These Are The Best Looking Road Cars Audi Has Ever Produced

I've been a fan of Audi's design language since my neighbor came home one day in a brand new purple C5 Audi A6 in the late 1990s. Everything about it looked so futuristic to young Logan, like the contrast between the smooth curves and the angular head- and taillights. I wasn't more than four years old by that time, but it left a lasting impression that still stands: I think Audi's styling department makes some of the best-looking cars on the road.

Audi popularized car design trends like LED daytime running lights that complemented its artful cars, and big statement grille designs that somehow managed to do the same. Unfortunately many modern Audis have stepped away from the brand's once-understated clean lines and moved toward busier fascias with creased metal and even-more-oversized grilles, but they're still handsome cars nonetheless.

Indirectly, Audi even taught me about the German Bauhaus art movement. I would read car magazines as a kid and kept seeing the word Bauhaus used to describe Audi's design language, so I looked it up and educated myself on the design movement. Audis have been featured in movies that depict the future due to its uniquely forward-thinking designs, which may have helped paint that picture in my head. Films like "Iron Man" and "iRobot" both starred Audis, and both movies furthered my belief that Audi designed the cars of the future.

What follows is a list of my all-time favorite Audi designs, and hopefully some of the audience's favorites, too. Let us know in the comments below what your favorite Audis are.

I have always loved the design of the Audi TT, especially before German TTs started flying off the Autobahn at high speeds due to the design's unique aerodynamic qualities. Once consumers took Audi TTs on the freeways and got into triple-digit speeds, aerodynamic lift caused the rear end to go light and drivers lost control, leading to a recall that encouraged owners to have a spoiler retrofitted to their car. I still love the TT's design with the spoiler, but I think without the spoiler it's even more striking.

Audi's A1 Quattro oozes style. It grafted the aggressive Audi face onto the itty bitty body of the brand's smallest car, the A1. In white with turbine-style wheels it's undeniably cool.

This particular Audi RS5 body style stands out in my head as one of the best looking cars ever made. Its giant mesh grille, LED running lights, satin wing mirrors and oversized wheels all came together to create a masterpiece. The original RS5 was still a looker, but this facelifted version took the brand's styling ethos into new realms of badass.

Similar to my neighbor's A6, the B6 Audi A4 Avant continued Audi's Bauhaus styling theme very successfully. Simple lines, a pert and chiseled face, the sweeping greenhouse, and snappy rear end all compel me to love this sharp looking wagon.

I remember seeing the episode of Top Gear where the trio gather their favorite German super sedans and take an adventure, and the sound of the RS4's V8 never left my brain. While I see the B6 as a better styled design than the B7, the RS4 adds aggression and muscle that leveled up the still-graceful design.

When Audi first released the R8, it was all the media could talk about. The original R8 still looks stunning today in a way that very few cars do. Its LED daytime running lights are burned into my memory, especially. As the R8 aged and Audi updated its styling, I never felt that the redesigns were as successful as the original.

Following Mercedes' introduction of the CLS-Class "four-door coupe," the Audi A7 was a revelation. Its styling was sharper and felt more modern to me than the Mercedes, and when the fire breathing RS7 added an aggressive bodykit, big wheels and satin accents to the design, all bets were off. The original RS7 is the best RS7 in my mind, since it wasn't overstyled at all, just styled properly.

The new RS6 Avant is a modern Audi design that really works. Where I'm not a fan of the new A6's styling because it feels too busy, the RS6 Avant's styling to me somehow manages to simultaneously add aggression and reduce visual complexity. The satin fangs in the brake cooling ducts look like they sprouted from the jaw of the car, and the massive wheels just look incredible filling up the wheel wells.

The RS Q8 isn't the best looking Audi ever, but it is one of the best looking current models. The rear roof pillar is reminiscent of the legendary Audi Quattro, and the body lines make it look like it has muscles rippling beneath its sheetmetal skin.

Alongside the TT, the A2 really blew my mind when I first saw it. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, with a quirky shape, an abbreviated tail, wheels pushed out to the corners, and the chic Audi face. The fact that it was never sold in the U.S. further endeared me to it, since I still have never seen one on the road. I really hope that people start importing these to the U.S. and driving them so I can see them all the time.

The headlights on this generation of Audi's biggest sedan have always mesmerized me. Audi's design department mixed angular shapes into otherwise smooth styling, and the fact that Audi facelifted the checkmark style lighting design out of the car made me desire the early ones even more. It was also one of the last Audi designs that kept the grille neatly contained between the headlights, an era I miss.

This was the Audi that made me fall in love with the brand. It's not a particularly exciting car, but its styling always looked good to me. During the 26 years since it hit the market, most cars go in and out of style, but the C5 Audi A6 has never felt dated. Its simplicity and clean lines will never go sour, in my opinion.

I am a sucker for cool compact cars, and when the RS3 debuted in the U.S. with its snorty turbocharged 5-cylinder motor, I was immediately enchanted. Yes, it's just a tarted up Golf underneath, but it's a handsome tarted up Golf with a charismatic heart wailing away under its hood. And that Quattro graphic on the front! How can you not love it?

I was working as a durability test driver for Porsche and Audi when the S8 was finishing development, so I drove them often and the S8 was probably my favorite car in the fleet. I was shocked by how benign the car feels when you're accomplishing daily driving duties, and even more shocked when I took it on twisty roads. The powertrain is unreasonably powerful; it sounds like an evil villain's car.

The legend of the Audi Quattro has definitely influenced my decision to include it on this list, since it's not easy to define this car's beauty. Like I mentioned with the RS3, I love powerful small cars, and though this isn't the smallest Quattro Audi ever made, it has the best proportions in my opinion. I prefer the look of a small car with a long wheelbase to the look of a small car with a short wheelbase, so that's why I chose the 1988 Audi Quattro to be featured on this list over the later Sport Quattro.

The Audi 80's styling has always appealed to me, as a representation of everything I've mentioned previously. It's a small car with good proportions, simplistic yet aggressive styling, and I am in love with its rear end. The S2 Coupe shared much with the legendary RS2 Avant that is more well-known, but I think this bodystyle looks better than the Avant — hot take, I know. Its hatchback styling, big fat spoiler, and comically oversized rear lights all come together to make me love the design of this sporty little Euro coupe.