2010 Audi A4 2.0t Premium Quattro on 2040-cars

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Audi wants to keep you healthy while behind the wheel

Health tracking is all the rage. You can get smart watches and smart wristbands and all sorts of silly tech to give you intricate metrics about your wellbeing. Hell, my bathroom scale is connected and will automagically sync my latest weight, body fat, and heart rate readings to an app on my smartphone. Bathroom scales and wearables aside, Audi is hoping to bring this fitness-tracking tech to four wheels with its new Fit Driver system. No surprise, the new program was announced at the technophile's paradise that is the Consumer Electronics Show. Paired with a wearable, like an Apple Watch or FitBit, that would monitor heart rate and skin temperature, the car's sensors can track a driver's breathing and driving style. This data can be analyzed alongside weather and traffic information, effectively allowing the car to determine how stressed or tired a driver is. Systems within the vehicle would then be tweaked to "relax, vitalize, or even protect the driver." This can take the form of an automatic massage and adjustments to the cabin temperature, ambient lighting, and infotainment. So when you're about to go full road rage because there's a Camry doing ten under in the left lane, Sirius could flip on the easy listening of Watercolors to calm you down. Naturally, this technology is still in the early stages, and there's no word about when it could actually arrive in production vehicles. But as driverless systems evolve, Audi is aiming to develop such an advanced health suite that an autonomous vehicle could detect a medical emergency, pull over safely, and call for assistance. Here's to the future, folks. Check out the official release below. Audi Fit Driver Audi envisions a future in which drivers leave their cars more relaxed than when they entered them. The car, as a personal yet simultaneously connected space, is ideal for health and fitness monitoring. Under the motto "my Audi cares for me", Audi Fit Driver will become a supportive driving companio. The Audi Fit Driver project focuses on the well-being and health of the driver. A wearable (fitness wristband or smartwatch) monitors important vital parameters such as heart rate and skin temperature. Vehicle sensors supplement this data with information on driving style, breathing rate and relevant environmental data such as weather or traffic conditions. The current state of the driver, such as elevated stress or fatigue, is deduced from the collected data.

Volkswagen finds CO2 'irregularities' for 800k vehicles

The latest issue for Volkswagen affects another 800,000 vehicles, and this time its for irregularities in CO2 emissions certifications. VW estimates this issue could cost the company $2.2 billion to fix. The company officially makes no specific mention of which engines are covered, the models they are in, or even where they are located. VW discovered the situation during its ongoing internal investigation, and, according to the automaker, "it was established that the CO2 levels and thus the fuel consumption figures for some models were set too low during the CO2 certification process." Most of the affected vehicles are diesels, and the company is now reaching out to "the responsible type approval agencies" to figure out the next step. While VW isn't officially confirming which models and engines are involved, Automotive News reports that it affects some 2012 and later VW, Audi, Seat, and Skoda models with the company's 1.4-, 1.6-, and 2.0-liter diesel engines, as well as the 1.4-liter ACT gasoline engine. The issue mainly affects vehicles sold in Europe. "The Board of Management of Volkswagen AG deeply regrets this situation and wishes to underscore its determination to systematically continue along the present path of clarification and transparency," CEO Matthias Muller said in the announcement. Volkswagen Group of America spokesperson Jeannine Ginivan was able to provide some further clarification to Autoblog. "This is not related to US-certified vehicles," she said. Clarification moving forward: internal investigations at Volkswagen identify irregularities in CO2 levels Matthias Muller: "Relentless and comprehensive clarification is our only alternative." Around 800,000 Group vehicles could be affected Initial estimate puts economic risks at approximately 2 billion euros The Volkswagen Group is moving forward with the clarification of the diesel issue: during the course of internal investigations irregularities were found when determining type approval CO2 levels. Based on present knowledge around 800,000 vehicles from the Volkswagen Group could be affected. An initial estimate puts the economic risks at approximately two billion euros. The Board of Management of Volkswagen AG will immediately start a dialog with the responsible type approval agencies regarding the consequences of these findings. This should lead to a reliable assessment of the legal, and the subsequent economic consequences of this not yet fully explained issue.

Next Audi RS4 to get V6 turbo, US sales still unclear

Audi's high-performance S models have forged a reputation in the US for offering wonderful driving dynamics in a package that doesn't scream, "I bought a sport sedan." However, its even higher-performance RS models are still somewhat of a rarity here. While the RS5 and RS7 are in the current US lineup, many of the wild RS models that Europe gets, like the RS6 Avant (pictured above), never make it to these shores. Unfortunately, that might not be changing anytime soon with the next-gen RS4.
The RS4 will follow the lead of the next BMW M3/M4 and (rumored) next Mercedes-Benz C-Class AMG and make the switch to a smaller turbocharged powerplant. According to an Audi insider speaking to Car and Driver, the next RS4 will drop the last generation's 4.2-liter V8 in favor of a turbocharged V6. The engine block will likely be shared with the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 in the regular S4 but fitted with two turbochargers. Power would likely be around 400 horsepower to match the 425-hp M3 and rumored 450-hp C-Class AMG.
Unfortunately, the RS might not make it across the pond to our waiting hands because the source says no decision has been made to export them yet. Obviously, we hope that Audi makes the right decision and brings the next RS4 here.