Audi considering turbo option for longer, wider Huracán-based R8

The debut of the Lamborghini Huracán was (and remains) big news in and of itself, but equally as exciting is the imminent arrival of the Audi R8, which the Huracán presages. While the two will share a common architecture, don't expect that new R8 will simply be a cheaper version of the Huracán (like the current one arguably is to the Gallardo).

For one, the next R8 will be larger than the Huracán. According to emerging intelligence, Audi will make its sports car both longer and wider than the Lamborghini version. It'll also share the new Lambo's innovative carbon-fiber structure that will replace both the firewall and central tunnel. But to power it all, Audi will get more creative.

The next R8 will, like the current model and like the Huracán, offer a V10 engine at the top of the range. It will also offer the same 4.2-liter V8 as the outgoing model. But that won't be the end of the matter. Word has it that Audi is also working on a smaller, turbocharged engine to offer in certain markets that mandate smaller-capacity engines.

Whether that will emerge as a turbo four, a turbocharged V6 or something else remains to be seen, but in speaking with Autocar, Audi technical chief Ulrich Hackenberg indicated they could be looking at "some numbers in between", suggesting that a turbo five like the one you'd find in the RS3, RS Q3 or TT RS could be under consideration.

One way or another, it wouldn't be the first time Audi would toy with the idea of a different kind of engine for the R8. It's experimented with V12 turbodiesels and electric propulsion for the supercar, so a turbo five – or whatever it settles on – would hardly be a big surprise.


Now that we're kinda-sorta-maybe-slowly thawing out from this horrible winter, automakers are moving away from the harsh extremes of winter testing and taking their new wares for laps around the infamous Nürburgring. What better way to kick off the sports car testing season than some fresh shots of the next-generation Audi R8 supercar?

Despite the slick coupe's shape not changing too much, details under that camouflage reveal styling elements that are more squared off and angular – similar to what Audi has done with its 2015 TT coupe. Don't be fooled by those square taillamp holes in the camo out back, either – look closely and you'll see a stylish LED lamp design.

Expect some 100 to 200 pounds to be shaved off the next R8's curb weight.

The R8 is expected share a platform with the recently unveiled Lamborghini Huracán, and we have it on good authority that the combined carbon fiber and aluminum structure will result in some huge weight savings for Audi's coupe. Expect some 100 to 200 pounds to be shaved off the next R8's curb weight.

Power is what's (arguably) most important here. Rumors have suggested that we could see a version of the Audi RS7's twin-turbocharged V8 underhood, though other reports contradict that, saying the well-liked, naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 will once again find a home in the R8. Of course, that's on the base end – look for a V10 to serve as the upmarket engine. Both powerplants should come mated to six-speed manual and seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions.

We can't yet see inside the new R8, but it wouldn't shock us to see a more upscale version of the TT's minimalist interior used here. Audi has already told us that the new R8 will get the TT's super-high-tech reconfigurable gauge cluster, too.

It's unclear exactly when the next R8 will debut, but our sources suggest it'll arrive for the 2016 model year, meaning we won't see it for some time. Fingers crossed for Geneva 2015. Have a look at Audi's redone supercar in the gallery, above.

Aventador sales drive record revenue at Lamborghini

Let it never be said that there isn't money to be made selling high-end exotic sports cars. Last month Ferrari revealed that it had recorded record profits despite selling fewer vehicles than the year before. Now arch-rival Lamborghini has reported record revenue.

For the 2013 fiscal year, Lamborghini has announced that its revenue has increased for the third year straight – rising from 469 million euros last year (just short of $650 million at today's rates) to a record 508 million euros (over $703 million). Lamborghini reports that it has reinvested 20 percent of that turnover back into R&D.

The increased revenues come despite having discontinued its top-selling model, the Gallardo, which wound up its ten-year production run back in November to make way for the new Huracán. The increased revenues came from a higher proportion of Aventadors sold, a rise of 9 percent from 922 units in 2012 to 1,001 in 2013, representing a record for V12 models sold in the company's history and a waiting list of 12 months for a new Aventador.

At 36 percent of Lamborghinis sold last year, the Americas continue to stand as the Bolognese automaker's largest market, but not by much: EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) accounted for 34 percent, while Asia Pacific accounted for the remaining 30 percent of Raging Bulls sold last year.

