Tag Archives: audi

i8.

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There are very few automobiles which capture my attention, new or old, these days.  My interest in automobiles has faded aside from a few select cars which i’m always chasing.  i am, however, BLOWN AWAY by this car.  the fact that it is a production car that looks like a concept.  The fact that is totally a current car embedded with current technologies capturing the spirit of ‘new’ and ‘fresh’ without copying anything else before it.  The fact that it’s the first hybrid sports car that is somewhat attainable  (still expensive though…at $135k USA price).  But most of all I love this car because it pushes and opens an envelope into the current times.  No retro here.  No celebration of the past.  The BMW i8 is a celebration of the future.

If i had the money…i’d order this and drive it every day!!

Forget 0-60 times (4.4 seconds here), forget curb weight (3200+ pounds here), forget cost for a second, forget the badge, forget the insane aero design features— this car is a pioneer and a real innovation in this realm.  It’s rare in these generic modern times of automotive engineering that we see a true beginning, but i have a feeling the i8 is the first of many coming in this realm.

(I don’t count cars like the Porsche 918, because of price and uber-exclusivity)

Live photos from Frankfurt (courtesy of greenCarReports)

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promo photos from BMW in Black:

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Videos:

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Watch Le Mans 2013! (updated)

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Need a place to watch Le Mans 2013?? Every year I put up the links I am using to watch Le Mans.  The greatest race in the world is back……on one side of my mind, I have an Audi Sport flag waving and on the other side I have a blue Alpine flag waving for LMP2.  Either way….this is the motor racing event of the year and definitely worth watching.

Here are some links to watch, listen, and follow (these will be updated throughout the next 24 hours).  Please feel free to make any suggestions to other good sources.

EUROSPORT <——- superb link, British Eurosport in with English commentary

EUROSPORT #2 (also British Eurosport, thank you Ricardo for the link!)

ACO Le Mans

24-LeMans.com 

Listen to fantastically detailed commenting at Radio Le Mans

LIVE TIMING via WEC! the best way to follow what’s going on with the positions, as well as interviews and videos

Audi Sport, onboard the R18s with Radio Le Mans commentary

My suggestion? find a video feed you like—and turn on Radio Le Mans and mute the video.

Go Alpine! Go Audi!

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1995 TT concept in B&W.

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The MK1 TT is quite simply the most beautiful German car design in…what…the last 50 years….since the original Porsche 911, in my humblest opinion.  The 80s and early 90s were pretty dark and depressing times for German car design which entered a comfort zone of drab, unimaginative, uncreative designs (except Porsche, who were always putting together interesting cars)..and the TT put an end to those dark ages.  Timeless, ageless, and pure…..and with rumours of the next-generation MK3 TT being heavily influenced by the original, the MK1 TT’s legend will continue to grow.

Here’s the original 1995 MK1 TT Concept….the automotive design equivalent of punk rock in 1995!  I have turned the original manufacturer photos in B&W to fully appreciate the geometry and design pornography!

It is astounding to me that the MK1 TT Coupe that sits in my garage (for the last 10+ years) is virtually identical to this concept, barring a few select details.

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Audi and Alfa Romeo in “negotiations”.

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Has Sergio Marchionne finally buckled?  Is Audi buying Alfa Romeo?  Let’s hope so!

Ward reports:

“Alfa Romeo is at the core of top-level negotiations between Audi and Fiat and might be near to a sale, reliable sources here and in Ingolstadt, Germany, say.  Sources close to both Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirm the two are in talks over a major deal.

The top subject reportedly involves the sale of Alfa, but this time not only the brand but Fiat’s Pomigliano assembly plant also is on the table. If the discussions bear fruit, the facility would return to building Alfas under Audi. Pomigliano was built in the late 1960s specifically for Alfa production, but currently makes the Fiat Panda.”

src:  Wards

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ALPINE returning to Le Mans!

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An announcement is expected Friday to hear Renault introducing the plans for their return to endurance racing!  LMP2 is surely expected by the 2014 racing season with possible LMP1 ambitions as well, and the engines are expected to carry the ALPINE badge!  Renaultsport (which evolved out of the original Alpine after it stopped making cars 20+ years ago) will be tuning them and involved with the engine construction.  All of this seems consistent with the Renault plan to resurrect one of the finest racing and rallying marques ever!  I wonder if the cars themselves will be badged “Alpine-Renault” like the old days.

