Up until this point, Audi’s A1 has been interesting, but not exciting.  The small avante-garde hatch, based on the VW Polo chassis, has enjoyed brisk sales in it’s home country thanks to clever packaging and an appealing price.  But with engines topping out at a 185bhp 1.4 TFSI (like the one in the Skoda Fabia VRs our man Adnan test drove) and front-drive only, it’s not really a hot hatch.  More like a warm hatch.

Well, Audi finally saw fit to fix that.  Meet the A1 Quattro, all 256bhp and 4 driven wheels of it.  This will be a limited-production model, but it lifts the A1′s performance from “meh” to “Oh hi there, you’re pretty.  I didn’t catch your name!  You have plans later?”

Under the hood, the 1.4L engine is binned in favor of VW’s ubiquitous 2.0L TFSI in Scirrocco/Golf R trim.  This turbo four is intercooled and features variable cam timing, to the effect of 256bhp at 6,000rpm, and 258lb-ft from 2,500-4,500rpm.  Thankfully they didn’t try to harness the additional 70-odd horsepower with front-wheel-drive, as the A1 Quattro has a Haldex system distributing power to all four wheels.  Even better?  You have your choice of a 6-speed manual transmission, or a different car.

The stubby little pseudo-rally car will hit 100km/h in 5.7 seconds on it’s way to 155mph, while averaging 8.5L/100km (or 27.7mpg in US terms.)  In addition to the bigger engine and Quattro setup (this being the only A1 with 4WD), the Quattro also gets a particularly bold exterior treatment.  It will only be available in Glacier White, with a contrasting Gloss Black roof.

The unique wheels are 18×8″ with 225/35/18 performance tires, the fronts covering larger 12.3″ ventilated discs.  Other special treatment outside includes red highlights in the headlights, Quattro badges, a two color wing, tinted windows and tail lights, and a diffuser-style rear bumper with twin polished exhaust tips poking through it.  Pretty evil looking, no?

The inside gets the menacing red treatment as well.  The tachometer is red, staring at the driver like the angry eye of Sauron behind the leather-wrapped flat bottom steering wheel.  There’s red stitching everywhere, and a pair of S-Sport seats with larger bolsters hold the driver in place.  An aluminum shift knob matches the aluminum trim elsewhere in the cabin.  As a top of the range, limited-edition model the A1 comes standard with all sorts of goodies to make it a nice place to be.  SatNav, adaptive Xenon headlights, LED interior lighting, auto headlights and wipers, auto climate, rear parking sensors, and a 14-speaker 456w Bose system that will probably sound pretty good in the A1′s tiny cabin.

Audi’s only building 333 (half evil?) A1 Quattros, which will be available early next year.  The only questions are: how much will it cost, why can’t we have one in the US, and why didn’t they call it the S1?  High-res gallery below.

A station wagon?  Bleh.  Are we catering to the soccer mom market now?  No, no we are not.  What we have here is a shining example of a balanced combination of form, function, and utility:  a lightly modified Audi (B6) S4 Avant Quattro.  This little red wagon is owned by none other than Matt Welliver, who’s 360+whp Cobalt SS Turbo I featured previously.

Matt has made a name for himself in the Ecotec tuning community, one of the go-to guys for custom tunes to make big, reliable power out of GM’s little overhead-cam four cylinder.  So what is he doing driving a big, naturally aspirated Audi station wagon?

In his own words: “I wanted something more grown up, yet still entertaining.”  I can’t blame him.  While the Cobalt SS was a nasty little turbocharged monster, when you’re pushing towards the big 3-0 and have an adorable little baby girl, I can see a boosted GM compact getting old pretty quickly.

Now, the Cobalt was abnormally fast.  It usually didn’t any have grip in second gear, even with sticky Nitto NT-05′s and an LSD.  It put more torque to the wheels than a lot of bolt-on 5.7L LS1 cars.  So from the perspective of a 360whp, 2,900lb car, most everything will feel slow.  But still, a B6 S4 is no slouch.  With a 4.2L 32v V8 literally crammed in the engine bay and a six-speed manual pushing 340 crank horsepower (267whp and 256wtq on an AWD dyno) to all four wheels, this little grocery getter will still scoot.

