In the decade or so it’s been on the market, the Audi TT has become world renowned for its avant garde style, but it’s never ranked high as a true sports car. That perception changed recently thanks in large part to quattro GmbH — the performance division responsible for the mighty R8. The result is the new  Audi TTS, a potent blend of speed, flair, and livability. Watch out, Porsche.

With the “S” onboard, Audi’s small 2+2 has evolved into a mechanical ensemble that delivers as many smiles on its drivers’ mugs as stares from passersby. Its 2.0-liter four-cylinder is fortified with a strengthened block, an aluminum-silicon alloy head, a bigger Garrett variable turbocharger, reinforced internals, and a remapped ECU. How does 265 horsepower sound?

Audi says a sprint to 60 mph in the TTS only takes 4.9 seconds. That’s just a couple of ticks off the Porsche Cayman S PDK (4.4 seconds), putting the TTS squarely in the legitimate sports car neighborhood. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to put the TTS through our usual barrage of instrumented testing, but there’s no doubt this thing is fast. It’s a point-and-shoot type of ride with boatloads of grip courtesy of an intelligent quattro all-wheel drive system and aluminum-bred suspension. And that’s with the electronics set in “Normal.”

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This RS7 rendering sees the car with a rear-mounted engine, with design elements much like the current (real) Audi R8, including the contrast in color between the engine bonnet and the rest of the body.

But here the contrast becomes more defined, with a stark black covering the rear engine bay and extending to the rear of the body, covering the rear wheel wells too.

The horizontal design lines resonate Lamborghini, just like the R8 does, but also provide a larger curve over the front wheel wells adding a more organic touch to the RS7.

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Mercedes-Benz has long since memorized the four-seat convertible script. Hell, they probably wrote the damned thing. Benz has built dozens of different ones over the years, so it stands to reason that company engineers have approached their new E-Cabrio with a pretty reliable checklist of attributes. Primary among their concerns? A luxurious and well-sheltered interior. To that end, not only has Stuttgart mated an inch-thick canvas top with startlingly good sealing capabilities to a suitably robust chassis, it has kitted out its latest baby with all manner of draft-dodging technologies, including a new feature called Aircap. The system consists of a motorized airfoil that deploys from the windshield header in tandem with a power-actuated rear wind blocker that rises with the rear headrests to reduce in-cabin air turbulence. We’ve seen riffs on both elements before, but never with one-touch simultaneous deployment.

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The biggest change is the elimination of the base model, which was priced from $80,790 (in the 2010 model year). For 2011, the sole model is the $84,060 GT-R Premium (a $1020 increase over the 2010 GT-R Premium). Options include ‘Super Silver’ paint ($3,000), ultra-high performance tires (no charge), floor mats ($280), and a cold weather package (no charge).

Besides the revised pricing structure, the 2011 GT-R has a retuned suspension, strengthened rear bushings, darker wheel center caps, and a thicker layer of clear coat on the front and rear fascias. Other updates include auto on/off headlights, speed-sensitive windshield wipers, USB/iPod/Bluetooth connectivity, and a navigation system with XM NavTraffic and NavWeather capability.

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According to AutoWeek, though, that’s just what GM’s vice president of global design, Ed Welburn, did late last year when the time came for The General to start drafting proposals for the next-gen Corvette. Why would GM consider looking at European design flavors for its oh-so-American, V8-powered, rear-wheel drive sportscar? Demographics. According to Welburn, “We have challenges in the States with the Corvette. The average age of the customer is really rising.”

That average age, for those keeping track, is 54 years-old (so says the Power Information Network). And it seems that the import-favoring younger generation in America isn’t all that interested in the current ‘Vette, a fact that has undoubtedly played a part in the Corvette’s 48-percent sales decline in 2009 over the previous year..

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