Audi: A6 Quattro Premium Plus on 2040-cars

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Audi Adaptive Cruise Control | 2017 Autoblog Technology of the Year Finalist

Not your father's cruise control, Audi's adaptive system is another step on the road to autonomous driving. That earns it a spot as one of our Technology of the Year finalists. Audi Adaptive Cruise Control can slow down or speed up your vehicle depending on the conditions. It's also capable of coming to a full stop and then resuming speed. This allows the vehicle to move with traffic without engagement from the driver using Traffic Jam Assist at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. It's not being marketed as an auto-pilot setup. Rather, this system can increase driver safety by automatically braking as the vehicle in front slows and then accelerating once the path becomes clear. The cruise control has five programmable settings to regulate distance between vehicles. Linked with the navigation system, Audi's ACC suite uses a camera and radar to respond to its environment, a key development for future systems that will need to communicate with the grid. The system can read street signs, allowing it to slow down or speed up. Additionally, when a destination is set, the vehicle will automatically brake when a turn is looming to alert the driver he or she needs to take action. It will brake through the turn and then speed up upon completing the maneuver. We especially liked this, as many navigation systems don't inform the driver when to turn or take an exit until the last possible moment. Further, when navigating curves, the Audi system will brake the vehicle and resume speed as conditions require. This Adaptive Cruise Control is a layer of artificial intelligence we can get on board with. It's like having a co-pilot to assist the driver when the inevitable fatigue or distractions appear. It engages like a normal cruise control system. Simply pull the stalk in the steering wheel mount, and there's a button to modulate the distance. We tested Audi's Adaptive Cruise Control on an A4, where it is an $1,800-option as part of the Driver Assistance Package. Working in combination with Audi's Virtual Cockpit and head-up display, ACC provides the driver a sense of awareness and greater level of information than other systems on the road. Companies like Volvo and Porsche offer similar setups, but we like the intuitiveness of the Audi program. Automakers have been saying for years that the autonomous technology is essentially here, they just need the infrastructure and regulations to catch up.

The 2013 Rolex 24-hour race at Daytona comes down to the last hour [spoilers, w/video]

It took 24 hours to run the race, but it was the last one was stuffed with the high action as four cars were still trying to figure out how to gain victory on the track and in the pits. Along with the obligatory crashes, spins, mechanical issues and retirements had come numerous penalties, a double-digit number of full-course yellows and two hours of fog that turned early Sunday morning into a stretch of parade laps.
The final hour would make up for the morning - drivers who might have been happy just to get on the podium had a shot at victory as the end of the race approached, and that turned into a few gambles that paid off, and at least one that didn't...

2014 Audi SQ5

No Diesel? No Problem
With the exception of a handful of markets (including the US), the Audi SQ5 was a pioneer for the company's S/RS performance line as it was the first model to wear the badge and also get diesel power. Our general "everything is better with a diesel" mentality was put to the test when we first heard we would be getting a non-diesel SQ5 in the US (despite the availability of the diesel-powered Q5 TDI here already), but as usual we can only blame our federal emissions standards. As Audi tells it, the SQ5 TDI engine would require AdBlue to meet US emissions regulations, and the packaging of such a system just wasn't possible, so the global SQ5's diesel engine was replaced by a gasoline-powered V6 borrowed from the Audi S4/S5. To show that little, if anything, was lost in translation from diesel to gas, we headed to southwestern Colorado to spend an afternoon with the all-new 2014 Audi SQ5.
Our drive program had us taking the SQ5 from Durango, CO to the city of Gateway, before heading to Grand Junction the next morning. There's nothing like spending five hours strapped into a seat, traversing hill and mountain, to truly test a vehicle's comfort and driving dynamics. From the first touch of the SQ5's push-button starter, we knew this was no ordinary Q5. As the engine came to life with a deep burble and raspy pops, and we spent the rest of the day trying to come to terms with the fact that not everything needs a diesel. Wait. What?!