IEDEI is, of course, devoted to Alpine news and will offer updates as they come in.  My biggest issue is going to be whether I root for Audi or Alpine?  I have stayed up to watch almost all Le Mans races for the past several years….and am a die hard Audi fanboy.   If Alpine makes it to LMP1 against Audi…..it will be very very tough for me to root against the boys in blue.

Exciting news.

BTW, to fuel the imagination, here is an interesting ‘re-interpretation’ (rendering) of the glorious Alpine A220 by Racing Emotion found at le Blog Auto. Obviously this is not a realistic vision, but still entertaining to look at!

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src:  racecarEngineering

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quattrosnow.

what a GREAT photo of a B5 A4 (1.8T quattro).

quattro season is upon us! get your grip out.

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JSR Photography via Audi Sport

check this bad ass out.  an RS6 loaded up with fog lights! Wicked.

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via our friends at Motore

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the return of IEDEI.

IEDEI is returning.

However, there are some changes.

The automotive archive for the past 4 years will remain, however this site is evolving into a site about much more than just automobiles.  My thoughts are evolving, and so IEDEI will also evolve.  From the beginning, the site was never meant to turn into a site only about the automobile—however unfortunately that is what happened to the site.  There will occasionally be articles about automobiles, however if one is expecting to find petrol being pumped through your monitor on every visit; this will not be the case.  There is much to see, much to appreciate, and much to investigate.  Onwards and onwards!

I hope you enjoy the new IEDEI.  If you ever want to contribute or if you have something fascinating (remember, not just automobile related)—please email me at IEDEIblog@gmail.com

I also want to thank the many of you who took the time to e-mail you all the kind words and wishes in regards to the blog ending a couple of months ago.  It was very nice to read your mails, and i’m still catching up on writing you all back.  I felt it was time to ‘start a new idea’….however i felt this site was already so developed and had such a lovely title and image, that it would just be more interesting to start a ‘2nd phase’ of this.

(the photo above was published in a 1931 copy of The Country Gentleman was a prediction of how a farmer will control his crops in the year 2030.  Nice flat screen TV design, huh?)

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Processing of Leather.

I am quite fond of leather and suede—the feel, the chemically treated smell, the wearing patterns, and the differences in quality and texture.   The other day I found myself searching for explanations of how leather is made, and I found a couple of interesting videos—-3 videos which could not be contrasted any better, but all three of them beautifully filmed in their own way.  Most excellent.

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2012 Carlisle import show.

Yesterday I drove a few hours away to go to the annual Carlisle Import Auto Show for 2012.  I had been tipped off there would be an Alpine A110 there, and I was quite looking forward to checking it out.  I had also been told that there would be a lot of great Audis there, which there were!

The show was fantastic……I would say the largest turnout was for Saab and Audi fanatics with lots and lots of fantastic Trollhatten and Ingolstadt eye candy.  I sat inside of the Alpine A110 for what felt like at least 20-25 minutes.  The car FIT LIKE A GLOVE.  I have never been as comfortable in a car as I was in an A110.  Unbelievable….i didn’t want to leave.  The A110 is pure magic…..i must have one in my life!

After leaving the Alpine, I was completely distracted by remembering the car—and honestly I had concentration difficulties.  The Audi area quite brilliant though; lots of great Ur quattros, a couple nicely set up TTs and several nice 4000s and Coupes!  Audi had brought the original R8 LMP car as well, and near it was also a Sport quattro!  The Saab area was flourishing with “Saab Pride”; their enthusiasts knowing their marque is currently in a coma on massive amounts of life support if not dead already.  There are still whispers of a Saab corporate revival floating around in China; but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I felt the Carlisle show was a true enthusiast’s show; the people were very nice, there wasn’t much ‘snobbery’ as felt at so many car shows, and not every car was shined to perfection like at other car shows—there was room for originality, something I very much appreciate.    I spent much of my day poking my head into interiors, and breathing in a large inhale of the different smells of older cars; something which fascinates me.

I didn’t take a lot of photos; in fact taking too many photos at car shows sort of annoys me these days, as it prevents you from actually paying attention.  That being said, here are some of my favourite cars from the day:

loved this crazy, track ready Renault 8!

I spent 1 hour out of my 3 hours at the show with this Alpine.  Honestly, I believe I am truly obsessed.  HA.

i don’t smile much for photos….but i am quite happy sitting inside.

onto the Audis!

