercharged 3.0-liter, no complaints there, but the engine is lacking in the sound department.
This praise is all being heaped on a pretty base S4 sedan: six-speed manual, no torque-vectoring rear end, no silly radar-detector-confusing blind-spot monitor, no Audi Drive Select (which, by the way, I think is gimmicky, since the S4 is set up right from the start).
There’s also an S5 Cabriolet in the 10Best lot, but I haven’t jumped in it yet—I was waiting for the rainy weather to clear to drop the top. I’m told that car is outfitted with Audi’s dual-clutch transmission as well as the torque vectoring rear diff. Here’s hoping the ragtop sounds better.