LAMBORGHINI SETS TURNOVER RECORD AT 508 MILLION EUROS

- Total turnover increased from 469 to 508 million euros
- Worldwide deliveries up from 2,083 to 2,121 cars
- Continuing profitability despite ongoing high investments in R&D and factory premises
- More than 20% of total turnover invested in research and development
- All-time high in V12 sales with a record for the Lamborghini Aventador (1,001 deliveries)
- All new Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 receives strong market response

Sant'Agata Bolognese, 11.03.2014 - In the Fiscal Year 2013 (31.12.2013), Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. improved its key financial figures once more and marked another successful step in its brand history of more than 50 years.

With worldwide deliveries to customers increasing from 2,083 to 2,121 units, the Italian super sports car manufacturer improved its sales for the third consecutive year. These sales figures are outperforming the market trends in the super sports car segment.

The turnover shows a solid growth by 8 % from 469 million euros to 508 million euros. This overproportional increase compared to deliveries is due to an improved model mix; in 2013, 1,001 units of the top model, the V12 powered Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 were sold. This is a record for V12 powered Lamborghini models and represents a 9% increase from 922 units sold in 2012. Two and a half years after its market introduction the order bank for both Coupé and Roadster still covers the next 12 months' production. Overall, 2013 was another positive year in terms of profitability.

In its final year of production, the evergreen Lamborghini Gallardo recorded remarkably stable deliveries of 1,120 units following 2012 when 1,161 Gallardo were sold. With 14,022 units sold over its entire lifecycle, this makes the Gallardo the bestselling Lamborghini of all time to date.

"In the year of our 50th anniversary, Lamborghini has delivered a very satisfying performance, confirming the strength of our product and commercial strategy. Today the company is driving towards the future from a very solid economic base. With our very attractive and new model mix,
ongoing high investments of more than 20% of our total turnover into R&D as well as continuous investments into factory premises and the recovery of the markets we anticipate a new phase of solid global growth into new dimensions in the short and long term" said Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

Lamborghini is a global brand, and sales distribution has been well balanced among the three regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) 34%, America 36% and Asia Pacific 30%.This enables the company to respond flexibly to fluctuations in single markets should they occur.

In 2013, the company continued its path of sustainable development: enlarging its facilities and hiring 100 highly qualified professionals in Sant'Agata Bolognese to address both production demand and new projects, with 1,029 employees at the end of the year. As for human resources and ethical commitment Lamborghini has just been awarded two important prizes: the
prestigious accolade "Top Employers Italia 2014", the first Italian car producer to be selected for this award, and the "Ethical Company" award.

The successor of the Gallardo, the new Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4, made its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show 2014 and is currently receiving overwhelming reactions from markets and customers all over the world. This is also mirrored in the positive media coverage of the new car emanating from the show. Even before the official launch of the Huracán LP 610-4, Lamborghini registered more than 1,000 orders for the highly innovative new super sports car designed to set a new benchmark in its segment.

2014 Kia Cadenza

Teenage passengers are often among the first people I turn to for second opinions about a test vehicle. While they understandably aren't allowed behind the wheel – most aren't even old enough to drive – their honest and generally unbiased observations, coupled with a complete lack of understanding about what a particular vehicle costs, can provide a wealth of insight.
An open-minded approach is especially important when taking a closer look at the 2014 Kia Cadenza, a premium sedan from an automaker best known for providing affordable transportation for entry-level buyers. But unlike the Rio and Forte, low-priced compacts designed to cater to consumers looking for fuel economy and value, this more substantial four-door sedan asks for twice the out-of-pocket investment in exchange for promises of luxury and technology.

With an impartial mindset and a genuine curiosity, I recently spent a week with the more substantial Cadenza to see if it could live up to its aspirations.

Kia introduced the States to its Cadenza at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show as a model to sit above the Optimasedan, which was its flagship offering at the time. Those loyal to the brand wanted a more premium product. According to Mike Ofiara, Supervisor of Product Communications at Kia Motors America, the new "more upscale sedan was in response to what many of the buyers were asking for."


Despite its all-new appearance on this side of the Pacific, this vehicle had already been on sale in Korea's domestic market for some time, and a look beneath its skin and spec sheet at its reveal suggested a very similar heart and soul to the Hyundai Azera.

Yet its previous life and similarities to its corporate cousin were the last things on my mind when the automaker dropped off this sparkling Metallic Bronze over White Nappa model in my driveway. As you can see from these photos, this well-proportioned sedan looks every bit the part of its $35,100 base price (plus $800 destination), with its distinctive chrome Kia "Tiger Nose" grille, aggressive headlights, chrome window surrounds and LED-style taillamps. Even the 19-inch alloy wheels fill their wells perfectly.




