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Adventures in lazy badge engineering | Autoblog Podcast #505

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin joins David Gluckman to look back at some of the less labor-intensive badge engineering the industry has seen over the years. They also recap what they've all been driving lately, and the episode wraps up with Spend My Money buying advice to help you, our dear listeners. Also, in honor of episode 505, here is a picture of a Peugeot 505. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #505 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics and stories we mention Kia Sportage Kia Niro Volkswagen Golf Audi A4 Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 01:31 Badge-engineering fun - 20:54 Spend My Money - 33:41 Total Duration: 1:07:57 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Audi Kia Volkswagen Crossover Hatchback SUV Wagon Sedan kia sportage kia niro

Car cocktails and Risky Business Porsches with Brett Berk | Autoblog Podcast #502

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman are joined by a special guest, Autoblog contributor Brett Berk. The three discuss cars in film and TV as well as Brett's series on car-themed cocktails. There is of course a recap of what they've all been driving lately, and the episode wraps up with Spend My Money buying advice to help you, our dear listeners. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #502 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics and stories we mention 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV - Autoblog's 2017 Technology of the Year Car award winner 2017 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R 2016 Kia Soul EV 2017 Audi A4 sedan The story of the Risky Business Porsche 928 The Taxi Cocktail took us for a ride The myth and mystery of The Bentley Cocktail Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 01:50 Brett Berk interview - 21:12 Spend My Money - 39:44 Total Duration: 54:02 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Audi Bentley BMW Chevrolet Maserati Mercedes-Benz Porsche kia soul ev Chevrolet Bolt porsche 928 ford shelby mustang gt350r cocktails

Autoblog's top 50 car photos of 2016

This one shouldn't need much explanation. We like cars a whole lot, and that includes not just driving them but taking great pictures of them. We've collected our 50 favorite images from this year in the mega-gallery above. It's a mix of old and new, with a healthy dose of vintage and modern race cars mixed in, and not one single shot under the harsh lights of an auto show. So click through and enjoy. Featured Gallery Autoblog's Top 50 Photos of 2016 View 50 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Autoblog.com Audi BMW Chevrolet Dodge Ferrari Ford Lamborghini Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Volvo Convertible Coupe Motorcycle Luxury Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars Classics

A dealer made a 'Urus' out of an Audi Q7 to get people excited for Lambo's SUV

Fake news seems to be catching on. In an attempt to drum up some interest in the upcoming Lamborghini Urus (the Italian SUV that hasn't been unveiled yet) the Lamborghini dealer in Nurnberg, Germany, created a Lambo-badged promotional vehicle. It seems it has fooled at least a few folks, with several outlets reporting on it as if it's a Lamborghini prototype. Of course, it's not. What you're looking at is an Audi Q7 with a camouflage wrap that includes a Lamborghini-script logo across the back and a promotional message on the side, which reads: "Der Urus kommt / Lamborghini Nurnberg." Thanks to one semester of German, we can tell you that first part means "The Urus is coming." Note, that's "is coming," not "is here." There's also something that kind of resembles a scoop on the front fender. It's also fake. It's not uncommon for automakers to put a cryptic message on the side of a test car, often with swirly camo, but this takes the idea a step further since it's not the actual car underneath. That said, the production Urus, whenever it arrives, is expected to share the Audi Q7's MLB 2 platform. So it sort of works. Kind of. Related Video: Image Credit: CarPix Audi Lamborghini Crossover SUV Luxury Performance confirmed

