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2017 Audi R8 First Drive

You might think the new Audi R8 is a Lamborghini in a business suit. You'd be wrong; the Huracan is an R8 in a Heinlein shock trooper suit. This is the most raucous, rowdy Audi yet, and it's most certainly a supercar – even when parked next to its bawdier Italian cousin. Although the Huracan has been on the street for nearly a year now, the new R8 and the Lambo were developed in parallel. Audi handled most of the engineering workload, with the Huracan receiving Lamborghini's styling and tuning finesse on top of its Audi-built V10 engine and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The R8 gets Audi's motorsports-inspired best. Tally it all up and you have two very different cars built from very similar components. Of course, that could also be said of the R8 and its racing doppelganger, the R8 LMS, the racecar built for WEC endurance racing. That car, in fact, is more closely related to the R8 than is the road-going Huracan – the wheelbases are the same, 50 percent of the parts are shared, and the bodies-in-white are built on the same line. The racecars are pulled off line for occasional tweaks or additions, then slotted back in to run through most of the same workflow as the R8s that will eventually end up on the streets. Like a new pair of your favorite shoes, the new R8 is familiar and foreign at the same time. This development program pulls from the best of a legendary supercar brand's flair for presence and idiosyncrasy. It also takes lessons from the company's customer racing effort, as well as Audi's own impeccable taste in road manners and clean, elegant design. The end result is an inspired supercar with daily-driver comfort and a surprisingly aggressive side. Like a new pair of your favorite shoes, the new R8 is familiar and foreign at the same time. It's more comfortable and compliant on the street, thanks to a new chassis that's 40 percent stiffer, allowing for a more forgiving suspension tune. The completely reworked 5.2-liter V10 engine has a Great White bite to go with its Rottweiler bark, but only after you provoke it from polite mode with a press of either the Drive Select button or the exhaust sound switch. The seats are comfortable – that can be said for both the standard sport seats or optional carbon-shell, race-style buckets. Wrapped in a cabin that's much more futuristic and forward-looking than the last R8, the overall driving experience is refined, luxurious, and high-tech.

Audi gets into tablet market with Android-powered Smart Display

Relatively small in newsworthiness compared with laser-equipped hybrids and all-new cockpit concepts, Audi has also announced a branded, Android-powered tablet called Smart Display at CES this week.
Audi has partnered with Google for its in-car computing software for years now, so it's hardly surprising to hear that its first foray into the world of tablets runs a Google OS (which one is still unclear), and has Android guts. Sorry, iPad users. The 10.2-inch tablet wears a lovely aluminum chassis that seems right in line with Audi's typical industrial design, and is packed with Nvidia's Tegra T40 processor.
Smart Display is meant to highlight the upcoming cleverness of Audi's newly announced in-car LTE connectivity (by way of continued partnership with AT&T). Users can, in theory, access the Google Play store while on the go, and then download and fiddle with Android-based apps until their very hearts are content. By "users" we mean "passengers" here, and so does Audi, though we're not exactly sure if there are measures in place to keep a driver from tableting while driving.

Ten of the greatest Super Bowl car commercials of all time

With an average of over 100 million viewers each year, the Super Bowl always has advertisers bringing out the big guns. And for those among us who don't know the difference between a safety and a touchback, those commercials can be one of the most compelling aspects of the annual ritual. Car companies, in particular, have a long history of making the most of the huge Super Bowl audience by debuting some of the most memorable advertisements that have ever aired on television. So, in preparation for the new batch we'll be seeing this coming Sunday, here's a collection of our favorites from the past. 10. Audi – The Godfather When Audi created this homage to the quintessential gangster movie to promote its newest sports car, the company managed to make a commercial that was simultaneously funny, a little bit disturbing, and most importantly memorable. 9. Maserati – Strike This one might start out slow, but it delivers not only with the wicked sound of the third-generation Ghibli's engine, but with an interesting message about hubris in the auto industry as well. 8. Nissan 300ZX Twin-Turbo – Dream Directed by none other than Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien), this dystopian spot has centers around a narrator who explains that in his dream the bad guys are unable to catch him despite their best efforts by way of street bikes, race cars, and supersonic jets. While the twin-turbocharged 300ZX car was certainly a performance powerhouse to be reckoned with in its day, the concept and execution of this one does come off a little bit campy now – but in a good way. Then again, it is a dream, after all. 7. General Motors – Robot This one is unique in that it's genuinely depressing on a profound level. Who would've thought that the simulated suicide of a lovable, anthropomorphic car-building robot who has fallen on hard times could be such a downer? 6. Nissan – With Dad Although the debut season of its new LMP1 racer didn't exactly turn out how the team hoped it would, there's no denying that Nissan's depiction of a strained father-and-son relationship that eventually leads to redemption (and the introduction of the 2016 Maxima) tugs at the heartstrings. 5. Volkswagen – Big Day A surprisingly poignant advert, this one might be low on dialogue but it certainly gets its message across. And just as the dramatic soundtrack begins to lull the viewer into a sense of security, our expectations are upended. 4.