Thanks to an alert reader, we have a good look at Audi’s most recent advertising campaign in Toronto. It’s a bit odd, but extremely unique, involving snow plows and huge signs proclaiming that “Winter is Coming.” Indeed it is, and depending on where you live, winter could potentially put an end to your driving fun. As you’re surely aware, though, one of Audi’s selling points is its Quattro all-wheel drive system, which aids in traction over a variety of surfaces, including snow. According to our tipster, this particular stunt proved successful in that it definitely grabs attention, “People were putting down their Starbucks so you know it has to be a good ad campaign,” says our man on the streets of Toronto. For what it’s worth, this appears to be the second year in a row that Audi has used this advertising campaign. Thanks for the tip, Dylan!

Word has it there is an eight-month waiting list for the Audi R8 in the car’s home market of Germany. Here in the good ol’ U.S. of A., the 50 units we get per month are not nearly enough for all of the interested buyers. Well, with V10, convertible and possibly diesel versions in the works, we can’t imagine that demand will subside anytime soon. You might think that Audi would be smart to amp up production to handle the high demand, especially with those new versions coming soon, but that isn’t gonna happen according to Audi. Seems they can only make 27 R8s a month day and no more. That should keep the R8 variations very scarce and very dear.

For those lucky enough to have the coinage and a place in line, there is more news. Car and Driver talked to Michael Dick, Audi’s member of the board of management for technical development, who told them the company expects to sell around 80% with V10 flavor. That version goes on sale next year, with drop-tops following soon after in Europe. Yanks will have to wait another year with 2011 models showing up in ‘10.

Other tidbits gleaned from the interview: Pricing hasn’t been set, the diesel might be Euro-only if it even makes it to production, and a little brother R4 was never in the cards with the TT-RS and possible Audi R3 version of the VW roadster filling out the dance card well enough. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that there are enough V10s available so we can get one in our garage at least.

As the AMM fleet rolls across north Texas, my co-driver Steve Ewing and I are currently on the tail of the Q7 piloted by Kevin Kelly and the legendary Jim McCraw. Jim, a veteran of four One Lap of America events, is used to these long slogs. Actually, for Jim this is more like a luxury cruise. On the One Lap, the teams circumnavigate the country in only a week, often ending up sleeping in cars and cheap motels. For us, the longest leg was the run from Chicago to Memphis, a trek of nearly 550 miles (more for those whose nav systems got confused among the Chicago skyscrapers).

Jim and Kevin managed to top the charts yesterday on the stage from Memphis to Little Rock to Dallas with 30.3 mpg while Steve and I only got 28.6. Jim managed to get hooked up behind a semi that was cruising at a good clip for an extended period of time, while we had trouble finding any trucks running faster than 60-65 mph. The day before, on the trip from Chicago, we tied at 28.8 mpg although Jim and Kevin had a slightly higher average speed at 63 mph vs our 60 mph. We’ve since become aware of a couple of tricks that seem to be helping, which I’ll divulge at a later time. Never let it be said that journalists aren’t competitive. As I finish writing this paragraph, a slightly faster truck passed us, and Steve has slipped in behind it. As we slid past, I glanced over to see a very unprofessional finger gesture from Mr. Kelly. Kevin and I will be discussing that tonight over steaks in Amarillo.

Day Four is upon us and we’re on our way out of Chicago. We’ve got one of our longest days of the trip today, with a 550-mile run to Memphis for some BBQ. In Chicago we had our first driver crew swap. The first of four legs is over and a predominantly new group of drivers is taking over the diesel Audis as we move on to Dallas, Amarillo and Denver on Sunday. The nature of this trip is predominantly highway running punctuated by lunch and overnight stops in the various cities along the route. That means the diesels are truly in their element… and it shows. Diesels love steady state running and there is no way even the sophisticated two-mode hybrid system in the Chevy Tahoe can get anywhere near 30 mpg even on a long highway cruise. We’re seeing up to 33 mpg in the Q7s and 38 in the Q5s. The A4s and A3s are topping 44 and 50 mpg respectively. Of course, around town those numbers drop off, but they still turn in very respectable mileage in the low 20s. Having said all that, read on after the jump to find out who was victorious in over the first leg and what I think about driving across America in a Q7.
One thing becomes quickly apparent when you leave the geographical periphery: this country is huge. The vast majority of the population lives near the edges, but scattered throughout the middle are pockets of humanity separated by seemingly endless miles of emptiness. Driving across the United States is particularly entertaining if you do it one of two ways: the Brock Yates Cannonball run approach, where you run coast to coast at maximum speed just to prove you can do it.

