2005 Audi A4 Base Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Audi sets diesel records on road and track

Ever the proponent of diesel propulsion, Audi has claimed two very different kinds of records in Europe with its finest oil-burners. The more exciting of the two was achieved recently at the Sachsenring, where the Audi RS5 TDI Competition Concept posted the fastest diesel-powered lap time ever recorded on the track. As you may recall, Audi revealed the RS5 TDI Concept last year, swapping the gasoline-burning 4.2-liter V8 in the production RS5 coupe for a 3.0-liter V6 diesel with two turbochargers and an electric supercharger. The result was 385 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, but Audi's been working on the prototype over the course of the past year. In the new Competition version, output is up to 435 hp and 590 lb-ft, and despite the inherently heavier diesel engine, it actually weighs 531 pounds less than the production model. That helped the RS5 TDI Competition lap the circuit in 1:35.35, besting the previous diesel lap record by 1.87 seconds, and adding to the Hockenheim record it took previously. Around the same time, another team set out from Maastricht in the Netherlands in an Audi A6 TDI Ultra and drove it for 28 hours straight, hitting 14 countries and logging 1,158.9 miles on a single tank of diesel. The achievement, certified by Guinness World Records, was completed in a showroom-stock vehicle, with automotive journalist Andrew Frankel and racing driver Rebecca Jackson splitting driving duties. They achieved an average of 75.9 miles per gallon – much better than the advertised rating of 67 mpg – as they cruised through from Holland to Hungary, passing along the way through Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia. Record: Audi RS 5 TDI competition concept drives to record time on the Sachsenring track - Audi sets new lap record for cars with diesel engines - Superior technology platform with 435 hp and 800 Nm (590.0 lb-ft) - Electric compressor: overcomes turbo lag, enhances sprint performance Audi has set a new record time on the Sachsenring for cars with a diesel engine. The Audi RS 5 TDI competition concept rounded the 3.6 km (2.2 mi) race course in a time of 1 minute 35.35 seconds. The technology platform draws its power from a 3.0-liter V6 biturbo TDI with 320 kW (435 hp) of power and 800 Nm (590.0 lb-ft) of torque. The highlight is an electrically driven compressor.

24 Hours of Le Mans live update part two

We tasked surfing journalist Rory Parker to watch this year's live stream of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. What follows is an experiment to experience the world's greatest endurance race from the perspective of a motorsports novice. Parker lives in Hawaii and can hold his breath longer than he can go without swearing. For Part One, click here. Or you can skip ahead to Part Three here. I write about surfing for a living. If you can call it a living. Basically means I spend my days fucking around and my wife pays for everything. Because she's got a real job that pays well. Brings home the bacon. Very progressive arrangement. Super twenty first century. I run a surf website, beachgrit.com, with two other guys. It's a strange gig. More or less uncensored. Kind of popular. Very good at alienating advertisers. My behavior has cost us a few bucks. I'm terrible at self-censorship. Know there's a line out there, no idea where it lies. I still don't understand any of the technical side. Might as well be astrophysics or something. For contests I do long rambling write ups. They rarely make much sense. Mainly just talk about my life, whatever random thoughts pop into my head. "Can you do something similar for Le Mans?" "Sure, but I know absolutely fuck-all about racing." "That's okay. Just write what you want." "Will do. But you're gonna need to edit my stuff. Probably censor it heavily." So here I am. I spent the last week trying to learn all I can about the sport of endurance racing. But there's only so much you can jam in your head. And I still don't understand any of the technical side. Might as well be astrophysics or something. While I rambled things were happening. Tracy Krohn spun into the gravel on the Forza chicane. #89 is out of the race after an accident I missed. Pegasus racing hit the wall on the Porsche curves. Bashed up front end, in the garage getting fixed. Toyota and Porsche are swapping back and forth in the front three. Ford back in the lead in GTE Pro. #91 Porsche took a stone through the radiator, down two laps. Not good. The wife and I are one of those weird childless couples that spend way too much time caring for the needs of their pet. French bulldog, Mr Eugene Victor Debs. Great little guy. Spent the last four years training him to be obedient and friendly. Nice thing about dogs, when you're sick of dealing with them you can just lock 'em in another room for a few hours. You don't need to worry about paying for college.

First impressions of Audi's next TT interior and Virtual Cockpit [w/video]

Not content to pummel CES show goers with laser lights and self-piloting vehicles, Audi has also pulled the wraps (well, some of the wraps) off the interior of its upcoming next-gen TT. While the car itself wasn't on hand for us to check out, Audi did mock up the cockpit, complete with its all-new Virtual Cockpit central display and the latest iteration of the company's Multi Media Interface (MMI).
Virtual Display is Audi's new brand name for a completely digital reinterpretation of the instrument binnacle, by way of a 12.3-inch TFT screen. Audi tells us that there are two operable modes for Virtual Display: in the standard mode, an average-sized tachometer and speedometer flank a smaller infotainment portion in the center. Infotainment mode, meanwhile, shrinks the gauges to discreet circles and allows the navigation map, audio controls, or whichever system is being operated by the driver, to fill the remaining screen real estate.
This design, says Audi, allowed engineers to slim down the size of the center console as a whole, without reducing function for the driver. We can say that it looks very impressive as a demonstrator, but we will need some time with it in a moving vehicle before we're convinced it isn't slightly more distracting that a traditional setup.