The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda

New Tesla, McLaren, and Ferrari models added to Takata recall list

UPDATE: A McLaren spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that "a number" of McLaren models in the US, Japan, and South Korea will be recalled to fix non-dessicated airbag inflators. However, the recall only affects passenger airbags, as all driver's-side inflators use a different technology and are not affected. The timeline is still being determined. It's been more than two and a half years since the Takata airbag recall first made waves. Despite knowing which airbags were at fault and the exact cause of the failure, manufacturers like Audi, Ferrari, McLaren, and Tesla have been building and selling cars with defective airbags. Although it takes several years for the airbag to degrade to the point of failure, all of these new cars will eventually have to be recalled for replacements. It appears that time has come, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has now issued a recall on some of these new models. Models from Tesla and McLaren have been added to NHTSA's recall list for the first time. Tesla is recalling every 2012 - 2016 Model S while McLaren is bringing back every model it's made since relaunching its road-car business in 2012. Not even the P1 is free from failure. Other automakers have expanded their affected-vehicle list. All of Ferrari's 2016 - 2017 lineup now falls under the recall and joins a number of previously recalled models, while Audi is recalling the 2017 R8. Since the recall started, dozens of automakers have recalled millions of affected cars to replace potentially fatal and highly flawed airbags that can deploy bits of metal at occupants. Eleven deaths in the United States are directly related to the faulty airbags. Before the recall, Takata held a sizable share of the airbag market. When the failures began to occur, some automakers were left with no alternative suppliers. As it takes a few years for the airbags to fail, automakers without other options faced a choice: they could either build cars that would be recalled in the future or stop building cars altogether until a secondary supplier could be found. These recalls seem to be happening so frequently that owners may not know what to do or where to check to see if their car is potentially affected. NHTSA is keeping a comprehensive list of all affected models. Their website can help owners determine if they have a potentially problematic airbag installed and the steps to take to replace it.

The one where we give you real car-buying advice | Autoblog Podcast #495

On this episode, Mike Austin and David Gluckman dive into some useful advice for people searching for a good used car, something David has been dealing with lately. They also talk about what they've been driving lately (Mike took a road trip in our long-term Fiat) and answer some Spend My Money requests from listeners looking for advice. And we have listener questions and comments to discuss, so thanks for sending those in. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And please send trivia questions! You'll get the honor of stumping your fellow listeners, and we'll thank you too. Autoblog Podcast #495 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics and stories we mention 2017 Audi A6 Our long-term 2016 Fiat 500X 2017 BMW 330i Used cars Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 01:09 Listener mail - 12:49 Buying advice - 20:20 Spend My Money - 29:38 Total Duration: 57:23 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes

Audi + Airbnb: What it's like to live in a car commercial

Miles from civilization, in a lonely stretch of Death Valley, lies an unlikely sight: a sleek contemporary home – all glass, concrete, and metal – and a pair of equally modern 2017 Audi R8 V10 Plus coupes. You might have seen the combo in a TV commercial that ran during the Emmys, a spot that had us asking an obvious question: What are these objects doing together, smack in the middle of nowhere? Audi partnered with Airbnb to offer the home and the cars to seven guests. Somehow, we became lucky number eight. The spot, entitled "Desolation," promotes the carmaker's flagship alongside what ended up being an extreme rental property. The idea to build the three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house came from Italian writer and author Fabrizio Rondolino, who was long smitten with American desert. The home was built in 2010 using prefabricated construction by San Francisco-based architecture firm nottoscale. It's a spare elevated structure, with floor-to-ceiling windows cinematically framing the sky. To set the four-wheeled mood, images of the R8 sit where family photos would go, and a laser-cut aluminum sign over the entrance announces it as the "Home of the R8." In acknowledgement of the remoteness, a satellite phone sits charged up with clearly printed dialing instructions. An Easter egg from the ad – two jars of Leadfoot Coffee – hides in plain sight on the kitchen counter. You can rent houses like this elsewhere on Airbnb, but here's where gearheads start paying attention: The two Audi supercars counter the architectural tranquility with a combined 1,220 horsepower and an opportunity to rip through the desert at obscene speeds (not to mention several other extras you don't get with a standard vacation rental; more on that later). Seven three-day/two-night stays were offered through an extremely limited Airbnb listing. The buzz surrounding the campaign was so strong that the place booked up in less than six seconds. For what you get, this was a steal. The per-night price of $610 – a reference to the V10's horsepower figure – wouldn't begin to cover the behind-the-scenes logistics needed to coordinate and execute this marketing exercise. I was the sole member of the media invited to experience the Audi Airbnb and got to spend a weekend in this desert playground to see what it was all about. My weekend began when an Audi rep met me and my family at Las Vegas International Airport following a quick flight from Burbank, California.