For now, the 4.2L V8 is stock performance-wise, with the exception of the stock exhaust resonators being deposited in a dumpster where they belong, as well as a polyeurothane “snub” mount (front motor mount) to limit deflection under load.  A LaBree exhast is currently on it’s way from somewhere in Europe which gives the V8 a ridiculously throaty sound.  Future modification plans include an Apikol rear differential mount, JHM short shift kit, JHM Piggies, a Unitronic tune, and maybe a 100 shot of nitrous.  There is relatively little aftermarket support for Audi’s 4.2L V8, so you make do with what you can get.

The biggest modification is to the stance of the car.  The S4 sits remarkably closer to earth thanks to a set of KW Variant 3 coilovers.  If you’re not familiar with aftermarket suspension technology, these are pretty much top of the heap for street coilovers -- they offer a wide range of height adjustment, infinitely adjustable rebound damping, 14-way compression damping, and remote reservoirs.  The wheels are worth mentioning, as well:  VMR V710 (e.t. 33) in a fairly massive 19x9.5″ all around, mounting 245/35/19″ tires.

Stanced cars are all the rage these days, but it’s nice to see a European car on a set of top-notch coilovers and wheels that isn’t slammed in the dirt to the point of uselessness.  This suspension setup is absolutely amazing, and worth every penny of the somewhat absurd asking price.  Ride quality is actually better than a stock S4, despite being 3+” lower to the ground.  Body roll is nonexistant, and even with big 19″ wheels, suspension control over bumps is immaculate.  A set of B7 RS4 sway bars are in the works for the future as well.

The current S4 is a big step up from these old V8-powered cars in a lot of ways.  They’re faster, despite having less horsepower and consuming a LOT less fuel.  The aftermarket support is (or will be, they’re still fairly new) greater -- a retune and an underdrive pulley for the 3.0L’s supercharger yields an amount of power that lots of expensive tinkering in a 4.2L never could.  Still, these cars have a unique appeal.

There is a lot of torque.  Not like Mercedes AMG 6.2L V8 torque; mind you this is just a 4.2L engine.  But in the small B6 chassis, it has low-end grunt to spare.  It’s the character and sound of the the powertrain that really sticks in your mind.  Audi’s V8 has been around a while -- since 1988 in 3.6L form in Europe, actually -- but it’s still smooth as silk, with an inimitable growl to it.  If you’re wondering what a LaBree exhaust on a B6 S4 sounds like, here’s a sample:

The interior on the S4 is typical Audi -- wonderful.  The leather heated Recaros are just about as good as factory seats gets, the stereo is great, and the level of fit and finish (even after 100k miles) is spot-on.  Inside the car, the cammy roar of the V8 is muted but still mean -- especially when the intake valves open up around 5,500rpms.  I expect it will sound mental with the new exhaust that’s on the way.  Then there’s the fact that it’s a wagon, which you don’t really notice until you look behind you, or you’re going to IKEA for some furniture, and you don’t have to borrow your friend’s truck.  There’s probably more cabin noise than in a sedan, but it’s so well-insulated as to be a non-issue.  Plus, plenty of room for nitrous!

Image from Audizine user YT1300

The S4′s stock brakes are mighty strong, but here they’re augmented with aggressive CarboTech brake pads -- XP 10 in front and XP8 in rear.  They squeal when cold or at low speed, but hitting the binders in the S4 feels like dropping anchor.  Overall, the car is a strong combination of head-turning looks, uniqueness, performance, and comfort/luxury.  It might not light up the tires in the lower gears like his last car, but when it comes to an all-around daily driver, it’s hard to beat.  Plus, it frees up some time for a project -- maybe something boosted and ridiculously fast, without the need for routine considerations.

I asked Matt a few questions about his car -- the answers are below.

CT: So this S4 replaced a particularly nasty Cobalt.  What do you like better about it?
Matt Welliver:  “It’s refined, gets me away from the whole “tuner car” scene, the ride is better -- it’s just a completely different world for me, and I love it.”

And what did you like better about the Cobalt?
“The power.  That’s really about the only thing that was better than the S4.  That, and it’s cheaper to fix.”

What don’t you like about the S4?
“The gas mileage, and maintenance costs.  That’s really about it, not much else to dislike.  Other than that it feels slow compared to the SS.”

What are some of your favorite things about the S4?
“The interior -- especially the Recaros, the KW V3′s, and the exhaust note is gorgeous.  It’s just a lot more refined, which is nice.”

What car would you like to have next?
“Oh lord, that’s a tough question.  Honestly, if I had the money, I’d get a B7 RS4.”

