2009 - Audi R8 on 2040-cars

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24 Hours of Le Mans live update part one

We tasked surfing journalist Rory Parker to watch this year's live stream of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. What follows is an experiment to experience the world's greatest endurance race from the perspective of a motorsports novice with a profanity-laden stream-of-consciousness writing style. Parker lives in Hawaii and spends far more time spearfishing than behind the wheel of a car. Jump ahead to Part Two here, and Part Three here. Big Money and billionaire hobbyists and rockets on wheels. Jets belching French color smoke overhead. Balance of power fuckery. Plenty of water on the ground this morning. Absurdly expensive motorcars lined up in the pissing rain. Fast twitch lunatics behind the wheel. Chomping at the bit. Let's go let's go let's go! Race hasn't even started, Ford #67 maybe dealing with clutch issues. Karma? That beautiful bastard Brad Pitt's out on the track, waving the tricolor flag. It's a standing start in "Noah's Ark" weather and the 2016 24 hours of Le Mans is go! First lap takes place behind the safety car, finished in a record setting 8 minutes 27 seconds. Wrong kind of record maybe, but this is the first time I've set my mind to watching the whole damn race. Feel like I'm part of history. 3:00 AM on Kauai, a little too early for life. Sucking down coffee like a maniac. Don't fall back asleep. Got my hands on four hours of rest, how much more can I need? Better be enough for the next twenty four hours. Gonna get kinda punchy toward the end. Jason Statham on the scene. Four feet of solid muscle, non-existent hairline. Lovely wife peanut gallery sitting next to me calls him the "best race car drive in the world." Not sure if she's serious. Toss up, could go either way. Statham's a funny guy. Heir to the Bruce Willis comedy action crown. Really good in the movie where the fat comedy lady plays a spy. Ford's on the road. Problems with gearbox pressure, apparently. Nearing a half hour in and the safety car is still on the track. Hellish amounts of water on the ground, in the air. Visibility is garbage. Getting better. Twitter wags, "Not with a bang but a whimper." Just building suspense. Mother Nature felt like killing some people today, race officials need to dial back the drivers until it dries a tad. Normal inclination would've seen 'em flying, guaranteed early lap wrecks. Sad news for that bloodthirsty part of my lizard brain I try and keep suppressed. Good news for humanity. #12 in the pit for a bit.

2018 Audi RS5 First Drive | Boosted for your enjoyment

Spoiler alert: if you dig snorty, long-winded, naturally breathing V8s, you'll have to add the 2018 Audi RS5 to the long list of cars abandoning the setup. Silver lining: if you like heady acceleration, unraveling twisty roads, and gobbling endless stretches of lonely tarmac, the new RS5 offers considerable gains over its big-engined predecessor. Bigger, Lighter, Gruntier Audi's (slightly) nastier looking new coupe has gained 0.6 inches of width and wheelbase and 2.9 inches of length but lost 132 pounds of mass along the way. Even better, the smaller 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6—the same one found in the Porsche Panamera—produces the same 450 horsepower as before, but gains a thumping 125 lb-ft of torque over the old V8, bringing the grand total of twist to 442 lb-ft. As with the previous RS5 you can't get a manual, but this time Audi swaps their signature dual-clutch transmission with an 8-speed torque converter unit from ZF. The reasoning is sound: the DSG 'box couldn't handle the engine's output, which produces more torque than the R8's mighty V10 – #bigtwistproblems. The RS5's weight loss stems from strategic use of aluminum and the loss of the stonking V8 (ditching it for the twin-turbo V6 saved 68 pounds alone). Weight distribution is, of course, also aided by the lighter front end, and the rear trapezoidal suspension setup has been supplanted with a five-link arrangement for smoother ride and sharper handling. Interior space also benefits from the larger footprint, with rear seat legroom benefiting most from the roomier dimensions. Behind the Wheel The roads from Toulouse, France to the tiny principality of Andorra offer contrasting extremes, from arrow-straight superslab to ultra-technical twisties – an excellent test of the RS5's performance repertoire. The updated cabin presents Audi's typically understated style, with available honeycomb top-stitched leather seats that are supportive but not so tight as to be constricting. HVAC slats form a continuous extension across the dashboard (a la Q7), and the steering wheel and shifter can be trimmed in either perforated leather or Alcantara. The first thing you'll notice in the RS5 are the low frequency sounds, which round out the otherwise muted engine noises.

Audi races ahead with new R8 LMS [w/video]

The biggest news from Audi at the Geneva Motor Show may very well be the reveal of the all-new, second-generation R8 supercar. But the road-going version isn't the only one it's rolling out at the Swiss expo, where it's joined by the new competition-spec R8 LMS. Set to hit race tracks around the world next season, the new Audi R8 LMS picks up where the current one leaves off, having taken 26 GT3 Championship victories and seven 24-hour race wins between 2009 and 2014. That's a heck of a mantle to assume, but the new model looks like it'll be up to the task. Based on the new road-going R8, the new LMS is built to 2016 GT3 regulations and in many ways even exceeds them. In fact, Audi says it meets the more stringent crash requirements for the LMP1 class, and includes its state-of-the-art Audi Protection Seat PS 1 from the R18 E-Tron Quattro. It also incorporates the emergency hatch Audi built in to its DTM racers. Of course, there's more to the new R8 LMS than safety. Despite the addition of those features, the whole package is a good 55 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, thanks to the lightweight spaceframe chassis and the increased use of carbon-fiber components – all the while offering more torsional rigidity. Power still comes from Audi's celebrated 5.2-liter V10 engine producing 585 horsepower, but is now mated to a new six-speed sequential gearbox and benefits from an entirely new electrical system, improved airflow and optimized aerodynamics. All that and more ought to help the new R8 LMS and its customer racing teams achieve the success they're after once it makes its competitive debut at the Nurburgring 24-hour race in mid-May 2016. Related Video: AUDI R8 LMS ESTABLISHES NEW RACE CAR GENERATION: LIGHTER AND SAFER THAN EVER BEFORE Ingolstadt, March 3, 2015 – Audi is again running in front. As one of the first automobile manufacturers to do so at the beginning of the 2015 season, the brand with the four rings is presenting a race car that already meets the requirements of the new GT3 regulations to be introduced in 2016. The new Audi R8 LMS is lighter and safer than ever before. It features even more race car technology, clearly improved aerodynamics and, as a result, provides customers with an efficient concept. Back in spring of 2014, Audi began testing the new R8 LMS that is following in big footsteps.