Like a lost kid at Disneyland, Sven has finally arrived at the “Lost Cars” desk at the dealer in Boise, and now is the firm grip of the authorities, waiting for someone to come pick him up.
When my man at Lyle Pearson Volvo called to say that Sven had finally showed up, it was 5:30 and they were doing the tech inspection this evening and the paint treatment tomorrow AM. Sadly, my schedule is already full this week, so we’re scheduled for Monday for pickup, but I might have to see if I can make Friday happen. The rear hatch on the Audi slams closed over every bump and the dog can’t get far enough away. I think he realizes the danger his tail is in. It’s time to get that sucker in, get it fixed and get it out of my life.
My neighbor Alex sent this pic of an ad for the Daytona 500 printed ON the icing of a Pop Tart (Alex claims it was his coworker who was eating the tart). After two weeks of watching the Olympics LIVE, I’ve reached my saturation point with advertising, especially some of my favorite brands/icons… Audi’s Truth in Engineering (even though there are two in our driveway), Morgan Freeman and Life Takes VISA (even if I cried every time that skater did a victory lap with his daughter), to say nothing of how many years will pass before I’m ready to look at another can of Coke and “open happiness” (even though Mexican Coke is one of my favorite indulgences). But it’s live TV, so all is fair in love and advertising. But to be ambushed upon innocently opening a Pop Tart?
“It’s a sign that the apocalypse is near,” Alex says.
At one end of the Audi range is the A1 e-tron, at the other, this A8 hybrid. It combines the familiar VW Group 2.0 TFSI engine (211bhp) with an electric motor to give a total 245bhp/480Nm, delivering performance on a par with a conventional V6 yet returning up to 45.6mpg and emitting 144g/km of carbon dioxide. Acceleration 0-62mph comes up in 7.6 seconds, to a top speed of 146mph; in electric-only mode it can do up to 40mph for over 2km. Eight-speed Tiptronic auto transmission is fitted, and this A8 remains front-wheel drive.
Audi describes this car as a ‘concept’, but it’s a safe bet it’s on its way to production soon. The same powertrain will feature in the Q5 hybrid, confirmed for launch later this year.
JENEWA, 26 Februari 2010 – Audi tahu benar bagaimana menarik perhatian pengunjung. Pabrikan asal Jerman itu akan menghadirkan penyanyi Amerika Justin Timberlake untuk memperkenalkan The New Audi A1 pada perhelatan Geneva Motor Show 2010, pekan mendatang.
Timberlake, 29 tahun, rencanya akan hadir saat konferensi pers pengenakan Audi A1 pada hari pembukaan, 2 Maret nanti. Nama mantan penyanyi grup musik N’Sync itu bukan nama asing bagi Audi. Ia adalah ambassador untuk Audi pada tahun 2010 ini. Bahkan akhir tahun lalu, Timberlake bersama aktris Dania Ramirez, pemeran film Heroes, juga menjadi bintang pada iklan pabrikan Ingolstadt tersebut.
“Audi selalu yang terdepan dalam mesin dan teknologi. Saya tersanjung menjadi bagian dari evolusi Audi dan A1,” kata Timberlake ketika terpilih oleh Audi sebagaimana dikutip autoevolution.
A1, mobil berbodi terkecil dalam jajaran produk Audi, merupakan campuran antara sedan premium dan sport car. Dalam keterangannya Audi menyebutkan A1 akan dibanderol sekitar 16.000 euro (Rp 202,89 juta). Mobil ini ditawarkan dalam empat pilihan mesin (dua bensin dan dua disel), semuanya menggunakan teknologi direct fuel injected dan turbocharged.
Kelengkapan lain adalah radio remote-controlled central locking system, kaca spion dengan power-adjustable, power windows dan pengatur untuk kursi pengemudi. Fitur keamanan antara lain dua front airbags, side airbags dan head airbags.
The Audi Q7 has an overall swish and exquisite look to it. When it was first introduced folks quickly took a liking to it. It isn’t not surprising since this vehicle has many luxury options. This can be quite beneficial if you’ve a large family. The car doesn’t only give you luxury and comfort but great style all at the same time.