Any interest in a project car in the future?
“I’d like to have another 1G DSM.  My last one had a Buscher Racing 2.4L stroker motor, a 100 shot of nitrous, T66 turbo, 262 camshafts, tuned like a champ -- made 580awhp without spray, 740 with the nitrous -- ran 10.2. in the quarter and would light up all four drag slicks.  Having another one to play with would be fun.”

Future plans for the S4?
“A catback exhaust, intake, tune, longtube headers, downpipes, Porsche Cayenne 6-pot Brembo brakes, a 75 or 100 shot of nitrous, and other little stuff.  Some RS4 swaybars, a short shifter, you know.  It’s really great the way it is, just want a little more power and noise.”

Thanks Matt!  A video with the LaBree exhaust is definitely in the works.

Details:

Car: 2005 Audi S4 Avant Quattro
Engine: 4.2L DOHC 40v (5v/cyl) V8
Transmission/Drivetrain: 6 speed manual, Torsen Quattro permanent AWD
Power: 340bhp crank, 267hp at the wheels
Torque: 302lb-ft crank, 256lb-ft at the wheels

Internal Engine Modifications: none
External Engine Modifications: de-resonated stock exhaust

Suspension modifications: KW Variant 3 remote-reservoir coilovers
Wheels/Tires: VMR V710, 19x9.5 (ET 33), 245/35/ZR19
Brake Modifications: Carbotech brake pads (XP10 front, XP8 rear)

Bonus: apparently some of the pictures I shot of Matt’s car wound up on VMR Wheel’s website, which is pretty neat.  Check them out here -- the last three.

Audi’s A1 subcompact is a neat little car. It’s a nicely German take on the whole Mini Cooper/Fiat 500 segment – tiny but filled with aluminum and steel and Vorschprung durch Technik.  You can even get it with a powerful 180bhp 1.4TSI motor.  But up until now, the one thing it’s been lacking was, oddly enough, four wheel drive.

Considering Audi is a brand who’s reputation is based around four-wheel-drive, that’s sort of an unusual oversight on their part.  So it’s not surprising that they would work quickly to fix this lack of Quattro grip.  Audi announced today that they’re working on a 4WD version of the A1, and all of a sudden this overpriced subcompact starts to make some sense.

The Quattro system in the A1 will be similar to the system used in the A3 and TT – Audi’s other transverse-engined cars.  Produced by the Haldex brand, it uses an electronically controlled wet multi-plate clutch at the rear axle to apportion torque when the front wheels start to slip.  While this system isn’t as reactive as Audi’s Torsen 4WD with active rear diff (like in their longitudinal engined cars), it’s what works given the packaging constraints of the tiny A1 chassis.

Audi says the A1 Quattro is currently under development in the wintry wasteland of Montreal, undergoing cold-weather testing.  They haven’t released any details as to what engines will be available with the A1 Quattro, but my best guess would be that it’ll be an option on the top-of-the-line gas and diesel engines – that is, the 122bhp and 178bhp 1.4TSI, and the 1.6 TDI motors.

Audi hasn’t released pricing information yet either, only offering up two photos of an orange-hued prototype.  When the A1 Quattro goes in sale in the near future, it will mean that every single model in Audi’s lineup offers Quattro AWD as standard or an option.  Glad to see some brands still sticking to their traits!  Meanwhile, let’s cross our fingers and continue hoping that Audi sends some A1′s our way.

Speculation has been rampant for sometime about an Audi Ur-Quattro model based on the Audi A5. However, the Quattro Concept’s introduction came as a surprise – and a good one. Audi has been ramping up its presence in the performance arena, and the Quattro fits in that.

With all the performance models that have been approved at Audi recently, this report doesn’t come as a shock. When the car came out, we guessed it had a good chance of seeing a limited-production run. The Quattro Concept looks pretty production ready, based off a variation of the Audi RS5 platform.

It would offer a very high-level of performance at any rate: the concept features a power-to-weight ratio similar to the R8 5.2 FSI. That would provide a run to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds.

The production car would likely have a version of the five-cylinder found in the TT-RS, making around 350 horsepower. Interestingly, the car could possibly be built by ItalDesign, the famed Italian design firm recently acquired by Volkswagen.

Stefan Reil, Head of Development at Audi Quattro GmbH has this to say about the possibility: “We need feedback to see if it is possible. Audi has no heritage in building 200-500 cars that are really exotic. But it won’t be over €100,000 [£86,000 / US$139,000].”

So there you have it – Audi is seriously discussing the possibility. Of course, we think the Quattro would be an excellent model that will only help to further build up Audi’s image in the marketplace.

