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Audi reveals Prologue Allroad concept ahead of Shanghai

Audi kicked off the Prologue series of design studies with the coupe concept unveiled in LA, then followed up with the Prologue Avant wagon at the Geneva show. Now, we're seeing the third iteration in the form of the Prologue Allroad concept. Set to be unveiled next week at the 2015 Shanghai Motor Show, the Prologue Allroad picks up where the previous two left off, but takes it in a more rugged direction. At 16.8 feet, it's longer than both of the previous concepts, and stretches out to the same length as a standard-wheelbase A8. It also rides three inches higher than the Prologue Avant concept. Not only is it larger than the preceding showcars, it's also more powerful. Under the hood sits a hybrid powertrain that pairs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 to an electric motor integrated into eight-speed automatic transmission. Together they produce a whopping 738 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, driven to all four wheels to send the concept to 62 miles per hour in a scant 3.5 seconds – all the while returning a claimed equivalent of 98 miles per gallon. If that's not the best of both worlds, we don't know what is. Plus, the car packs an inductive charging system that Audi says it's developing for production. Massive 20-inch brake discs keep that performance in check, sitting inside 22-inch wheels, all mounted to an adaptive air suspension and four-wheel adaptive steering. Other exterior features include door lock sensors integrated into the window frame, Matrix laser headlights and LED taillights. Inside it's all angular yet elegant, swathed in dark blue, beige and brown. Display screens abound, stretching across the dashboard with a deployable OLED infotainment display in the center console. There's another OLED screen for the passengers in the pair of rear seats, who can also dock OLED tablets in the front seatbacks. A pop-up "sound spoiler" promises to envelop the cabin in music, and there's inductive charging for mobile devices as well. Together with its conceptual stablemates, the Prologue Allroad concept points towards a stylish and technologically advanced future for Ingolstadt, and we're looking forward to seeing this show car transition into production as the next A6 Allroad. In the meantime, you can scope out all the details in the press release below and view the concept from every angle, inside and out, in the slideshow above.

Stanford goes from Pikes Peak to Thunderhill with autonomous Audi TTS

In the years since Stanford University engineers successfully programmed an Audi TTS to autonomously ascend Pikes Peak, the technology behind driverless cars has progressed leaps and bounds. Back then the Audi needed 27 minutes to make it up the 12.42-mile course – about 10 minutes slower than a human driver. These days, further improvements allow the vehicle to lap a track faster than a human. The researchers recently took their autonomous TTS named Shelley to the undulating Thunderhill Raceway Park, and let it go on track without anyone inside. The Audi reportedly hit over 120 miles per hour, and according to The Telegraph, the circuit's CEO, who's also an amateur racing driver, took some laps as well and was 0.4 seconds slower than the computer. To make these massive technological advancements, the Stanford engineers have been studying how racers handle a car. They also hooked up drivers' brains to electrodes and found the mind wasn't doing as much cognitively as expected. It instead operated largely on muscle memory. "So by looking at race car drivers we are actually looking at the same mathematical problem that we use for safety on the highways. We've got the point of being fairly comparable to an expert driver in terms of our ability to drive around the track," Professor Chris Gerdes, director of Stanford's Revs Program, said to The Telegraph. With progress coming so rapidly, it seems possible for autonomous racecars to best even elite drivers at some point in the near future. Related Video:

2016 Audi A3 Sportback headed to US under diesel power [w/video]

Every get the feeling that automakers aren't really listening to what it is that you want in an automobile? Well, Audi is. Following what it calls "an outpouring of enthusiasts' support," the German automaker has announced that it is bringing the new, 2016 A3 Sportback to the US under diesel power, in the summer of 2015.
Unveiled today at the New York Auto Show, the new A3 TDI Sportback joins an expanding range of A3 models available Stateside. Whereas the Sportback hatch was until now only slated to be offered in E-Tron hybrid form, and the TDI only as a sedan, this model combines the bodystyle of the former with the power of the latter. The new TDI slots into the family alongside the gasoline-powered A3 and S3 sedans and A3 Cabriolet as well.
Power comes from a 2.0-liter turbodiesel four with 150 horsepower and mated to a six-speed S tronic transmission. Because it's still a year away from launch, Audi tells us it hasn't determined figures for performance, fuel economy or carbon emissions numbers, but when it joins the company's considerable diesel offerings (which already include the A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7) as part of the new A3 rollout over the course of the next 18 months, you can bet it'll provide that combination of low-end grunt and long-range capability that diesel enthusiasts crave. In the meantime you can scope out the details and b-roll footage below for a closer look.