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Italy To Monaco In Ingolstadt's Crushing Performance Saloon
I had an engagement a while back with the Audi RS5 Cabriolet in Monaco, and getting me from my lair in northern Italy by plane connection is an utter waste of time since the first flight is always to either Paris, Zurich, or Rome, three cities not at all on the way to Monaco. So I phoned Audi Italia about a quick loan of a car for the three-hour-ish drive to this event, and they were simpatici enough to propose that I keep whatever they gave me for two weeks. And what they gave me was a loaded Audi S8 with properly chosen 20-inch Dunlop SP Winter Sport treads attached.
This was about to be a much cooler two weeks than I had planned.

Audi moves to patent electric Quattro and active-shutter wheels

Audi might have a few tricks up its sleeve for the coming years, with the Brits at Autocar uncovering a pair of patent filings made by the German luxury brand. The first is something we've seen before - wheel flaps - while the second is an evolution of one of Audi's trademark technologies.
We last saw wheel flaps on the Ford Atlas Concept in 2013, but the futuristic fuel-saving tech has so far failed to arrive on a production car. Audi may be seeking to change that, patenting the flaps that open and close automagically based on airflow. They can also open if the brakes get too hot.
The second patent is an evolution of Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive. The new AWD system uses an electrically driven rear axle and wheel sensors to figure out when and at which corner the car might lose traction, and is targeted largely at hybrid offerings, which is a field Audi has only recently dipped its toe into.

Audi testing long-tail version of R18 e-tron quattro for Le Mans

Race teams are always looking for ways to shave hundredths of seconds of their lap times. Case in point: Audi is making some slight changes to its prototype racecar to make it ever so much more slippery as it cuts through the air.
Debuting at the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa on May 4, Audi will be testing a long-tail version of its R18 E-tron Quattro racecar. As its name suggests, the long-tail car gets a lengthened rear section with the goal of improving aerodynamics. The long-tail will be run alongside the standard version of the racecar as a testbed for possible changes that might be in store, heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Audi did not say how many inches were added to the racecar, but as you can see in the image above, "long-tail" definitely doesn't take on the same meaning of classic long-tail cars of the past such as the Porsche 917. More information about the car, Audi's team and even some info about the track itself can be found below.