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Audi's fastest cars won't catch your drift

"I don't like them. I do not see the reason for them. We do not see the sense in sitting there burning the back tires. It's not fast." – Stephan Reil Drift modes are popping up in sports cars all over the world, but Audi Sport development boss Stephan Reil refuses to have anything to do with them, insisting they're a waste of time and tires. So if you want to show off with a wild-looking, tire-smoking, perfectly controlled drift in an Audi Sport model, you will have to brush up on your car control, not your button pushing. "No drift mode. Not in the R8, not in the RS3, not in the RS6, not in the RS4," Reil said. "I don't like them. I do not see the reason for them. We do not see the sense in sitting there burning the back tires. It's not fast." That seems a bit like Reil and his team are missing a trick that is proving popular with enthusiast buyers and isn't technically difficult to do. It's also a whole lot safer than holding down the skid-control button for long enough to switch off all the electronic safety nets, which Audi Sport will actually let you do. "You can do it yourself [drifting] with the ESP off, if you hold it [the button] for three seconds," Reil challenged. "Then it will not intervene for you even when it [the car] is fully out of control, because that's what you asked it not to do. "You wanted the full control by pushing that button. You got it." Almost every fast car, from Ford to Ferrari, now comes with (or soon will) a drift mode so drivers can just stomp on the gas and turn the wheel to instantly look like rally stars. The dangers of do-it-yourself drift control (which our forefathers used to call "driving") make up most of the moral defense for the companies that use the computer-controlled versions. While critics have called drift modes irresponsible, proponents argue that it is far safer than switching off all the safety nets, because there is still a level of skid-control safety behind it. "Drift control is a lot safer than just turning everything off," BMW M chief Franciscus van Meel said during the launch of the M550i xDrive. "The drivers can enjoy the car on a track but it still has another level of safety to catch them if they make a mistake." View 23 Photos But is that extra level of safety actually for the common good? Critics note there is no way to restrict drivers using drift modes on suburban streets.

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.

Winterkorn vacates chairs on Audi, Truck & Bus boards

The last remaining vestiges of Martin Winterkorn's power within the Volkswagen Group are slowly melting away. The former chairman of the group's management board resigned as CEO nearly two months ago in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. He held onto other roles within the group, but one by one he's been vacating those as well. Last month Winterkorn resigned from his role at Porsche SE – Volkswagen's largest shareholder. Now the latest development comes from Bloomberg, which reports that Winterkorn has stepped down from his role as chairman of the supervisory board at Audi. Prior to his promotion to run the entire group, Winterkorn served as chief executive of the Audi division, and prior to his resignation served continued to serve as its board chairman. No date was given for his resignation from that capacity, nor any successor named at this point. Repeated requests for clarification from Audi have gone unanswered. In correspondence with Autoblog, however, spokespeople for VW's commercial vehicle operations confirmed that Winterkorn has also stepped down as the chairman of the board at Truck & Bus GmbH. The newly established division encompasses truck manufacturers Man and Scania. Winterkorn also served as chairman of Scania's board, but requests for confirmation of his departure from that role also went unanswered. The Swedish truck manufacturer, however, named Henrik Henriksson as its a new chief executive only a few days ago.