A new Audi aims to prove that sustainable technology and driving fun are no contradiction. On the rest of this edition, Drive it! steps on the gas.Present it! Audi A3 1.0l TFSIDownsizing -- making an engine that maintains power with less cubic capacity -- is an important theme in carmaking. But sceptics fear there's no substitute for engine displacement.Audi wants to convince them with a 1-liter, 3-cylinder engine in a premium compact car, the A3. The 1.0L TFSI engine is part of the A3's facelift. This current generation has been available for four years. The sound doesn't seem unusual. And with fuel consumption at 4.5 liters per 100 km, the 3-cylinder is the thriftiest gasoline engine in the A3 family.Admire it! 24-Hour Race at the NürburgringSmoking tires, roaring engines and lightning-fast pit stops are par for the course at Germany's legendary race track. But at this year's event scorching heat, blinding rain and hail pushed man and machine to their limits. Drive it! accompanied the Mathilda Racing team and got a look behind the scenes at this grueling endurance race.Taste it! Lexus RX 450hLexus has sold more than 2 million RXs worldwide, making the RX the best-selling model in the company's 26-year history. It comes in 2-liter gasoline and hybrid variants.We tested the sporty, elegant SUV with hybrid drive. The RX450h's electric motor combined with a V6 gasoline engine gives the luxury SUV a total of 230 kW -- enough, despite the car weighing more than 2 tons, to accelerate to 100 km/h in just 7.7 seconds. Thanks to its electric motor, it consumes only 5.3 liters per 100 km.Examine it! Essen tire fairBlack rubber in various shapes and sizes stands proudly on display at the tire fair in Essen, western Germany. A total of 675 exhibitors from 43 countries present their wares.Bridgestone now has a recyclable version of their run flat tire. Goodyear reveals a concept tire made using a 3D printer: the spherical Eagle 360. It was developed especially for self-driving cars and offers brand new potential for driving. A diamond-encrusted, high-performance tire from Z Tyre now has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. It's worth around 150,000 dollars.Vintage! Porsche-powered Karmann GhiaJochen Bader's Karmann Ghia RS is one of a kind. It's part Volkswagen, part Porsche and a whole lot of fun. He took the sporty body of a 1970 Karmann Ghia and pumped it full of Porsche technology. The result is a Ghia with an output of 321 horsepower and a top speed of more than 300 kilometers an hour.