I found this sign to be entertaining, belonged to a 1969 Avenger kit car:

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foto(s) of the day. e-tron quattro vs. quattro.

Cannot wait til Le Mans!

bonus photo!

R18 e-tron quattro cockpit!

src:  Fourtitude

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IEDEI: The Greatest Hits megapost.

To celebrate crossing the 1 million visit mark this week, this is a monster post of some of my favourite photos and automobiles posted on IEDEI from the past couple of years.  I originally started this blog to catalogue my favourite automobiles and photographs, and it is still what I do—-however along the way I have met lots of great people, shared lots of interesting stories, and have learned even more than I already knew about the world of motoring.

srcs: too many to list! each source is listed in the original IEDEI post where these pics are taken from.

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VW EA41 and the Porsche 555.


It’s 1952, and Volkswagen is doing all sorts of projects trying to figure out a replacement for the VW Beetle. Mysteriously they had a design study done by Pininfarina, entitled the “EA41”. It sure looks a helluva lot like the Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupe from the rear end, but there is a Beetle hiding under there somewhere. I’m not sure if this car was from scratch or not, but i’m guessing this was merely a design study for which Pininfarina was hired to propose.

Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupe, also designed by Pininfarina around that time:

So as VW was searching for a viable alternative, they also happened to do a bunch of different design studies of a rear-engined new alternative……what did Porsche come up with? the Porsche 555!!

and this! the only photo i’ve been able to find of an actual Porsche 555 that was made….looks fantastic and I must admit I am very intrigued. I am also, however, bothered by the lack of information about the car—-but obviously as this was only a design/concept study it likely disappeared like most ideas did back then!

Porsche 555

eventually influencing the Porsche 356 “notchback” Coupe:

srcs: Rastall (excellent page), curbsideclassic, smcars

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Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 Concept

This is the 1971 Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 Concept, shown with a working rotary engine debut’d at the 1971 Torino Motor Show in Italy.  This thing looks way ahead of its time for 1971, in fact I see shades of future cars in its design;  Aston Martin Lagonda, 1980’s Cadillac Deville, 1980s Oldsmobiles—-but NSU was dissolved into the modern day Audi after 1977, when the last Ro 80 was sold.

This Pininfarina design points towards how a super modern and ahead-of-its-time car like the original Ro 80 may have evolved if NSU had continued.   Obviously Audi do have some nostalgia for this idea, as the Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 concept is currently stored within the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt.

srcs: madle, carStyling,

 

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foto of the day. brown car.

I’ve always wanted to drive a brown car….and today when I dropped my A3 off to get its 15k service, they gave me a 2012 Audi A4 ‘service loaner car’ in a colour known as “teak brown”.  It’s actually quite a nice colour.  I do find the light tan leather interior very irritating though….i don’t think I could ever live with a car that has such a light coloured interior ackage….even the headliner is light tan.

Anyways…it’s always nice to drive somebody else’s car around!

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Audi buying Ducati! (?…!…?)

As an Audiphile, i’m super excited this morning after reading this.  It’s not April 1st….wow. Piech on the attack! You’re next Alfa Romeo!

from Fourtitude:

“Apparently Ferdinand Piech has been interested in Ducati for some time and is on the record for stating his regret for not snapping up the motorcycle marque when it went up on the market years ago.  Apparently Piech also looked into revival of the Horex brand, but it was determined that there wasn’t enough brand recognition to make it worthwhile. Ducati, on the other hand, sells 40,000 motorcycles a year and has great brand recognition worldwide.”

and

“Out of nowhere CAR Magazine today has broken a story this morning that Audi entered an exclusive deal to buy motorcycle manufacturer Ducati. After re-checking our calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1, we took a closer look at the story. Penned by Georg Kacher, we don’t question its accuracy in any way and as such it’s worth considering the details.

Apparently Ducati is on the market and it’s being suited by no less than Audi, Daimler (with whom there’s a marketing deal with AMG), Mahindra and even Audi’s parent company Volkswagen. All are interested in the Italian motorcycle manufacturer but Kacher is revealing via CAR that Audi has an exclusivity deal that gives it first refusal – one that could very well see Ducati under Audi ownership by April.”

Original article at Car Magazine

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Need. More. Hot. Hatches.