The Q7 has a sporty look to it, which makes it quite appealing to several folk. The Audi Q7 SUV has a griddle that looks great with the painted horizontal strip. Since the grill is narrow it looks less overpowering. The Q7 has a lot of the same features as the Audi Avants. Some of the same features are the high shoulder line, the sloping roofline and lots more. All the features are what make the Audi Q7 sophisticated and sporty all at the same time. The rear fender gives better function to the turn signals as well as the rear fog lights.
The Q7 even has a 3rd row seating as an extra option, which can come in handy if you’ve a huge family. The center row can fold back down and slide forward. This can offer you better and more space in seating. The 3rd row can fold flat utterly on the floor when you are not using it. Not only does this option give you more seating in the automobile it may also allow for more space to store items on those long journeys.
Go and check out the Audi Q7 and experience the class and exquisiteness that it can offer. It just could be what you and your family are searching for. It gives you a sporty look, but can still be functional for the family, which makes everyone hppy.
What is your dream car? Check out some of the fastest and most exotic cars ever built at thesupercars.org and also take a look at Audi A5.
You are here: Home / Audi / 2011 Audi RS52011 Audi RS5
February 23, 2010 by Karl Peskett
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Audi has released official details on its latest sports model, the RS5, ahead of the 2010 Geneva Motor Show where the official unveiling will take place. With an aggressive style that breaks the “safe” mold Audi is known for, it’s proof that Audi can create aggressive and sexy looking cars.
Apart from the race style sports seats and carbon fibre treatment, the interior of the RS5 is the same as the Audi A5 save options like stainless steel mesh, piano black or brushed aluminium highlights . Externally the sports theme continues with front and rear spoilers and the usual oval dual exhaust tips found on all RS Audi’s. These, and the bypass flaps which enrichen the sound hint at its potential.
The 4.2 litre V8 uses direct injection to amazing effect with a power output of 331kw at 8250rpm coupled with fuel economy rated at 10.8-litres/100km. Maximum torque of 430Nm happens from 4000-6000rpm.
Weighing 1725kgs, the RS5 will sprint from 0-100km/h in just 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of an electronically limited 250km/h. However the most interesting thing is that Audi can lift that top speed to 280km/h upon request.
Make sure you tick that box.
Transmission as standard will be Audi’s seven speed S tronic which has been reinforced to withstand the weapons grade V8. Using Audi’s drive select, three modes of shifts are available – automatic, comfort and dynamic, which also control throttle response and steering weighting.
The transmission also has launch control.
The Quattro all-wheel-drive system can now also send up to 70 per cent of torque to the front wheels, or up to 85 per cent to the rear wheels meaning gecko-like grip in all conditions. It will also decelerate inside wheels giving greater traction, but also increasing yaw action for even tighter cornering.
At the rear of the car are aerodynamic channels to add stability at high speeds with a deployable rear spoiler which extends at 120km/h, but retracts at 80km/h. Sitting 20mm lower than the standard A5, the RS5 receives 19-inch wheels as standard, shod in 265/35 tyres, however a 20-inch with 275/30 tyre combination is optional.
Eight piston front calipers cover the 365mm front brakes, but you can also ask for a 380mm carbon-ceramic option if your budget stretches that far.
Expect to see the RS5 down under either late this year, or early next year.
BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes… they all make superb saloon cars. They are well made, refined, smooth and drive well.
So when these top marques then bring out a sport model (be it an AMG, S, M etc), then they improve on the already great basic saloon car model.
They improve the handling, they tighten up the feedback, driver involvement, road holding. They tweak the chassis, engine and suspension. They end up with the same saloon car… but different – better – each part honed to a higher level.
What they don’t do is stick on some gaudy graphics, a big exhaust pipe and a huge spoiler and then try to palm it off as a sports car…
Where is this leading then?
For the past 2 weeks I have had the pleasure of test driving an aluminium bodied (hand finished in the UK no less), tweaked and more responsive version of an engineering marvel that I have blogged about before.
Will King (King of Shaves) hasn’t sat on his backside and let the already great award winning Azor (and Azor S – Sensitive) blow away the competition, oh no, he’s been working on improving perfection.
Well, that’s a bit strong. Azor had it’s bad points for some users, and a few quirks that first time users weren’t ready for… so maybe not improving on perfection, but most definitely improving on the Azor, the best multiblade shaving hardware since the Gillette Mach 3.