The other, far less dangerous and legal approach is to take a leisurely route, staying off the interstates and stopping frequently to see the communities and meet the people that make up the gumbo that is America. Somewhat unfortunately, our route is the middle-ground between the two, causing us to miss the best (and worst) the other options have to offer. We have stuck mainly to interstates and gone directly from one major city to the next without stops. We stay overnight and move off again, never really getting to experience the location.

If however, you’re going to do this, the Q7 is a damn fine way to travel. Anyone who has read my opinions here knows that I am by no means a fan of SUVs and this journey has not changed my thoughts of this particular genre of transport, especially if you live in an urban area like New York, Washington or Chicago. I would opt for something smaller and more manageable like an A4 or A3. But, if you have a need to regularly transport more than three friends or tow 6,600 pounds you might choose otherwise.

The Q7 provides those capabilities in combination with all the other attributes enjoyed in modern Audis. The interior materials and build quality are outstanding, with sewn leather covering the top of the instrument panel, the armrests and seats. The chairs are comfy and supportive over long journeys, but so are the sedan seats. Plus, there are plenty of power outlets to plug in your gear.

Is the Q7 the package I would opt for on a road trip if I didn’t have to tow or deal with poor traction conditions? Probably not. My first choice would probably be the A4. But if I needed the extra space to stretch out my kids and carry stuff, I’d like a package more like the Ford Flex. The lower floor means more usable interior volume than a typical high riding SUV. If however, I was forced to select among available large SUVs, the combination of 30 mpg cruising capability and the performance offered by this 3.0L V6 diesel would be a no-brainer over anything else in the segment.

So how did that mileage thing work out? The team from IMSA came up with a formula that comprises a blend of speed and fuel economy. The bias was toward the latter, with the speed component largely aimed at ensuring that people don’t dawdle along the freeway at 40 mph. Among the Q7 group on leg one from New York to Chicago the mileage ranged from a low of 26.4 mpg with an average speed of 53.8 mpg to 30.0 mpg at 48.8 mph. The overall winner with 488 points based on an average of 29.4 mpg and 52.4 mph was Q7 #3. That team relied mainly on cruise control and staying close to the speed limit without doing anything erratic. There were no folded mirrors or pumped up tires and no drafting behind trucks. So who was driving this vehicle? Jason Allan of Kelley Blue Book and yours truly.

Day Four is upon us and we’re on our way out of Chicago. We’ve got one of our longest days of the trip today, with a 550-mile run to Memphis for some BBQ. In Chicago we had our first driver crew swap. The first of four legs is over and a predominantly new group of drivers is taking over the diesel Audis as we move on to Dallas, Amarillo and Denver on Sunday. The nature of this trip is predominantly highway running punctuated by lunch and overnight stops in the various cities along the route. That means the diesels are truly in their element… and it shows. Diesels love steady state running and there is no way even the sophisticated two-mode hybrid system in the Chevy Tahoe can get anywhere near 30 mpg even on a long highway cruise. We’re seeing up to 33 mpg in the Q7s and 38 in the Q5s. The A4s and A3s are topping 44 and 50 mpg respectively. Of course, around town those numbers drop off, but they still turn in very respectable mileage in the low 20s. Having said all that, read on after the jump to find out who was victorious in over the first leg and what I think about driving across America in a Q7.

One thing becomes quickly apparent when you leave the geographical periphery: this country is huge. The vast majority of the population lives near the edges, but scattered throughout the middle are pockets of humanity separated by seemingly endless miles of emptiness. Driving across the United States is particularly entertaining if you do it one of two ways: the Brock Yates Cannonball run approach, where you run coast to coast at maximum speed just to prove you can do it.