CARB found another emissions-defeating device, this time from Audi

The California Air Resources Board has discovered another emissions-cheating device on an Audi earlier this summer, reports German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. The device is different from the software found in the VW Group's diesel-powered engines, as it alters the way the cars' automatic transmission shifts. The latest device, according to Bild am Sonntag, measures how far the cars' steering wheel is being turned. If the wheel is turned less than 15 degrees, indicating that the vehicle is being tested in laboratory conditions, a program in cars with certain automatic transmissions changes the way the gearbox shifts. The change in the transmission allows the engine to produce less carbon dioxide than when driving in normal conditions. When the wheel is turned more than 15 degrees, the program automatically turns off, claims Bild am Sonntag. The paper reports that Audi took the software out of its vehicles, which was used in both diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicles in Europe and the US, earlier this May after CARB discovered the program on one of the automaker's older cars. Several engineers that were connected with the emissions-cheating device have already been suspended, reports Bild am Sonntag. As the German newspaper points out, the device, which is fitted to certain Audis with an automatic transmission, is different from the cheat devices found on the automaker's 3.0-liter TDI turbodiesel V6 engine and Volkswagen's 2.0-liter turbodiesel motor, even those were also designed to beat emissions tests. The 3.0-liter engine is found in the Audi Q7, Volkswagen Touareg, and Porsche Cayenne models. Audi didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. Related Video: News Source: Bild am Sonntag via ReutersImage Credit: Reuters / Michaela Rehle Government/Legal Green Audi Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal

The 2018 Audi A5 and S5 Cabriolets are here just in time for winter

There are no big surprises with the 2018 A5 and S5 Cabriolet. As you'd expect, the convertibles share a design with their coupe counterparts, the A5 and S5 coupes, refreshed versions of which were unveiled earlier this year. Alongside the coupes and upcoming sportback models, the Cabriolets complete the A5 lineup. At least until another RS 5 comes along. In Europe, the A5 will have five available engine options, including three TDI engines maxing out at a 286-horsepower 3.0-liter, and two TFSI gas engines, with the most powerful putting out 252 hp. There will also be a choice of three transmissions including a six-speed manual, a seven-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch gearbox, and as an eight-speed automatic. For the US, though, the powertrains should be the same as the new coupe's, with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder generating 252 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque in the A5, replacing the 220-hp turbo four in the previous model. An eight-speed automatic is a definite, although the existence of a manual A4 sedan for our market leaves some hope that a six-speed could be available in the A5 Cabriolet or at least the coupe. Audi also hasn't made final decisions on whether a front-drive model will be available here as it has been in the past. View 13 Photos The S5 Cabriolet, just like the two-door model, uses a new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 engine that produces 354 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, which is 21 more horsepower and 44 more pound-feet of torque than the old 3.0-liter supercharged V6 made. Despite the bump in power, the new S5 Cab hits 62 miles per hour in 5.1 seconds, just like the previous model. It is again electronically limited to 155 mph. And like the coupe, it will use an eight-speed automatic and get Quattro all-wheel drive standard. The A5 Cabriolet loses roughly 88 pounds compared to the previous model. The cars use an updated five-link front suspension and Audi claims the chassis is 40 percent stiffer than before. The soft tops have more insulation to cancel out road noise, take 15 seconds to open, and 18 seconds to close. You can do either at speeds up to 31 mph. The A5 Cabriolet will be available with Audi's latest array of driver assistance systems, including its navigation-linked adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance assist. A seven-inch display, seat belt microphones, Audi's Virtual Cockpit infotainment and gauge package, and a head-up display are available on the inside.