More striking than its exterior, however, is its interior. My particular press car arrived configured with White Nappa Leather, a no-charge option that contrasts well with the dark dashboard, door panels and carpet. The Luxury Package (a $3,000 upgrade) adds goodies including a panoramic roof, upgraded instrument panel, heated rear seats and a warmed steering wheel. Less obvious to the eyes are components in the Technology Package (also $3,000), which includes Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and hydrophobic front door windows. The bottom line reads $41,900 – that's a lot of cash, but it represents a considerable value; even before Kia's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty is taken into consideration.

Four adults will find much to like about the Cadenza, but I'd argue that the driver has the best seat in the house. A standard 10-way power-operated seat provides plenty of support for my six-foot, two-inch frame, and the adjustable lower bolster supports my thighs comfortably. The front passenger is only offered four-way powered seats and oddly, they are offered no seat ventilation – many of my passengers griped about that. [We drove an early production car. Kia has since added passenger set ventilation. - Ed.] Those in the second row will find a spacious interior, with generous room for feet and shoulders. Headroom may be an issue for tall adults thanks to the Cadenza's graceful sloping roofline, however. Twin climate control outlets, adjustable for airflow (but not temperature), help keep rear passengers comfortable.



Even though the primary instrument panel utilizes a large full-color digital display in tandem with an eight-inch infotainment display at the top of the stack, the Cadenza's cabin is very traditional in layout, with a large transmission selector dominating the lower center console. Two clusters of flat buttons are arranged on the console to control the climate control and audio operations. Comfort switchgear (e.g., heated steering wheel and ventilated seats) are found just aft of the transmission lever, while the safety settings (including lane departure and traction control) are to the left of the steering wheel. The seat memories are located on the door. After a few days of acclimation, I was able to locate the general area of the flush controls quickly, but each required me to remove my eyes from the road momentarily to use.


With key fob in pocket, a press of the black start/stop button fires up the 3.3-liter V6 under the Cadenza's hood. This modern direct-injected powerplant, shared with the Azera, is rated at 293 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 255 pound-feet of torque at 5,200 rpm. The engine is mounted transversely in the nose – perpendicular to the direction of travel – like it is in nearly all other front-wheel-drive vehicles. Amusingly, Kia's tricky engineers have hidden it beneath a plastic engine cover that has been molded to insinuate a longitudinal mounting.

A traditional six-speed automatic transmission, also shared with the Azera, is tasked with sending power to the ground. But its first two gears and final drive ratio are different to allow the Kia to feel a bit sportier than its sibling from Hyundai. In practice, this does seem to be the case, with the four-door launching off the line smartly, with even moderate throttle. Kia doesn't publish its own acceleration figures, but third-party testing suggests the Cadenza sprints to the 60 mph benchmark from a standstill in just under 6.5 seconds, covering the quarter mile in slightly fewer than 15 seconds. That's plenty quick for sedan whose primary mission is not performance.




During my seven-day test, I tossed Kia's premium sedan headfirst into the family routine, where it was forced to drive carpools, run errands and suffer in traffic jams. Everyone found the cabin comfortable, but the high-gloss wood trim sprinkled throughout the upscale cabin quickly showed fingerprints and dust, while the buttery smooth white leather required a nightly wipe-down to keep it clean – if you shuttle grubby young passengers (I loaded it with lacrosse players) often or are a neat freak, consider other colors. The rear seats don't fold, but the automaker does provide a seven-inch square pass-through for longer items like skis or a few lacrosse sticks.

To better assess the Cadenza's ride and handling chops, I took it on a four-hour road trip, nearly 200 miles long, which started at sea level and eventually climbed to 5,500 feet of elevation. Making things interesting, the drive encompassed busy highways and rural two-lane mountain passes before dropping me back on a well-traveled interstate highway. In a nutshell, the loop forced the Kia to perform under every imaginable driving environment – with the exception of inclement weather, which was in the mid-60s with clear blue skies.

With its 18.5-gallon fuel tank filled to the top with regular unleaded gasoline (premium fuel is not required), I set out after the bulk of the area's morning congestion had cleared.



