Yahoo Autos The New Audi S3 Is Here With 310-HP and Lots of New Tech
Welcome to The Grid, R&T's quick roundup of the auto industry and motorsports news you should know this morning.
The New Audi S3 Is Here
As cars get bigger and more powerful without necessarily getting better, the Audi S3 has remained a refreshing antidote. Since first coming to America in 2014, the S3 has served a reminder of why we love sport sedans. It's small, reasonably quick, and practical. Thankfully, Audi isn't changing much for the new S3, which makes its debut today.
At first glance, this car doesn't look all that different from its predecessor, and there's a good reason for that. The new S3 rides on an evolved version of the Volkswagen MQB platform that underpinned the last one. Power comes from a 310-hp 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive is, of course, standard. There's lots of new tech inside, but otherwise, this isn't a radical departure for the S3. We think that's a good thing.
Peugeot Brand Still Aims for North American Market Return
Peugeot/Citroen parent company PSA is merging with Fiat Chrysler to create a new company, Stellantis. Despite that, PSA is still pushing to reintroduce Peugeot to the North American market, and Automotive News spoke with Larry Dominique, the man in charge of making that happen. Dominique wants to have the Peugeot brand back in the U.S. and Canada in the coming years, and while we'd love to herald the return of funky French compacts, expect PSA to sell what Americans actually want—crossovers. There's still a lot in the air, though, so who knows if we'll ever see Peugeots in America again.
IndyCar Confirms 33-Car Indy 500 Grid
For a while, it looked like the Indy 500 wouldn't have the traditional 33 cars for this year's (pandemic-delayed) running, but a handful of last-minute entries fixed that. Yesterday, IndyCar confirmed the 33-car field, which includes eight former winners and five rookies. Fernando Alonso will make his third attempt at capturing the triple crown of motorsports—wins at Monaco, Le Mans, and Indy—and because there are only 33 entries, he's not at risk of missing the show like last year. Practice for the 104th running of the 500 begins tomorrow, with qualifications set for this weekend. The race will be held on the 23rd.
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