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2017 Audi A5 First Drive

It might not look it, but behind the 2017 Audi A5's evolutionary styling update there's a new platform and a host of mechanical and technological upgrades that make it the most advanced offering in its class. We got to sample the new A5 on the windy roads outside of Porto, Portugal, which gave us an in-depth look at the car underneath the unremarkable exterior. The A5 may no longer be the haute couture choice in this segment Í­– that title goes to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe – but there isn't a bad line on the new car, and it's more creased and toned than before. Given the bulging hood and chunky C-pillar, we'd say its gym membership is paying off. This might look more like a mid-cycle update, but what's underneath is new: a scalable architecture known internally at VW Group as MLB Evo, an optional seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and the third-generation EA888 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine. This engine debuted in the A6 and is rated at 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. That's a healthy 32 hp and 15 lb-ft more than the 2016 A5's 2.0-liter offered, and it showed on our spirited drive through Portugal's grape-growing region. A handful of A5s will leave the factory with six-speed manuals, but most buyers will find a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission in place of last year's eight-speed conventional automatic. Audi worked hard to improve initial throttle response to eliminate the clunkiness endemic to torque-converter-free transmissions. In urban slogging, the gearbox does a very convincing impression of a traditional automatic. In sport mode, the transmission livens up and delivers the rapid-fire shifts we expect from this type of gearbox. We did not have the opportunity to sample the stick. Our test car had Audi's Euro-spec version of this engine, which utilizes both direct and port fuel injection. American models will forgo the latter. Brisk acceleration is matched by a subtle growl piped in from under the hood at higher rpm – about the only noise you'll hear. The A5 is astonishingly quiet. In fact, it was that quietness that encouraged us to leave the coupe in the Drive Select's comfort setting for much of our drive. Drive Select tweaks the car's steering, throttle response, and, on cars so equipped, the optional adaptive suspension. Truth be told, Comfort rides a little too plush and Dynamic a little too firm.

Audi RS5 test drive ends with potential buyer stealing car

Two men are wanted in the Houston area tonight after they stole an Audi RS5 from a local dealership. The brazen theft happened in the middle of the business day, when a salesperson stepped away after letting one of the men take the car for a test drive, while the other sat in the (getaway) car. He then swiped the keys and his license before running out to the lot and taking off in the 450-horsepower coupe.
The men drove to the dealership in an plate-less, white Range Rover Sport, and fed the salesperson a fake phone number - it ironically led to a collections firm - along with what is probably a fake name and a fake background, although the dealership does have both men on video. The dealer, Audi West Houston, is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to the Audi and the crooks that stole it. Scroll down for the full news report from Houston's CBS-affiliate KHOU 11.

German prosecutors have recorded calls between VW bigwigs talking dieselgate

It's barely possible to believe how poorly Volkswagen continues to handle dieselgate. Depending on which day you catch the news, the German carmaker embodies the corporate venality of "Michael Clayton," the comic blundering of the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading," and the every-man-for-himself vengeance of "Reservoir Dogs." Today is Tarantino day, with news that German prosecutors have recordings of phone calls between former Audi and Porsche development boss Wolfgang Hatz, ex-Volkswagen Group executive Matthias Muller, and current Porsche executives Oliver Blume and Michael Steiner. Hatz made the calls to the trio in November 2015, two months after Volkswagen admitted its diesel-particulate sins to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hatz was still employed at the time, and in his company car. Who recorded the calls? His wife. Hatz and his missus apparently saw the storm coming and started stacking defenses early. Hatz's wife, who can be heard encouraging Hatz during at least one call, sent the recordings to Hatz's attorney from her mobile phone. According to a Google translation of the German newspaper Handelsblatt's report, she included the note, "Here is a very long, but quite informative conversation on the current situation with useful formulations." The report in Handelsblatt said that in Germany it is generally "not allowed" to record a conversation and pass it on to a third party. We don't know how the authorities will handle this matter, since prosecutors found the recordings in e-mail attachments on Mrs. Hatz's mobile phone. Remember, when the diesel scandal broke, VW spent months saying that only a small number of low-level personnel were behind it, and all of the higher-ups had been blindsided. Ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn claimed to be "stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group." Winterkorn successor Matthias Muller said, "according to current information, a few developers interfered in the engine management." Former VW USA honcho Michael Horn told a congressional committee that "a couple of software engineers" programmed the software for reasons no one could understand. In the recorded conversations, Hatz apparently called Muller to find out how VW planned to treat him.