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Audi A7 getting nip and tuck

It's been less than two years since the Audi A7 first went on sale in the US, but European buyers have been able to enjoy the sleek and stylish hatchback for twice as long. As such, Audi is preparing to give its A7 a mild refresh with tweaked exterior styling, but we're also expecting some of the features found in the all-new 2015 Audi A8 to possibly trickle down to the A7.
From what we can tell in these spy shots, the A7 is getting a minor facelift that includes a restyled front fascia and new headlights, which will likely boast Audi's new Matrix LED system. At the rear of the car, similar changes have been made with a fascia that now gets integrated outlets and different taillights that have a Lamborghini-like display.
Not apparent in these images - but still a good bet for production - we'd expect to see the new A7 get some of Audi's updated engines or new driver assist technologies. No definite word as to when we'll be seeing the refreshed A7 in person, but considering how close to production ready as this car seems to be, our bet is on the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

The 2017 Audi R8 Spyder starts at $176,350

Audi just revealed pricing info for the R8 Spyder, which will start at $176,350, about a year after revealing pricing information for the coupe ( which starts at $164,150 in base form; the Plus starts at $191,150). In case you haven't had your coffee yet, like-equipped base cars will span a $12,000 gulf. But the 2017 R8 Spyder costs about the same as the outgoing R8 Spyder V10 equipped with an automatic (which was at the time a very expensive option), so consider that minimal price inflation. The more interesting comparison is with its platform-mate, the Lamborghini Huracan. A drop-top version of the Italian supercar starts at $267,545 in similar AWD trim with a 5.2-liter V10. Now, it is true that the Huracan Spyder makes 602 horsepower, a 62 horsepower advantage over the standard R8 Spyder with the same engine (540 hp if you are bad at math). The Lambo also a tenth faster to 60 mph than the R8 Spyder, at 3.4 seconds. (The '17 R8 Spyder is itself a tenth quicker than its predecessor, so there's that.) But, the R8 V10 Plus makes 610 hp. We're waiting to hear back form Audi on pricing for that Spyder model. In the coupe, it's a $27,000 increase over the base R8 V10. That logic would peg an R8 Spyder V10 Plus at around $203,000, or $64k less than the Huracan. In either case, you're paying a lot for Lamborghini's unique styling and tuning, although it's hard to put a price on the specialness of driving a Lamborghini. The Huracan Spyder never for a moment lets you forget you're in something fast and Italian. That being said, both are legitimate supercars. The R8 Spyder was developed alongside its Italian cousin, and features an appropriately large amount of aluminum and carbon fiber materials in its construction. Of course, like its coupe counterpart, there's no manual available for the new R8 Spyder. That died with the previous generation. The good news, for fans of open-air driving, is that the roof mechanism only adds 97 lbs to the weight of the car, and Audi kept the electrohydraulics that actuate it as low as possible. If it's anything like the Coupe to drive, and you can be sure since it's an Audi there won't be much trade-off for the open roof, it'll have a dual personality that will accommodate both daily driving and occasional track use. Sounds like a deal, huh? Related Video: Audi Convertible Luxury Performance Supercars r8 spyder r8 huracan