Audi of America held its annual open house a few weekends ago and we were able to attend. AOA’s open houses are a fantastic opportunity to catch an up close and in depth look at new models before they hit the market in the states. This sneak peek is made possible by ACNA PCC and its awesome leaders. If you are not a member of ACNA, we strongly recommend you seek out your local chapter and join. The benefits of membership are many. This open house was particularly exciting due to the release of the all new Audi R8 v10 Plus and the R8 v10 roadster. Among the other notable models the new A and S5 made an appearance. So where to start? Well lets start with the obvious, the R8 v10+ was an absolute knock out. The new model combines fantastic looks with a new bout of power making a worthy contender with the other big name super cars. While we have always loved the look of the R8, its biggest drawback was the power it made (lookin at you V8) With this newest generation, the R8 is now a complete package, the exterior looks as good as it goes, and the interior quality and tech is right on point. The new R8 is truly a car you can comfortably daily and track with ease, the v10+ being the top of the top Audi has to offer. The cars we had a look at were Euro spec, which meant they had some extra goodies like LED laser lighting and of course, E codes. Needless to say the new R8 is every bit the Audi we have come to know and love.

The B9 gen A5 and S5 were also surprisingly good. We were unsold when the first press photos were released, however the cars do look great in person. There are still one or two things that we could do without, mainly on the A5, which failed to receive the same aggressive styling that the S got. Normally this hasn’t been as noticeable in past models, bar the RS lines. However we suspect the new styling was in response to the complaints that Audi had made the performance models to visually similar to the base A lines. The interiors of the B9 A5 and S5 are quite good and represent Audi VW groups push and emphasis on technology. Overall we feel that the new car has a lot of potential, but it shall remain interesting in how to best capture that in photos. Overall the open house represented a chance to get to know some of the new models coming to the states in the next year or so. While the plans for the RS lines excluding the RS3 still remain unclear, we have high hopes that Audi will provide a more robust performance and tuner friendly line up to come. Now if they would just hurry up and send the RS6, we would be oh so happy.

Thanks again to AOA and ACNA PCC for hosting the event and we look forward to returning next year to see what may be coming our way from our favorite car maker.

-CA Staff