2006 Audi A4 Base Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Essentially sporty | 2017 Audi A4 Quattro Quick Spin

Two boxes checked on the options list set our long-term Audi A4 2.0T Quattro Prestige apart, dynamically, from the rest. One is the Sport Package, and namely the sport suspension with its lowered ride height. The other is the 19-inch wheel package, which includes 245/35 summer tires. The A4's sport suspension is taut without being rough. The car feels as though it's gliding over the road, but some of the chop makes its way into the cabin. It mostly isn't bothersome, but you can feel – and especially hear – any larger imperfections you happen to hit with one the tires. Our car's 19-inch wheels, with their low sidewalls, amplified the potholes, too. Largely, though, it's comfortable and supremely smooth if the road's not all torn to heck. The sport suspension does an excellent job of eliminating squat and dive, and side-to-side body roll, which aids comfort. That ride makes for really smooth sailing in your daily driving duties, especially since the rest of the car feels so civil. The transmission works smoothly and seamlessly in the background in automatic mode. We do notice some of the gear changes if only because we're tuned into how impressively smooth and quick they are. On its own, the transmission tends to shift low in the rev range so you don't get a lot of engine noise with normal driving. We know that there's some athleticism hiding under this car's preppy facade when we look down at the speedometer and realize we're going quite a bit faster than it feels. It's so well composed, though, that we'd be perfectly okay with putting our grandmother in the passenger seat without feeling like we were going to freak her out if we were to happen to exceed the posted speed limit. But after dropping Grandma off, it's time to put the car into Dynamic mode (tightening up steering and ramping up the throttle behavior) and switch the gear lever from D to S. Using the paddle shifters on the Our personality and that of the car changed, becoming more aggressive. back of the steering wheel, the A4 transforms into a truly engaging driving machine. It shifts very quickly, and the sound of the engine becomes more noticeable in part because you can rev it higher, but also because you're more tuned into it. Upshifts and downshifts happen in an instant, to help make full use of engine's sweet spots.

Audi Self-Driving Car Gets First Permit In California

Computer-driven cars have been testing their skills on California roads for more than four years - but until now, the Department of Motor Vehicles wasn't sure just how many were rolling around. That changed Tuesday, when the agency issued testing permits that allowed three companies to dispatch 29 vehicles onto freeways and into neighborhoods - with a human behind the wheel in case the onboard computers make a bad decision. The German automaker Audi was first in the state to receive a self-driving car permit and already has plans to test drive an autonomous A7 around the Bay Area, according to the Los Angeles Times. These may be the cars of the future, but for now they represent a tiny fraction of California's approximately 32 million registered vehicles. Google's souped-up Lexus SUVs are the biggest fleet, with 25 vehicles. Mercedes and Volkswagen have two vehicles each, said Bernard Soriano, the DMV official overseeing the state's "autonomous vehicle" regulation-writing process. A "handful" of other companies are applying for permits, he said. The permits formally regulate testing that already was underway. Google alone is closing in on 1 million miles. The technology giant has bet heavily on the vehicles, which navigate using sophisticated sensors and detailed maps. Finally, government rules are catching up. In 2012, the California Legislature directed the DMV to regulate the emerging technology. Rules that the agency first proposed in January went into effect Tuesday. Among them: - Test drivers must have a sparkling driving record, complete a training regimen and enroll in a program that informs their employer if they get in an accident or are busted for driving under the influence off hours. - Companies must report to the state how many times their vehicles unexpectedly disengage from self-driving mode, whether due to a failure of the technology or because the human driver takes over in an emergency. They also must have insurance or other coverage to pay for property or personal injury claims of up to $5 million. California passed its law after Nevada and Florida and before Michigan. The federal government has not acted, and national regulations appear to be years away. It's impossible to know the total number of self-driving cars being tested on public roads because, unlike California and Nevada, Michigan does not require special permits to test self-driving cars on public roads.

Tom Kristensen walks through a perfect lap of Le Mans in Forza 5

One of the best ways of learning a new track, aside from driving it, is to hear someone that's intimately familiar with it give you a good walkthrough. That's just what you'll get here, as the winningest driver in 24 Hours of Le Mans history, Tom Kristensen, walks you through the Circuit de la Sarthe's high-speed, 8.5-mile strip of pavement.
Kristensen is dubbed over scenes of drivers from a Forza Motorsport 5 contest lapping the track at the wheel of an Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, adding a bit of visual sense to the Danish drivers description of the track.
With the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans kicking off this weekend, this is just the sort of video you'll want to watch to get you in the mood. Take a look below, and then let us know what you think in Comments.