The five greatest Audi movie car chases

The question of one's favorite movie car chases has always been hot subject amongst petrolheads. While classic chase scenes from movies such as Bullitt or Vanishing Point usually capture top honors on most lists, we wanted to make a compilation of our own - one with a more four-ringed focus. Below you'll find what we feel are the five greatest Audi movie car chases.

5. Audi R8/Taxi mashup vs. Ford Crown Victoria in Date Night (2010)



Kicking off our list is perhaps one of the most unconventional car chases in cinematic history. In the movie Date Night, an Audi R8 briefly stars beside Steve Carell and Tina Fey in a hilariously choreographed getaway sequence while attached to a NYC taxi cab. Though hard not to wince at the torture this R8 is put through, J.B. Smoove's part as the cab driver had us laughing out loud through most of the scene. (sorry for the poor video quality, this was the only clip we could find)

Four-ringed behind the scenes: Five Audi R8s were destroyed while filming this scene. As stunt coordinator Jack Gill explains: “We ruined five of the R8s in the filming, and I hated that because they were beautiful cars,” Mr. Gill said. “But they have these aluminum bodies that every time you crash them, you write ‘em off." [Garrett on the Road]

4. Audi A8L W12 vs. Volvo 850 Wagon in From Paris With Love (2010)



John Travolta as a bad ass, black ops CIA agent proves the Audi A8L W12 (D3) is an optimal vehicle for hunting terrorists in From Paris With Love. That said, this particular terrorist is probably second-guessing his choice of a Volvo 850 Wagon as getaway car. Especially with Travolta's character, Charlie Wax hanging out of the A8's passenger window with rocket launcher.

Four-ringed behind the scenes: In addition to the A8's starring role, the scene actually was filmed using a C5 Audi A6 Avant as a camera car. [Behind the scenes featurette can be seen here] Also, this particular A8 is still a mystery to us. There is a "W12" badge on the grille, though the front fascia looks like that of a refreshed S8. Even the folks at IMCDB.org (the internet movie car database) are stumped on this one.

3. Audi RSQ concept vs. 'truck' loads of angry robots in I, Robot (2004)



Understandably, Will Smith's character, Del Spooner in I, Robot seems pretty pissed off that hordes of angry robots are tearing the crap out of his Audi RSQ concept. Despite this, it seems that even Audis of the future feature quattro all wheel drive; as the beaten Audi manages to not only shake them off, but also escape getting crushed in the process (well, more or less).

Four-ringed behind the scenes: The Audi RSQ was designed and built by Audi specifically as a product placement for I, Robot. In addition, "most of the cars in the movie are modified pre-2004 Audi A2, A6 and TT models. There are even some unmodified cars." [IMDB]

2. Audi A8L W12 vs. Mercedes Benz E-Class in Transporter 3 (2008)



Jason Statham's character, Frank Martin finds himself in a particularly tough spot in Transporter 3. Aside from the distractions of the crazy, drunk chick with a penchant for techno music in his back seat, Frank also has a bracelet strapped to his wrist that will explode if he gets farther than 75 feet from his Audi A8L W12 (D3). Although, we can think of much worse cars to be strapped to (like that Mercedes E-Class for example). (Full clip of the chase can be found here on YouTube)

Four-ringed behind the scenes: If you pay close attention, it appears multiple Audi A8's were used in the filming of this scene. Specifically noting the taillights shown throughout the chase, revealing both pre and post facelift D3 models.

1. Audi S8 vs. Citroën XM in Ronin (1998)



We're sure that our number one pick came as no surprise to most of you. As not only our favorite Audi movie car chase but also one of our favorite movie car chases of all time, we pick the famous Audi S8 (D2) vs. Citroën XM scene from the classic 1998 film, Ronin starring Robert De Niro. (Audi part begins at 6:15 of the video above. Or, click here to watch in HD)

Four-ringed behind the scenes: Skipp Sudduth (who plays 'Larry' the S8's wheel man) was/is an amateur racing/stunt driver and performed nearly all of the driving scenes behind the wheel of this now-famous movie car [Wikipedia].

So that wraps up our list of the five best Audi movie car chases. What's your favorite? Let us know by commenting below.