Blog

Sunshine sortie. The first rays of Spring sunshine, in the New Forest, provided the ideal environment to sample the new 2016 Audi A3 Cabriolet range here in Britain…

We have always felt that Audi should, as far as is possible, retain the overall shape and character of the TT, something which will ensure that, like the Porsche 911, it becomes a classic which endures over many years.

As well as launching the new TT at this year’s Geneva Show, Audi also displayed a concept car, based on the new TT. Audi was calling it the ‘TT quattro sport concept show car’, and enthusiasts must be wondering whether it will ever see production.

Although it’s not quite time to pop open the champagne corks, we tend to forget that it is 18 years since the first A3 went on sale. Launched in the UK in September 1996, it went toe to toe with not only the 1994 BMW 3 Series Compact, but also the VW Golf which, in 1996, was still in its Mk 3 guise. While the two cars might have looked broadly similar underneath, however, the A3 was in fact based on the new PQ34 platform which would underpin the Mk 4 Golf, due to be launched in 1998. Styled by Dirk van Braeckel (currently chief designer at Bentley), the A3 was another ‘just right’ car from Audi. Van Braeckel had also styled the original A8 concept car that entered production almost unaltered.

The new Q50 could be Infiniti’s last chance to make it in Europe. It is the closest to mainstream premium competition Infiniti has yet conceived. All of its other models stand alone with no particular direct rivals. It is often said that to break into an established market you need to do it differently or better. Infiniti had tried doing it differently, and perhaps now they are trying to do the same better. Unfortunately, the highly competitive European premium manufacturers are so busy fighting each other that the standard is such that any manufacturer will find it difficult to beat.

Buying a B6 series Audi A4. This much-loved model can now be bought for less than £1,000, as Andrew Everett finds out...

During the late ’90s, the Volkswagen Group began to increase its empire, becoming the owner of brands such as Bentley and Bugatti. It also took control of Lamborghini, the Italian sportscar manufacturer which had been through a difficult time in terms of ownership. Instead of being taken over by Volkswagen itself, Lamborghini became a subsidiary of Audi, a move which was to result in much greater stability for the Italian company, and the production of a very successful model, the Gallardo.

After the last outing at the ’Ring I knew something had to be done about the suspension and the way the car handles. Part of the reason for this is because the huge GT2 rear wing upsets the car’s balance – the amount of downforce it creates even at the flattest angle of attack is creating understeer on the front end at high speed. The only way to tackle this was to stiffen up the rear but seeing as it is already mega stiff on the springs, this would make the rear even more of a handful on track. Luckily the amount of downforce it creates counteracts the problem in the high speed stuff and makes it very stable but, as said, it then upsets the front…

It might not have the fire-breathing powertrain of the Z4 M Coupé but the 3.0Si version still has good looks, excellent performance and reasonable running costs – it’s a great used buy! Words: Bob Harper and Andrew Everett Photography: Dom Fraser.