The Audi Quattro concept is a car that in idea we have heard a lot about. However, Audi surprised us with its appearance as a concept at the Paris Auto Show. And as always, it is a good surprise  - brought to us early courtesy of Motor Trend.

The Quattro concept (hence its name) is designed to mark the 30th anniversary of Audi’s famous Quattro all-wheel drive system.

This is the car that has been referred to as the new “Ur-Quattro.” Rumors have pegged it as slotting about the A5, while sharing components with that vehicle.

As far as design, the Quattro mixes things up significantly. It gets an aggressive new look up front, marked by thin headlights with vertical front vents underneath as a design element.

Utilizing a shortened RS5 platform, it is compact, with a nice two-door profile and notchback rear end. Out back things are kept simple and a tad retro, actually.

As expected, the Audi Quattro is based on the RS5. While the RS5 is powered by a V-8, in favor of tradition the Quatto opts for a turbocharged 2.5-liter 5-cylinder, making 408 horsepower and 354 pound feet of torque.

It is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, with power (of course) put to the road through Audi’s all-wheel drive system. It is tuned for a 60/40 rear power bias.

This power output, combined with a significant reduction in weight would make the Quattro a new performance leader for Audi. It possesses a power-to-weight ratio similar to the R8 5.2 FSI. The dash to 60 mph would come in just 3.8 seconds.

Is the Quattro just a concept or a viable production reality? It definitely is a feasible package that utilizes the good components of Audi’s performance arsenal. If produced, it would likely be a limited-production run.

If we know Audi, we think it stands a good chance of production. The company is staking a claim in the performance arena, greenlighting S and RS models left and right. If produced the Quattro would be emblematic of Audi’s success and progress over the past 30 years.

“The name’s Bond…  James Bond.” I thought he drove an Aston Martin?

Yours truly – I’ll admit to not being anything of a snazzy dresser.  I’m ok with this.

Yes, these photos are obviously posed.

The way this photo focused is just too cool.  Wave to the camera, dude!

Let’s get all these ugly people out of the way and let the cars speak for themselves.  The TT Quattro is quite a quick car, by the way – and nice looking to boot.  When it’s not covered in dirt up to the hatch.  Which it always is.  It’s the small things in life you’ve got to stop and enjoy when you see them!

So whenever I get the opportunity to work on a car, I pretty much jump for it.  I figure any additional experience is a good thing, even if it’s not on my own car.  Which brings me to my friend Jon.  Recently, Jon traded up from his 2001 BMW 325i (which I featured on my old, now sadly defunct website tehcarblogz) to a pristine, low mileage 2002 Audi A4 1.8 Turbo Quattro.  It’s a peach of a car.  Base model with just a few options, 1.8L 20-valve turbo straight four (laid out longitudinally in the classic Saab tradition, thank you), Torsen full-time four wheel drive, 5-speed manual.  With only 64k on the clock and virtually no problem areas, it was like a clean, blank slate.  You see, Jon’s just like me: he sees a stock vehicle and sees potential, rather than an end.  His previous 325i was similar in equipment, but was modified fairly extensively for a recent BMW.  Full Koni/H&R suspension and sway bars, K&N intake, AAW chip, full Borla exhaust with a high-flow cat, B&M shifter, limited-slip-differential with 3.46:1 final drive ratio, M5 clutch and 12lb single-mass flywheel…  it was a lot closer to a track car than BMW ever intended, and a whole lot more fun to drive without sacrificing livability as a result.  So it was expected that Jon’s new toy (excuse me, daily driver) would stay stock for approximately as long as it took to drive to the nearest local software vendor.

This has proven to be the case.  We’ve been very busy turning the A4 from a mild-mannered European luxury sedan into a turbocharged cruise missile in a stealth suit – a sleeper, if you will.  To date (in the last 2 weeks!) here’s what’s been done.

• Central exhaust resonator replaced with straight pipe
• Unitronic Stage 1+ 93 Octane Software Installed (180/180 to 215/245 bhp and tq, 9.7 to 18psi)
• Forge Split Diverter Valve (80% recirculate) installed
• Polyeurothane Snub Mount (front motor mount) installed
• NGK Iridium plugs, one heat range colder than stock, installed
• Neuspeed Short Shift Kit installed

As you can see, we’ve been quite busy.  While some were quite easy (the software, for instance – a swipe of the credit card and 20 minutes with a laptop yielded massive extra power), some have been a bit of a pain in the ass.  The Neuspeed short shifter was a drastic improvement – which took about 5 hours to put in, including disassembling the damn thing after we’ve discovered there was no reverse gear.  Ahh, you live and learn.  But yesterday, Jon called me up and uttered the magic words “The APR TIP is here.  You wanna bust out the wrenches?”  Well, of course.  I also busted out the camera to show you, loyal readers, the joys of working on a recent Audi product.  Some sarcasm is intended in that statement.

