2001 Audi A4 Quattro Base Sedan 4-door 53k Miles Reconstructed No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Audi tech counts down red lights today, reduces traffic tomorrow

Audi announced today that in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas, select Audi Q7 and A4 models will be able to take advantage of new vehicle-to-infrastructure technology. The technology was developed with Traffic Technology Services and will allow drivers to see how long it will take for a traffic light to change to green. Compatible traffic lights will send information through servers operated by Traffic Technology Services to properly equipped Audis. This may not sound like an earth-shattering feature at first, unless you're a stoplight drag racer – if Audi has its way, it may shut off the timer at about 10 seconds to prevent such a thing – but the technology opens up the door to much more useful features down the road. Audi's general manager for connected vehicles, Pom Malhotra, suggested that the information could be used with "vehicle navigation, engine start/stop functionality and can even be used to help improve traffic flow." More specifically, navigation could account for traffic light timing to divert drivers to a more efficient and faster route. It could even suggest acceleration and speed to hit signals when they're green, minimizing stops and starts. Then, for engine start and stop features, the car could selectively shut off at long stops but remain on when approaching a light that's about to turn green. Traffic lights could also start adjusting patterns based on how many cars are approaching a light or are stuck at a light, alleviating slow-moving traffic. Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication could lead to roads that waste less time and less energy. While Audi didn't elaborate on this topic, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology could also be useful for future autonomous car technology. For instance, the car wouldn't necessarily have to "see" the actual traffic light. Instead, it could rely on a separate signal from the smart traffic light to know it has to stop or go. Going a step further, the technology could be used to manage traffic so precisely that traffic signals are no longer needed, as some other groups have investigated. And, of course, the aforementioned benefits in navigation technology would help autonomous vehicles make smarter route decisions as well. The feature is currently only available on Audi Q7, A4 and A4 allroads built after June 1, 2016. It's also only available as part of Audi connect PRIME, a subscription-based service that provides various infotainment and streaming features for your Audi. While D.C.

Audi promises next A8 on sale by year's end, LED Matrix lamps to be available [w/video]

Audi has just released details about its new Matrix LED headlamps, but just as illuminating as the new lighting technology is confirmation that the next A8 will appear "on the market at the end of 2013." While Audi is calling the model new, expectations - and the spy shots above - suggest more of a traditional mid-cycle refresh.
Audi says that its new A8 Matrix lights are comprised of 25 high-beam LEDs, clustered in groups of five paired with reflectors. Unlike traditional automatic high-beam setups, the Matrix array is so precise that it "blanks out light that would shine directly onto oncoming and preceding vehicles" while continuing to use full high-beam power on other sections of the road and shoulder not occupied by other vehicles. Further, the camera- and electronic brain-governed system can dim or extinguish LEDs as necessary to deal with traffic. The active system also differs from today's adaptive headlamps by not requiring servo motors to direct light, yet they can still function as cornering headlamps - ones that can predict a road's trajectory because they are linked with the car's GPS system. Interestingly, the system also works with Audi's optional night vision system. When the latter detects a pedestrian in the dark, it automatically flashes a batch of LEDs to put both the driver and pedestrian on notice about each others' presence.
Only one problem in all of this trick lighting business: they aren't legal here in the US, at least not yet. Audi and other automakers are currently petitioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, trying to sell the government agency on the technology's safety benefits. For the moment, Matrix headlamps are likely to remain forbidden fruit, but you can check them out and see what you might be missing in the video below. As for the 2015 A8, we're guessing it'll surface at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

2013 Audi RS Q3

The year 1994 was a really good year for German performance fans, because it was that year when Audi released its very first official RS model (for "RennSport," or racing sport), the RS2 Avant. Recently, I was invited to participate in a three-day leg of the Audi Land of Quattro Alpen Tour, a blatant flaunting over hill and dale of the company's current lineup of RS models. We hit Austria, Switzerland and Italy - the roads were epic and the weather held for this exquisite boondoggle.
Our chief focus on this tour, which included the RS6 Avant and RS7, was the newcomer RS Q3 small crossover that will absolutely never be coming to North America, but which starts deliveries in November of this year. This no-North America policy is because we still don't have enough customers who see the thrill or sense in a $52,000 all-wheel-drive baby sport utility that gets to 60 miles per hour from a stop in under five seconds. Meanwhile, in crazy, drunken Europe, orders for this ridiculous, wondrous set of wheels have, to quote Quattro head of technical development Stephan Reil, "far outstripped the limited production numbers of the business case." Those silly Europeans, don't they know that an RS Q3 makes no sense at all? Sheesh.