Audi A4 Luxury Sedan 4-door on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Alpha 10 Audi R8 by AMS Beauty-Roll

For those of you paying attention, we've really ramped up the old Autoblog video game these days. Our new series Car Club USA joins Translogic and The List, and there are more Daily Drivers and Short Cuts than ever. But sometimes, all you care about is the car. The Autoblog Beauty-Roll video series has one goal: bring you glossy video images of cars, and nothing but. We're collecting moving pictures of all the cars we test, inside and out. Each episode comes with a hit of engine sound – start-up and with a few revs – to round out the package. Set your resolution to max, kick it into full-screen, turn up the sound, and enjoy today's subject, the Alpha 10 Audi R8 by AMS. Oh, and if you'd like more Beauty-Roll, click here to see the back catalog.

Audi AI: an important step forward in autonomy

Those who have visions of reading a book or watching a movie while sitting in traffic, as you might do on an airplane, are closer than ever to reaching their own version of automotive nirvana. We're still not there, but Audi's latest A8 brings us right up to the precipice of actual autonomy that you can program to self-park in your garage. Audi says its new A8 will be the first vehicle to deliver Level 3 autonomy. That means the driver can take his or her hands off the steering wheel and stop paying attention, at least when a specific set of circumstances are met. First, Audi's AI traffic jam pilot only works at speeds of up to 37.3 miles per hour. In other words, it's meant for those times where you're sitting in traffic. Audi believes that the first commercially available self-driving applications will be relied on for circumstances when a driver's time is better spent elsewhere, like when you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway. Second, that freeway has to be a divided highway with a physical barrier from oncoming vehicles. A large swath of grass would work, as would a concrete wall. The new A8 uses radar, a front camera, ultrasonic sensors, and a laser scanner – the first in a production vehicle – to scan its surroundings. These various images are compiled by a central driver assistance controller that Audi calls zFAS. We'd have gone with Zaphod Beeblebrox, but nobody asked. Third, Audi needs the approval and cooperation of the various governments and authorities in which it sells the A8. "The statutory framework will need to be clarified in each individual market, along with the country-specific definition of the application and testing of the system," says Audi. Where does that leave the US? Audi isn't yet sure, but discussions are apparently under way. We're not exactly holding our breath. If all of those key circumstances are met, Audi's artificial intelligence system can be activated using the AI button on the center console. Audi will accept all legal responsibility when the car is driving itself. Starting, steering, acceleration, and braking are all taken over by the car, and the driver is free to perform other tasks. Theoretically, at least, because nobody outside of Audi has actually given the AI tech a spin. "As soon as the system reaches its limits," says Audi, it will hand driving duties back off to the driver.

Malaise Era All-Stars

A few weeks ago, we bid a fond happy 40th anniversary to the automotive dark ages of 1973-84 that have come to be known as "The Malaise Era" - the performance ice-age when 160 horsepower was a lot and a 0-60 time of under 10 seconds was remarkable. Like music in the 1980s, everything in automobiledom didn't suck, however. There were a few bright spots. Here are five of our favorites:
1976-79 Porsche 930, aka 911 Turbo Carrera (above)
Photo Credit: Dorotheum