Step One: Remove stock crap.

Here’s the frankly terrible stock induction setup.  That big black plastic crossover pipe is actually the intake tube – about 6″ wide but only an inch deep.  It feeds from the grille into an airbox with a flat filter underneath, which then passes air through the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) and into the turbo inlet pipe.  The TIP feeds fresh, filtered air to the turbocharger where it’s compressed, intercooled, and shot into the intake manifold creating happiness.  Problems here?  Plenty, as you can see above and below.  The stock intake tube is terribly restrictive, flimsy, and makes working on the car a bit of a pain in the ass.

The air passes through a small inlet, and into a thick air filter.  Then you get to the actual inlet pipe itself, which is what we’re primarily here to replace.  It’s made out of soft rubber.  While this doesn’t sound like an issue (it’s not pressurized!), it presents some unique issues.  On a stock car running stock boost, no.  On a Unitronic-chipped 1.8T, yes.  This tube is how the turbo itself breathes – when it’s breathing normal amounts of boost, it’s totally capable of providing sufficient flow.  When you’re pushing almost double the stock amount of boost, it tends to collapse under heavy loads.  This is partially due to the restrictive airbox setup and partially because the turbo is asking for a lot more air.  Imagine breathing through a straw, sitting in a chair.  Now imagine breathing through the same straw running a marathon and you see the issue.  So, get to removing crap!

The weird UFO-shaped device in the center is the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve, which needs to be removed.  Below that on the TIP (sticking out above and to the left of the PCV valve in the picture) is the N75 valve, which is part of boost regulation.  Both of these need to come out, and they’re both a royal pain in the rear.  For those of you not familiar with VW/Audi single-use clamps, here’s a tip: don’t.  They are hateful devices, and should be banished from existence forever.  Most of the time spent on this install was fighting with cursed single-use clamps.  Twist, cut, swear, cajole, beg, and do whatever you can to get these things off.  There are two other fittings below these two that must be removed (I believe secondary air injection and EGR), which is made easier by simply loosening the TIP from the inlet side of the turbocharger.  Once you’ve got all four(!) fittings loose and the stock TIP removed, you’ll see something like this:

Aww, hi there Borg-Warner K03 Sport!  You’re so tiny!  I wanna give you a hug.  Would you like to meet your papa, the Garrett T3?  As you can see, it’s a bit of a tight fit down there for those of us cursed with fat, awkward hands.  Also visible at the bottom of that photo is the Forge splitter valve installed about a week ago.

After this, it’s time to get that whole stock airbox and heat shield out of there and stuff it in the trunk.  It’s just a few phillips head screws and some rubber grommets, not too hard.  Really opens up the cramped turbo side of the engine bay, eh?

Step Two: Prepare New Parts, Hook Stuff Back Up

Here’s the stock TIP next to the APR inlet pipe.  Boy is this car lucky it met us.  Notice the more gradual bend at the end leading to the turbo, the wider inlet, and the fact that it’s heavy duty silicon and won’t suck closed under boost.  This is quality stuff, in addition to being pretty and blue!

At this point it’s helpful to jack up the passenger side of the car and put a stand under it to get some room to work underneath.  It helps to take off the intercooler pipe and diverter valve hose so you can access the underside of the turbo to tighten down the clamp that holds the TIP in place.  It’s pretty under here!

Basically, once you’ve got the TIP aimed the right way, you need to get it on the turbo inlet correctly and tighten the everliving bejeezus out of the clamp so you don’t have to go back and do it again.  Make sure all the clamps you can reach from here are tight, then reconnect the intercooler hose so you’re not pressurizing the atmosphere.  Go back around up top, fight with all the connector, get everything hooked up, and Yahtzee!  You’ve got an APR Turbo Inlet Pipe!

