10 Awd 4wd White 3.6l V6 Sunroof Navigation 3rd Row Miles:48k Suv on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and our new long-term Acura TLX | Autoblog Podcast #661

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and Audi A4, as well as the recently departed long-term Volvo S60 T8 and the new addition to the long-term fleet, an Acura TLX. In this week's news, they talk about the Stellantis merger completion, some more thoughts about GM at CES, BMW announcing an electric M car, an upcoming electric Lincoln Corsair and the possibility of an electric-only Ford Mustang in 2028. Autoblog Podcast #661 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving:2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 2021 Audi A4 S Line 45 TFSI Quattro 2020 Volvo S60 T8 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec News:Stellantis is a thing now More thoughts on GM at CES BMW announces electric M car is coming this year Electric Lincoln Corsair-E coming in 2026, report says The next-gen Ford Mustang reportedly going all-electric, arriving in 2028 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Audi RS7 prototype is world's sportiest self-driving car [w/video]

Audi may not be the only automaker out there toying with self-driving automobile technology, but it is arguably the fastest of them. A few years back, it raced unleashed a driverless TTS on the Bonneville Salt Flats, then sent it up Pikes Peak and around Thunderhill. But now it's taking things a step further with the vehicle you see here.
This RS7 Sportback has been fitted with steering, brakes, throttle and transmission hooked up to a computer system that combines GPS, high-frequency radio signals and 3D imaging camera to drive the vehicle autonomously not just in slow-paced, stop-and-go traffic, but around the track at the same pace a professional racing driver would push it: full throttle on the straights, full braking before the corner and 1.1-g of cornering force.
As promised, Audi plans to unleash the self-driving RS7 - which it calls "the sportiest piloted driving car in the world" - at Hockenheim next weekend prior to the DTM season finale, where it is anticipated to pull a 2:10 lap time. The next stage will be to set it lose on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, all 154 turns and 13 miles of it, which ought to pose a heck of a challenge to the engineers from Ingolstadt. In the meantime you can scope it out in the high-res image gallery above and the second teaser video below.

Audi's CEO might not have known of VW emissions scheme

There's been no shortage of finger-pointing when it comes to finding people to blame for the Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal that broke last September. One rather powerful executive, however, appears to have escaped blame. That would be Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, whose company sold about 85,000 diesel vehicles with emissions-cheating software, Reuters says, citing people familiar with the process. US law firm Jones Day questioned executives at both VW and its Audi unit and has found no evidence that Stadler was complicit with the plan, which involved programming Volkswagen-made diesel engines to produce artificially low emissions when the vehicle was being smog-tested. In Audi's case, the engine type in question was the 3.0-liter V6 diesel. Officials with both VW and its Audi unit declined to comment, according to Reuters. That engine was used for the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5, and Q7 since the 2009 model year, in addition to the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne. Audi also sold the VW Group 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the A3 from 2010 to 2013 and 2015. VW has reached an agreement with US regulators concerning that engine, which is also not connected to Stadler. Last month, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag published specifics on how the 3.0-liter diesel cheated the emissions-testing process, including records that the motor was programmed to shut of its emissions-control equipment after 22 minutes of running, or about two minutes longer than typical emissions-compliance testing. Audi said last November that it would work on a software update for the V6's emissions-control system that would be submitted to both the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the VW unit hasn't reached any settlement with US regulators implying that a solution was agreed upon. Volkswagen's settlement with the EPA will cost Europe's largest automaker as much as $15 billion in the form of buybacks, lease buyouts, vehicle repairs, and investments in zero-emissions technology. VW sold about a half-million vehicles in the US that contained the so-called "cheat" software. Related Video: News Source: Reuters Government/Legal Green Audi Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal scandal Rupert Stadler