2008 Audi Q7 S-line 4.2 V8 Adaptive Air Suspension Loaded on 2040-cars

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One Lap of America, with three times the madness

Instead of celebrating last weekend face down in a sombrero full of tequila-spiked OJ and a few lime wedges, 71 racing teams with one set of tires each and no support crews began Cinco De Mayo — and this year's 35th running of the One Lap of America — by hitting the wet skid pad at Tire Rack's headquarters in South Bend, Ind. There were Porsches, Vettes, Camaros and BMWs galore. There was a Miata, a vintage NSX, a Honda S2000 and even an old VW Rabbit. There were GTIs, the odd Evo and, oh yeah, six Toyotas, a couple of Vipers and a couple of GTRs. When the skidding stopped, a 2011 BMW 1M emerged triumphant and led the pack out into the heartland, where it will spend 5,000 miles this week hitting road courses, dragstrips and time trials at tracks as far west as Denver, as south as Fort Worth and then New Orleans. From there, it will barrel north through Mississippi, Alabama, Nashville, Kentucky and back home again to Tire Rack in Indiana. Twenty events, eight venues, with a three-hour window for each event. It's a nonstop, no-sleep, one-week road trip comprising 150-ish friends and brothers, partiers and pro racing drivers, spouses and other family-member combo packs. Some will never speak to each other again, some might end up divorced, some might get married. All of them are nuts. I know this because I made three laps. Three laps I will never forget.LAP ONE: 1984 Vehicle: 1984 Dodge Van Team #0: Jean Lindamood (Jennings), Walker Evans, Parnelli Jones I was present for the inaugural 1984 One Lap of America because I worked at Car and Driver back then and so did Brock Yates. He was the guy who came up with the clandestine, illegal, unsanctioned Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash from Connecticut to Redondo Beach, Calif. It ran five times in the 1970s, with Yates joining Dan Gurney in a Ferrari Daytona for the second run. They won, Gurney insisting that "at no time did we exceed 175 miles per hour." One Lap was born of Cannonball nostalgia (read: Brock was bored), and I was beyond game for it. After securing a van from Dodge and two giant decals for the van sides, along with $5,000 in sponsorship from local Detroit Stroh's Brewery, I coaxed my friend, nine-time Baja 1000 winner Walker Evans, into running One Lap by suggesting he didn't have a hair on his ass if he refused. Then I suggested that if he didn't get his best friend and longtime road trip buddy, Parnelli Jones, to go with us, I would actually have to drive the van, too.

Audi R8: Commander

We're not sure that "Choosing the moon brings out the best in us" is an appropriate tag for an automaker, much less a German automaker. But hey, when it comes to commercials that air during the Super Bowl it's all about playing up greatness, America, and working in Rock and Roll anthems. Audi hits all three here. 205-horsepower supercar? Check. Great moment in our national history? Check. David Bowie's Starman? Check. Add in a dollop of the R8's wicked V10 engine noise and, well, we'll watch this one more than once. And in case you want more R8 and Bowie, click here for the extended version. Marketing/Advertising Audi Super Bowl Commercials 2016 super bowl ad

2017 Audi S4 Avant is what forbidden fruit looks like

Take a good look at this lemon yellow Audi S4 Avant at the Geneva Motor Show, because you're not going to see one on the road in the US. That's really a shame, too, because for a family that wants to combine performance and utility, this seems like a great package. The S4 Avant takes the wonderful aspects from the latest S4 Sedan and adds just a little more to sweeten the deal. Drivers still get a turbocharged V6 and eight-speed transmission. Plus, Audi's famous all-wheel drive system and torque vectoring provide tons of traction whether motoring through a snow storm or taking a corner. In addition, customers get up to a massive 53.3 cubic feet of cargo space in the wagon, versus 17 cubic feet in the sedan. The only downside of the extra room is that the 0-62 sprint takes 4.9 seconds in the long roof versus the 4.7 seconds of the sedan. We'd take that trade-off. The Avant even looks better. Neither version is ugly, but the longer roof flows beautifully to the raked rear hatch. The result looks more elegant than the four-door. Unfortunately, these advantages simply add to the S4 Avant's status as very sweet forbidden fruit. American tastes might turn from crossovers to wagons someday, but until that unlikely prospect happens, enjoy these great shots of an enviable vehicle. Related Video: From 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 4.7 seconds with fuel consumption of less than 7.4 liters of fuel per 100 km (31.8 US mpg) – the new Audi S4* and the new Audi S4 Avant* are advancing to the peak of the competitive field with strong performance and exemplary efficiency. Its newly developed turbo V6 engine outputs 260 kW (354 hp). New solutions in networking and assistance systems round out its features. Audi is transferring many technologies from the full-size class into the mid-size class. Lightweight and strong: the 3.0 TFSI The strong heart of the two new S models from Audi is a newly conceptualized 3.0 TFSI engine. The direct gasoline injection engine with turbocharging has an output of 260 kW (354 hp) and produces a hefty torque of 500 Nm (368.8 lb-ft) from 1,370 to 4,500 rpm. In terms of power and torque, it surpasses the previous model while achieving considerably lower figures in weight and fuel consumption. The turbo V6 engine accelerates the Audi S4 from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 4.7 seconds, and on up to an electronically governed top speed of 250 km/h (155.3 mph). The standard sprint takes two tenths of a second longer in the S4 Avant.