2004 Audi Allroad Quattro Base Wagon 4-door 2.7l on 2040-cars

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Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

Notes and notations on the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona [w/video]

This year is the 52nd edition of the Daytona 24 Hours. The 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona is also the first race of the year in the brand new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC) With the merger of the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series rewriting and revising the rules of American sports car racing right up until yesterday, we've made the journey to an intermittently wet and constantly freezing Daytona Beach, Florida with Audi to watch the new R8 LMS and every other competitor explore the limits of those rules on the track.
With a ton to cover - and a couple of videos below to watch, including some slo-mo qualifying footage and a hot lap in an R8 LMS - let's not waste time with chit-chat, eh?
Quick things to know about the classes and the leader-light system:

VW says it has sold over 100,000 TDI diesels in America this year

Volkswagen Group of America has lit oil-burning fireworks to celebrate the sales of more than 100,000 TDI Clean Diesel vehicles in the US between its VW and Audi brands this year. According to VW, that means it is responsible for more than 75 percent of diesel-engined cars and SUVs sold here - perhaps not surprising when the two brands offer a total of 12 diesel models.
What might be surprising is that the number of diesels isn't far off the estimated sales of 90,000 battery electric vehicles and PHEVs, with 15,000 of those accounted for by the Tesla Model S, another 12,000 or so being the Toyota Prius PHEV.
VW's keen to play up the ease of making diesel part of your life, stressing that it doesn't need any change to the refueling infrastructure and that "this is a technology delivering real answers to society's concerns about fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions without compromises."