The Citroen DS4 Racing is scheduled to be shown at the Geneva Auto Show.   There isn’t a week that goes by where I am NOT envious of my european friends and how they have such fantastic ‘hot’ hatchbacks to choose from and buy!!!  Americans simply do not understand hatchbacks; which is why we have 5 on the market here or something like that.   What choices do we have in the US for ‘hot hatches’? VW GTI, Audi A3, Ford Focus, Mini Cooper, and some weird 3-door Hyundai Velociraptor Roster Foster Pentacoster….

For the love of god, SOMEBODY buy PSA (Peugeot/Citroen/etc) and bring us these french hot hatches!  Ford maybe?  Buy PSA! Nissan, stop diddling around with the miserable current lineup you have in the US and bring us some Renault Meganes and Clios! VW, hurry up and buy Alfa Romeo so you can bring us theirs as well as the Audi A1, S3, RS3!  Suzuki, bring us the Swift!

oh and the Citroen DS4 looks pretty damn wicked from where i’m seeing it. 1.6 liter 256hp mini-rocket (256hp out of 1.6L? wow).

src: Top Gear

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foto of the day. mechanic.

Make sure it is torqued properly!

src: smotra via iamaudi

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Juha Kankkunen’s rally car collection.

Rally car legend Juha Kankkunen likes to collect rally cars.  Here is his fantastic collection!   Beautiful.

Thanks to Cacti (QW) for the tip!

 

src: InsideLine

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the battle of fender flares.

Amazing how similar these 2 cars were in Ur quattro and M3 form.  Apparently the fender flares were even made by the same company (Bauer)—–however the Ur quattro was introduced to the world at least a good 5 years before the M3.  Dare I say that BMW was heavily inspired by the Ur quattro when styling the M3’s bodykit…..however obviously adding their own touch with a large rear wing.

I’d take the one on the right…..but you knew that didn’t you!

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Motorsports 2011, by Jake Yorath.

2011 was a great year in motorsports—–and I personally had an epic time at Petit Le Mans this year, following one of the most heroic wins ever at Le Mans in france.  But aside from those glorious events—–DTM racing, GT racing, and endurance racing supplied thrills and spills this year.

Jake Yorath takes wonderful photos—and these were shared by him to remember motorsports in 2011

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holy Donkervoort!

700 kilos. 400hp.  and a 2.5L 5-cylinder RS3/TT-RS engine under the hood.  This has all the goods—-except a superbly rubbish name!!!!  “Look at that Donkervoort go!”

“A combination of beautiful shape, the latest auto techniques and the ultimate experience. With a capacity of 340 to 400 HP and a torque of 450 Nm from about 1600 RPMs. And all this with a total weight of around 700 kilos. Without a doubt one of the fastest sports cars on the European market. And, with the first private preview for Donkervoort Ambassadors from all over Europe, received so enthusiastically that within a few hours approximately half of the first 25 specially designed GTOs were sold.”

photos and info from my friends at Fourtitude!

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Sign this petition!


A fellow Audi enthusiast Carson has launched a new petition on the Whitehouse.gov website to gather signatures to discuss making the rules to relieve the stringent rules on US automobile importation laws.  Currently the US government run NHTSA does not allow importation of automobiles which have not been specifically crash tested by US standards.  The catch here is that other countries, including the EU have even MORE stringent crash testing standards than the US very often—-which begs the question, why does the US have such incompatible safety testing standards as compared to the rest of the world?  Even Canada has much easier rules for getting cars into the country, allowing manufacturers to be more experimental in their lineups.

Let’s take for example the tempting Audi RS3—-which was, as of a couple of months ago—–being debated by Audi of America as a possible import into the US market.  Then they decided they would NOT import the car into the US market.  Despite the fact that the 8p A3/RS3 body is already crash tested in the US and despite the fact that the TT-RS engine and drivetrain (same as the RS3) have met safety standards—-it was not financially feasible for Audi to bring in the RS3, as they would likely never recover the costs of having to cross all the hurdles it would take to get it on market.   I even sent an email to Audi of America asking if the RS3 was coming to the US, before i ended up buying my 2012 A3 quattro—-they told me “no” so i bought my car the next day.

Will this petition work?  The chances are slim—–as I think these rules mainly benefit US carmakers, and allowing more imported cars to make it over here would only cut in further to US carmaker sales.  BUT HEY! it is worth a shot!  25,000 signatures needed.  At time of this post, 343 achieved.  I, of course, being one of the earliest.

It takes 1 minute to sign up—-so please go and sign it! We have nothing to lose—-and spread the word!

LINK: Whiteouse.gov Petition

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