G174-1 Baker Audio Control System 8130 on 2040-parts.com

Mystery Porsche prototype destroyed in fire near Stuttgart

According to the Porsche-lovers at flatsixes.com, an unknown Porsche prototype caught fire after being taken home by an employee earlier this week. It reportedly took 19 firefighters to extinguish the blaze, which occurred in a home garage in Ludwigsburg, Germany (a city located near Porsche's home in Stuttgart). Fortunately, the employee and his wife suffered only minor injuries, but we assume the prototype is a complete loss.

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro concept (2014) first official pictures

By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 15 May 2014 17:08 Audi has fired another salvo in the German power war with this: the 518bhp Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro concept. To be shown at the annual Worthersee show (which starts in Austria this week) the concept uses the 2.5-litre five-cylinder from the Audi TT RS and RS Q3 SUV. Officially, to show the A3’s ‘sportiness’, but it points to an RS3 saloon (we've already spied the hatch testing) as well as the next TT RS, which sits on the same platform.