The first part of the drive took me along the Pacific coast on a nicely paved, multi-lane highway traveling at about 60 mph (the speed limit was 65 mph, but it was crowded). To run with the flow of traffic, I switched on the Kia's radar-based ASCC and let its electronics inform my velocity. In this near-mindless state of cruise, with the Cadenza following the car ahead of it like a magnet following a block of iron, I found the sedan very comfortable. Its electrically assisted steering was on the numb side, but the car tracked well and lane changes were easy thanks to oversized exterior mirrors that provided a nice view. The cabin was well insulated, too, and there wasn't the slightest peep from the combustion going on under the hood or from the engine's two oval exhaust pipes – only the muted sound of wind rushing by the glass and the dull sound of the tires as they rolled over the textured pavement offered a hint of my velocity.


Even though this transmission has been tweaked with sportier ratios, that more athletic mindset hasn't necessarily carried over to the rest of the car's specifications. It quickly became obvious that the fully independent front and rear suspension have been tuned for comfort, with the underpinnings effortlessly absorbing all bumps and expansion joints. The base Cadenza arrives with standard 18-inch wheels, but the aforementioned optional 19-inch alloys fitted to my tester never caused an issue, despite being paired with rubber possessing shorter sidewalls. Much of the credit goes to the Hankook Optimo H426 all-season grand touring tires, size 245/40R19, which are tuned to optimize ride comfort.

Turning off the highway and heading into the mountains quickened the pace of things, especially when the road narrowed and started to get twisty. But unfortunately, the Cadenza's impressive composure soon began to wane.



With the roads nearly empty, I pushed the sedan into the corners. Kia pegs the curb weight of the four-door at 3,792 pounds, which is about average in this segment, but the strong V6 never felt the least bit burdened. In contrast, the standard disc brakes provided good initial bite, but the pads quickly started to overheat and provide less stopping power with each subsequent corner. But the single-piston brakes weren't the car's Achilles heel – the bulk of the blame should be directed at the soft suspension, which reached the end of its travel more than once, as well as at the aforementioned all-season tires that had me working the brakes as hard as I did.


Despite Kia's mild attempt to make the Cadenza come off as a luxury sedan with a bit of sporty flair (they've even gone so far as to fit steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters), the four-door is simply out of its comfort zone at anything above six-tenths in the canyons. And even if the brakes, suspension and tires had worked in perfect harmony, the wide seats offer very little lateral support for such roads. I found myself continuously struggling to stay in place – these are not issues with sport sedans. Once I reduced my speeds and turned the impressive UVO entertainment (with audio by Infinity) up a few notches, motoring tranquility and serenity were restored to previous levels. Despite marketing materials that allude to "carving through the Swiss Alps," this clearly isn't tuned to be a sport sedan, a conclusion confirmed by Kia executives during a subsequent interview.

I kept records of the road trip, as I often do, and my overall hand-calculated average for 197.2 miles traveled was 21.88 mpg overall. While my number did fall between the EPA numbers (19 mpg city and 28 mpg highway), nearly all of its six-cylinder competitors, including the Toyota Avalon, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Taurus and Volvo S80 will exceed the Cadenza's government-estimated highway numbers. It's a shame that the list even includes the Hyundai Azera, thanks to its slight gearing changes.



Extended periods behind the Cadenza's four-spoke leather and wood steering was very revealing. Once I overlooked whatever misguided sport aspirations it held and I stopped worrying about its slightly thirstier fuel consumption, I was left very impressed with this luxury vehicle. But there was one more thing I still needed to reconcile – the badge on the grille.


On my last day with the Kia, I drove a group of teenagers to high school while I covered the steering wheel hub with my hand. Each young passenger candidly raved about the sedan from their different seating positions. In their own words, they commented on the soft leather, legroom and isolation of the cabin. They played eagerly with the infotainment system, blasted the audio and were impressed when I mentioned that it had nearly 300 horsepower. As we approached the campus, I quizzed them about pricing, and each overshot the number, one guessing tens of thousands too high. Seconds before I dropped them off, I mentioned what brand car they were riding in. There was a brief pause before one of the kids piped up incredulously, "A Kia, really? Wow."

Seven days behind the wheel left me, and a handful of impartial teenagers, convinced that the new 2014 Kia Cadenza has what it takes to challenge for segment leadership. But those who spend $40,000 are often looking for more than just a strong value proposition – many want the prestige of a established premium badge (the automaker sold 8,626 Cadenza sedans in 2013, a partial year of sales, while Toyota moved 70,990 Avalon sedans). Only time will tell if this Korean automaker has finally proven to finicky Americans that the three silver letters on its nose carry more weight than the metal they are enameled upon.