Mid-engine Audi R3 to replace TT

Over the past week, CAR has donned its prognostication cap and tapped it's "internal sources" in an attempt to foretell Audi's future product plans. A few of stories have ranged from inane to insane, but one post seems entirely plausible and has blinded us with excitement.

Audi's mid-engine R4 was pronounced stillborn this past year, but with Volkswagen bringing its own midship concept to the Los Angeles Auto Show this November, Audi might revive plans its own version to market in the next five years. The new R3 would effectively replace the TT, providing a better business case for VAG to produce a mid-engine platform and silencing critics that have constantly complained that the TT is merely a tarted up Golf.

If the Volkswagen version is well received and given the green light, expect it to debut in 2013, with Audi's variant following shortly thereafter. In an attempt to keep from directly competing with the Porsche Boxster, Audi will exclusively offer the R3 with four-cylinder engines, including a 180 hp, 1.8-liter TFSI, 220 hp, 2.0-liter and a 280 hp, 2.0-liter on the S-line model. Diesels are also being considered, ranging from a 125 hp, 1.6.-liter to a 204 hp, 2.0-liter.

[Source: CAR]