The trouble some people had with the Azor is they expected it to be the same as any previous razor – but it isn’t. For one it is sharper and more responsive.
Like all things different you need to get used to it – so a couple of shaves really won’t give you the real benefit of the Azors great shave. Try it, stick with it for a month and then see how you feel. You wouldn’t expect to get into a new car and have everything be in just the right place straight away, as each driver adjusts and gets used to their new car – so you should adjust and get used to the Azor.
So anyway today, the official launch of the Azor M…. I wasn’t expecting a great improvement leap, as the first Azor was already a benchmark product.
The NEW King of Shaves AZOR M
For the two weeks prior to today’s launch I have been a tester using the Azor M and the new slimline blade cartridge. The M stands for metal – an aluminium body hand finished in the UK. The slimline cartridge is an improved version of the original, already incredible Azor blade.
The heft is good – this is down to the extra weight of the metal over the previous Azor models. It feels more controlled & has a certain quality feel about it (Azor 1 & S have great quality & design, but to some people a light razor is seen as cheap & tatty). Azor M nicely addresses that & more.
The 3 colour look… it sounds a bit dicey, but when I saw it I was immediately impressed. No tarty chrome look like Gillette use. A subtle, almost Audi-ish brushed Aluminium that wasn’t pretending to be anything else, because it is what it is. Very stylish.
The shave… Okay, I was surprised at how different it was. Doing my head really showed the improvements. That weight made for more control & a smoother glide.
Better still – and this shocked me….the blade life is longer! I thought the first Azor blade was good, but this is still as blisteringly sharp now after two weeks of full head and beard shaves as when I first used it. This surely is the KoS standard now – Cheaper, longer lasting and far, far sharper blades.
Azor M - Perfection squared
The new cartridge design seems to be more than meets the eye. The trimmed & squared off lube section made for a more accurate trim around my goatee. Now there is a definitive squared end across the head of the cartridge that is parallel to the blades, which actually gave more confidence around the beard and that just worked better – I didn’t need to think about it so much as I knew exactly where I was shaving.
I managed to shave several areas around my ears that the previous cartridge wouldn’t touch due to the old larger cartridge – so a marked improvement there.
The reduced top end section also appeared to pull/tighten my skin slightly more than the Azor S (not in a bad way). It felt taut & controlled – referring back to my car analogy I’d say the Azor M is the sports saloon of the range – tweaked to give a firmer, more accurate & closer ride. It’s all a bit more “together”, which is amazing, seeing as the previous Azor danced over the competition without bothering to even take it’s shoes off!
The distinct but minimal packaging of the Azor
Even though Azor has one of the narrower side walls on the cartridge than other brands, I personally would like to see even thinner side walls with the blades as close to the edge as possible – but that’s a wish list thing & no complaint against any Azor.
I don’t know how many of the above improvements were intentional or just a by product of the new M design, but I can say that King of Shaves have improved on something that was near perfect anyway, and improved it more than I could imagine!
As for Gillette and the Fusion range…. remember the comment about sticking on a big spoiler (more blades) a big exhaust (shove a battery in it) and gaudy graphics (oranges, blues, greens, and chrome)……Well… there’s an old saying…
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig
Gillette were great in the Mach 3 days, in the same way the old 1980’s BMW M3 series was great… but times have moved on and things have improved.
Look at the modern designs we are seeing in cars, mobile phones, computers etc…. it’s all smooth, simple, no fuss, functional and thought out (much like the early days or race cars, aircraft etc… smooth and flowing).
Gone are the days of angular brash and loud designs that were definitely more show than go… It’s easy to see which of the two camps the Azor and the Mach 3 belong to.
Gillette Fusion yesterday
The King of Shaves press release for Azor M is HERE.
At one end of the Audi range is the A1 e-tron, at the other, this A8 hybrid. It combines the familiar VW Group 2.0 TFSI engine (211bhp) with an electric motor to give a total 245bhp/480Nm, delivering performance on a par with a conventional V6 yet returning up to 45.6mpg and emitting 144g/km of carbon dioxide. Acceleration 0-62mph comes up in 7.6 seconds, to a top speed of 146mph; in electric-only mode it can do up to 40mph for over 2km. Eight-speed Tiptronic auto transmission is fitted, and this A8 remains front-wheel drive.
