Events Coverage
2008 Chicago Auto Show: Audi Perspective
By by: Fourtitude Staff
Feb 10, 2008, 21:05

As industry auto shows go, Chicago generally represents a more easy-going cadence from the brand’s blistering model intro schedule. From a press perspective, the Windy City event is certainly active, though not to the level of Detroit or L.A. Still, they say this is the American auto show with the biggest public attendance. Audi of America regularly saves smaller intros for the event as a result and this year was no exception, revealing a “Special Edition” A4 based on the 2008 model.

Sitting alongside more attention-grabbing offerings such as the all-new 2009 A4, the A5 coupe and the R8, the elder B7 A4 is still important in Audi’s plan to keep A4 sales brisk between now and when its successor hits showrooms in September. Essentially a value package to sweeten the deal, the Special Edition boasts S-line body kit (now standard on all A4s for 2008), heated leather seats, metallic paint and a new, seemingly BBS-inspired 17-inch wheel design. The package is aimed at 2.0T models only, though Audi says that you can upgrade to full S-line, S-line Titanium pack and most other A4 options when ordering a Special Edition.



Elsewhere in Chicago’s McCormick Place was the German-built lightweight roadster by the firm known emphatically as “YES!”. Longtime readers of this website are likely already familiar with the mid-engine sportster, though Americans officially got their first look at the company’s 3.2 turbo variant in Chicago.

YES! has updated the roadster, utilizing a turbocharged version of Audi’s narrow-angle 3.2 V6 (a.k.a. VR6) also seen in TT and A3 models sans the turbo found in the YES!. With forced induction, the company claims 355hp and a 0-60 mph run in 4.8 seconds.



We’ve always thought the YES! bore a subtle resemblance to Audi models from which it shares its powerplant, though find this particularly noticeable when the company equips their two-seaters with replicas of Audi wheels like the RS 4-look versions or Nuvolari concept-look alloys fitted to the firm’s two display vehicles.

With Chicago now open to the general public and journalists long-gone, Audi now must prepeare for next month’s auto industry shows in Geneva and New York City where models like the Q5 crossover and A4 Avant with next-generation 2.0T engine are expected to star. Expect more information to follow as it is made available.

RELATED READING:

2008 Audi A4 Special Edition Debuts at Chicago Auto Show Coming to America! Audi-Powered YES! 3.2 Roadster

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