2.0t Coupe 2.0l Bluetooth 2 Doors 2 Liter Inline 4 Cylinder Dohc Engine Compass on 2040-cars

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24 Hours of Le Mans live update part three

We tasked surfing journalist Rory Parker to watch this year's live stream of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. What follows is an experiment to experience the world's greatest endurance race from the perspective of a motorsports novice. Parker lives in Hawaii and has an associates degree in dropping f-bombs. For Part One, click here. Part Two is here. Really hoped I'd be able to grab an hour or two of sleep before the sun rose over Le Mans. Dark dark dark, couldn't figure out what was going on. Commentators struggled at times as well. But I couldn't do it. Endurance racing is just too exciting. Grabs my attention with both fists. Screams, "watch these men DRIVE!" A neighbor invited me over for drinks. Told him, "Can't do it, gotta watch Le Mans!" Maybe not exactly. I'll admit, at times my attention wandered. I did a load of laundry. Ate some snacks. Half listened to the commentary. Threw a hump at my wife. I learned that Patrick Long, driving #88, is big brother to Kevin "Spanky" Long. Spanky's a bit of a legend in the skate world. Always weird how top notch talent can run in families like that. Kind of surprised I've never heard that before. Worked for a skate mag for a years, met Spanky a handful of times. Someone must've told me that he has an older brother who drives race cars. Dash cams at night are scary. High powered headlights in the P1s reach almost 300 meters. Cars outrun that distance easy. Seems like they're just steering into the black and hoping for the best. But that can't be the case. People'd be dropping dead let and right. Very amused by how the guys in GT are like, "Dude, stop flashing your fucking lights before you pass." But the LMP's are all, "Suck a dick! I do what I want." Top three stayed neck and neck nearly all night long. As the sun gets ready to creep back over the horizon the top three are separated by only eleven and a half seconds. Toyota 5 and 6, Porsche 2. Audi 8 is two laps behind Porsche, beleaguered 7 is dealing with constant trouble eleven laps from the front. GTE Pro sees Ferrari 82 in first, Ford 68 and 69 right behind. To win you've gotta drive perfect, build perfect. Fours cars retired so far. I'm beginning to appreciate the endurance aspect a little more fully. Only really considered the drivers at first. The mental and physical stress driving these cars at these speeds at length would inflict. But keeping the damn things running is the real deal. To win you've gotta drive perfect, build perfect.

Ducati is not for sale according to VW supervisory board

Volkswagen's planned sale of motorcycle brand Ducati and transmission maker Renk currently has no majority backing on the carmaker's supervisory board, with opponents to asset sales feeling invigorated by the group's strong results. Europe's largest automaker has tasked banks to evaluate options for Ducati and Renk including divesting the two divisions as it aims to streamline operations to help fund a post-dieselgate strategic overhaul. Volkswagen has been reviewing its portfolio of assets and brands since announcing in June 2016 a multi-billion-euro shift to electric cars and new mobility services as part of its so-called Strategy 2025. Five bidders have been shortlisted to buy Ducati, including Italy's Benetton family, with offers received valuing the brand at 1.3 billion-1.5 billion euros ($1.76 billion), a source said on Saturday. But VW's labour leaders, occupying half the seats on the 20-member supervisory board which decides on asset sales, resist a sale of Ducati and Renk without compelling financial reasons. "The employee representatives on Volkswagen's supervisory board will neither approve a sale of Ducati, nor one of Renk or MAN Diesel & Turbo," a spokesman for VW group's works council told Reuters late on Saturday. "Everyone who can read the VW half-year results should know: We don't need money and our subsidiaries are not up for grabs by bargain hunters." Six-month operating profit at VW group jumped 19 percent to 8.9 billion euros, the carmaker said on Thursday, as cost cuts and R&D improvements at the core namesake brand earned VW a respite from the billions of euros in costs for fines, vehicle refits and compensation related to its dieselgate scandal. One source at VW said that given strong union opposition, VW is now reviewing the plan to sell Ducati as it doesn't want to risk working with labour on implementing a hard-fought turnaround plan for the VW brand, seen as crucial by investors. Though Ducati is owned by VW's luxury brand Audi, the VW group's supervisory board has to approve a possible sale. Audi declined comment. The billionaire Porsche and Piech families, controlling 52 percent of voting shares in VW and holding four supervisory board seats, do not support selling Ducati or Renk, two other sources at VW group said. A spokesman for Porsche SE, the family's holding company, declined comment.

Audi A5 and S5 Sportbacks look slinky for the Paris Motor Show

Following closely on the heels of the updated Audi A5 and S5 refresh, the German automaker introduced the 2017 Audi A5 and S5 Sportback. The vehicles are set for an official debut at the Paris Motor Show next month and share many of the same exterior touches as the regular coupes. Audi's sportback models are not sold in the US. A spokesman from Audi told Autoblog that the automaker is still deciding whether to bring the vehicles to the US. The A5 and S5 Sportback are aimed at drivers that want the same feel as the coupe with the added functionality of a hatchback – think wagon meets sedan. Besides the extra set of doors, there's very little that differentiates the sportback models from the coupes. The new models are built upon Volkswagen's MLB platform, which makes the car roughly 190 pounds lighter than the outgoing model. European customers will be able to choose between two TFSI and three TDI engines for the A5 Sportback. The engines range from a 2.0-liter inline-four that makes 190 horsepower to a 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel V6 putting out 286 hp. The engines can be paired to a six-speed manual transmission, seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch gearbox or an eight-speed tiptronic unit. Front-wheel drive is standard, with all-wheel drive as an available option on two variants. AWD comes standard when opting for the more powerful engines. The vehicles will also feature Audi's new Quattro Ultra all-wheel-drive system that can disconnect the rear wheels to be more fuel efficient. The S5 Sportback is the one enthusiasts will enjoy as it packs a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that's good for 354 hp and 369 pound-feet of torque. Audi claims the S5 Sportback, even with the addition of its new doors, will be able to get to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds, which is the same time as its two-door counterpart. In addition to the diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles, the A5 Sportback g-tron will be offered for drivers looking for flexible fuel choices. The g-tron model is powered by a 170-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged-inline-four that can run on Audi e-gas, natural gas or regular gasoline. The exterior design is nearly identical to that of the coupes with Audi's new single frame grille and muscular front end. The rear incorporates a fastback-like design, similar to the one found on the A7, which helps soften the vehicle out – all sport in the front and luxury in the rear.