From here it gets easier.  We picked up a conical filter and a small breather filter from our local FLAPS and some fitting hardware.  Unscrew the MAF housing from the airbox with a Phillips, and insert it the right way around into the end of the TIP.  Fit the conical filter onto the other end, and clamp down.  Now, see the black plastic pipe pointing up to the right of the TIP?  That’s the Secondary Air Injection feed line.  We had an issue with the breather filter being a bit too small to wedge into the end of it, so we created a faintly ingenious home-made gasket to fit around the end of the breather and cram into the SAI line.  Using one of the fittings on the stock rubber TIP, we chopped it off and cut out about a half-inch of it to make a gasket.  Presto!  Tight-fitting breather filter!

Now that’s bling.  We’re almost done – remember that goofy stock intake tube?  We’re gonna use a piece of it here as well – the front section that pulls cold air behind the grille mounts to the car with two Phillips screws and fits nicely above all this pretty intake equipment.  It helps assure the air getting to the filter is actually cold, although the lack of a heat shield is an issue we’re going to have to fix in the near future as it’s less than ideal.  Still, not bad for a few hours work, eh?

After everything’s in place, go around to all fittings and make sure everything’s all the way and tightened all the way down.  Then, go take it for a spin and enjoy!  The difference is definitely noticeable – stronger mid-range pull, more sustained boost to redline, and a most delicious whistle from the turbocharger that was significantly muffled by the stock induction system beforehand.  Another job well done, if I may say so myself.

All the images are from this build thread on the forums of savarturbo.se, which -- although I don’t know any Swedish -- I’m going to venture a guess at being a Swedish tuning car forum.  The car started life as an early-build Saab 99, which had around 85 horsepower.  It’s still got a Saab engine, but it’s turned around backwards and mated to the Quattro 4WD system from an Audi 100.  It’s hard to gather details considering my lack of Swedish language knowledge, but honestly the pictures here speak louder than words.  Enjoy, and I’ll throw in the few details I figured out along the way.

I suppose everything starts out as a bare shell at some point.  Still, it looks like a pretty straight body -- a good find for a 99.

This is the original setup, using a Garrett GT40 and twin Dell’orto carb’s.  You can watch the setup of the car change as flip through the 30-odd pages of the thread, although it’s hard to imagine going up from a 600+WHP 4WD Saab.  If you’re a Saab nut (like me) you’ll notice that the motor is flipped around 180° -- distributor on the back, exhaust manifold on the driver’s side, intake on the passenger’s.  That’s so it’ll mate (with an adapter plate) with the Audi 100 transmission.

The original setup, fully assembled.  I can’t imagine Dell’orto 40′s stay in tune for long when you’re cramming 1.7bar over atmospheric pressure down their throats, but the whole carbs+turbo thing is still a mystery to me.

This is a later setup utilizing MSD electronic ignition, a Holset HX50 hybrid turbo, and VEMS standalone engine management/mapping software for better fuel delivery.  And yes, that’s over 700 peak wheel horsepower -- to all four wheels.

So what you have is a Saab 99 that looks like this from the outside:

And under the hood it looks like this:

And it runs down the strip like this.  Oh my god.  No more words need to be said.

So that’d be a 700+ whp Saab 99, that runs a 9.8 second quarter mile.  Who else is feeling inspired today?

Audi just released another batch of high-resolution pictures of the TT-RS, and I figure any reason at all is good enough to feature the TT-RS whenever possible.

Although there’s no word yet on whether Audi’s going to import the hottest TT to the horsepower-hungry States, we can always keep our collective fingers crossed.  I mean, I’ll never be able to afford one – but I need more reasons to go drool at the Audi dealer, besides the R8.  And the S4.  And the S5.  You get the point…

This is, as far as I can tell, the first engine-bay shot of the TT-RS showing off the glorious turbocharged I5.  I love the red valve cover with exposed coilpacks and the “TFSI” manifold cover.  Gorgeous engine.

Meanwhile, sit back relax and enjoy this collection of expandable high-resolution photographs of the TT-RS.  I’ve sized the original images at a wallpaper-friendly 1024×768, rather than our usual 800 by 600 size.

It helps that the RS4 has the 40:60 rear-biased power split and a 420bhp V8 to churn rubber, but seeing a sideways Audi is still always a surprise.  As an added bonus, check out the passenger’s horrified expression – I see clean pants in his near future.  The clarity of this picture is surprising; it’s a mark of great panning technique on the photographer’s part.  Oddly enough, this image comes from the creative commons via Wikipedia.org -  I stumbled across it while trolling Wiki for technical errors.  Yes, I’m a nerd.

Gah, what an awesome photo.  Nothing more to say.