The other, far less dangerous and legal approach is to take a leisurely route, staying off the interstates and stopping frequently to see the communities and meet the people that make up the gumbo that is America. Somewhat unfortunately, our route is the middle-ground between the two, causing us to miss the best (and worst) the other options have to offer. We have stuck mainly to interstates and gone directly from one major city to the next without stops. We stay overnight and move off again, never really getting to experience the location.

If however, you’re going to do this, the Q7 is a damn fine way to travel. Anyone who has read my opinions here knows that I am by no means a fan of SUVs and this journey has not changed my thoughts of this particular genre of transport, especially if you live in an urban area like New York, Washington or Chicago. I would opt for something smaller and more manageable like an A4 or A3. But, if you have a need to regularly transport more than three friends or tow 6,600 pounds you might choose otherwise.

The Q7 provides those capabilities in combination with all the other attributes enjoyed in modern Audis. The interior materials and build quality are outstanding, with sewn leather covering the top of the instrument panel, the armrests and seats. The chairs are comfy and supportive over long journeys, but so are the sedan seats. Plus, there are plenty of power outlets to plug in your gear.

Is the Q7 the package I would opt for on a road trip if I didn’t have to tow or deal with poor traction conditions? Probably not. My first choice would probably be the A4. But if I needed the extra space to stretch out my kids and carry stuff, I’d like a package more like the Ford Flex. The lower floor means more usable interior volume than a typical high riding SUV. If however, I was forced to select among available large SUVs, the combination of 30 mpg cruising capability and the performance offered by this 3.0L V6 diesel would be a no-brainer over anything else in the segment.

So how did that mileage thing work out? The team from IMSA came up with a formula that comprises a blend of speed and fuel economy. The bias was toward the latter, with the speed component largely aimed at ensuring that people don’t dawdle along the freeway at 40 mph. Among the Q7 group on leg one from New York to Chicago the mileage ranged from a low of 26.4 mpg with an average speed of 53.8 mpg to 30.0 mpg at 48.8 mph. The overall winner with 488 points based on an average of 29.4 mpg and 52.4 mph was Q7 #3. That team relied mainly on cruise control and staying close to the speed limit without doing anything erratic. There were no folded mirrors or pumped up tires and no drafting behind trucks. So who was driving this vehicle? Jason Allan of Kelley Blue Book and yours truly.

We’ll start our live coverage of the Paris Motor Show in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, but in the meantime the embargo dam at Audi has broken a bit early and released some interesting details along with a few images of the new A1 Sportback Concept. Hinted at by the Metroproject concept from Tokyo, the new A1 is a bit shorter than the A3, which is currently the smallest member of the Ingolstadt family tree, and aims to fill the premium small car niche that is currently dominated by the MINI Cooper. The Sportback’s ace-in-the-hole may be its five door body-style, offering up a dose of practicality not found in the standard BMW-based MINI. Don’t expect too many styling changes to be made before the new A1 is released in Europe as an ‘09 model. The concept sports what appears to be a new mild hybrid powertrain with a 150-horsepower 1.4L TSI engine mated up to a 27-horse electric motor. That combo sends power through Audi’s S-Tronic dual clutch gearbox, which is essentially Volkswagen’s superlative DSG transmission with a new name. Mileage is spectacular at 60.3 mpg (U.S.) and carbon emissions are low, just 92 g/km. We’ll know more after Audi officially unveils the A1 Sportback Concept in Paris tomorrow.

It’s hard to do battle with MINI in the premium compact segment. The Cooper and its derivatives bring style and nostalgia to the game, proving that consumers are okay with spending some hard-earned scratch on an iconic coupe.

The Audi A1 Sportback – designed to fill the slot left by the discontinued A2 – lacks the MINI’s wistful sensibilities, but it comes packing an extra set of doors, four usable seats, some handsome sheetmetal and an multimedia interface that ties in with the driver’s mobile phone to provide navigation, music and an internet connection. Oh, and it can make calls too.

A 1.4-liter TSI engine equipped with both a turbo and supercharger puts out 150 hp to the front wheels through Audi’s S-tronic dual-clutch gearbox, and a 27 hp (and 111 lb.-ft.) electric motor drawing power from a lithium-ion battery pack can motivate the A1 in start-and-stop traffic. Look for the production A1 to debut early next year, with sales beginning in late 2009.