2005 Audi A4 Cabriolet Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Audi RS4 Avant Nogaro Selection puts a fresh face on old memories

I've been fortunate enough to drive plenty of memorable cars over the years, and one of my all-time favorites is the Audi RS4 sedan. It was only sold in the United States for a short time, but during that quick run, it made a huge impression on me. I remember everything about that car - the smell, the sound, the exact feeling of the manual shifter as it clicked between the six gears, and the texture of the steering wheel that I so happily tossed about. In fact, whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, I go back and watch this video of the late David E. Davis, Jr., running the California Mille roads in a Sprint Blue RS4 - a video we shot for Winding Road many years ago during my tenure as an editor there.
So even though the Audi RS4 Avant Nogaro that debuts here in Geneva isn't super important, especially for our American-centric audience, I feel compelled to write about it. No, we don't get the lovely RS4 in the States anymore, but the package offered in Europe is just as sweet as ever - perhaps even more so, what with that stylish longroof shape. Under the hood is Audi's excellent, naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 engine, tuned to deliver 450 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, allowing for a 0-62 sprint of 4.7 seconds.
The Nogaro name refers to the special blue paint - a throwback to the original Audi RS2 Avant that kicked off the company's super sweet luxury offerings. Other unique features for the Nogaro car include gloss black exhaust outlets, window frames and grille surround, as well as matte black roof rails. Special 20-inch wheels round off the exterior enhancements, and inside, Nogaro Blue Alcantara accents can be had on the door panels and seat inners.

When Android Automotive goes in the dash, Google wins — and automakers lose data

You've gotta hand it to Google for the way the Silicon Valley tech giant has made indelible inroads into the car on multiple fronts. The most obvious is with its pioneering self-driving car technology that's caused car companies to get their act together on autonomous vehicles — and also collaborate with Google. Google has more directly extended its influence and data-mining capabilities into the car with its Android Auto smartphone-projection platform that most major automakers have adopted along with Apple's CarPlay. And now it's preparing to dig even deeper into dashboards by deploying its open-source operating system, Android Automotive, beginning with Audi and Volvo. Volvo recently announced that its next-generation Sensus infotainment system will run Android Automotive as an OS and include Google's Play Store for cloud-based content, Maps for navigation and Google Assistant for voice recognition, which can even command a car's climate control. By embedding Google in the dash, Volvo says owners will get an improved connected experience. "Bringing Google services into Volvo cars will accelerate innovation in connectivity and boost our development in applications and connected services," Volvo senior vice president of R&D Henrik Green said in a statement. "Soon, Volvo drivers will have direct access to thousands of in-car apps that make daily life easier and the connected in-car experience more enjoyable." Having Android Automotive onboard could benefit drivers — and provide a big win for Google, since it opens a deep and lucrative new data-mining vein for the company. But it's a wave of a white flag for car companies when it comes to delivering their own cloud-based content and services. It also represents a massive data giveaway and, for Audi, a reversal of earlier reservations about letting Google get too much access to car data. Not long after Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were introduced in 2014 and most automakers eagerly embraced the technologies, several German automakers second-guessed their decision when they realized what was at stake: data. At a conference in Berlin in 2015, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said car owners "want to be in control of their data, and not subject to monitoring." A few months earlier, Stadler stated that "the data that we collect is our data and not Google's.

Audi Q7 to be first diesel plug-in from VW group

Lending credence to prior reports, the next Audi Q7 will be available with a diesel-powered, plug-in-hybrid powertrain, Automotive News claims, after speaking to a source in the Volkswagen Group. Both the gas and diesel-powered Q7 will debut in 2015, with the diesel PHV to arrive after that. Unlike Europe's other plug-in diesel, the Volvo V60, Audi's Q7 will be sold on both sides of the Atlantic, the source told AN. You can see a few spy photos of the Q7 PHV above. Audi research and development boss Ulrich Hackenberg previously confirmed that diesel plug-ins would be arriving earlier this year, although it wasn't clear which models the ultra-efficient powertrains would be offered on, or which of those would be offered here in the US. Time to play the waiting game...