Audi A4 - Turbo - 5 Speed Manual - Great Car!!! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi looking for Tesla-style, non-traditional way to sell EVs

As part of Audi's notable EV emphasis at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, there was a bit of a secondary discussion on just how the automaker might get to the point where 25 percent of all of its sales would be electric vehicles. After all, no major automaker has figured out how to crack into the double-digit percentage of plug-in vehicle sales. The problem might be, as The New York Times noted recently, that traditional dealerships just don't know how to sell EVs. While no one at Audi was saying that the automaker is going to open up its own EV stores, like Tesla has, but two Audi of America executives were certainly warm to a different style of how an automaker can encourage EV sales. Filip Brabec, AoA's director of product management, said that Audi is at least considering making changes, including some sort of different dealership experience and perhaps a new kind of test drive. "The traditional automotive approach is not necessarily working," Brabec said. "A lot of it has to do with the complexity of the product and the complexity of the offer and it's difficult, I think, to bring that into a classical dealership and sort of treat is as another car and off we go. I think there needs to be some differences in how we go in the future." AoA president Scott Keogh said that Tesla has shown the rest of the industry how to make selling EVs a complete experience. It's not just about the car, he acknowledged. "I think we have to give Tesla credit where it's deserved," he said. "I think the charging network, at least from a public relations point of view, is quite strong and that's definitely added to the message." So many automakers want to have that, "Tesla fighter," as we've heard over and over recently, but Keogh hinted that Audi could do a better job than Tesla is doing today. "I think they've done a good job of looking at the full package. I think we have some resources and the network and everything else that we can put a fuller package together." The most important part is getting people into the cars, Brabec said. "I think exposing consumers to EVs, letting them experience EVs is another big aspect, and probably different than we have today, because test driving a car today is a very conventional thing. It's probably not going to be as conventional with EVs, particularly if you've never been in one before." We can't wait.

The Audi Q7 doesn't want me to speed and I'm not totally okay with that

I'm a big fan of adaptive cruise control. My commute is 50 miles each way, almost all on freeways here in Michigan. If everyone drove at the same speed there'd be little need for smart cruise, but I live in reality where people camp out in the left lane and practice going from the gas to the brake for no apparent reason. Radar cruise systems let me set my max speed and just worry about steering. But Audi has gone a step further with its adaptive cruise system. And it's a step I'm not sure I'm comfortable with. Audi's system, as featured on the new Q7, has a feature that uses the forward-facing camera to read speed-limit signs, something that's becoming common in Europe and is now making its way here in the continent's luxury cars. That part's fine; it's useful information and gets nicely integrated into Audi's Virtual Cockpit screen and on the head-up display. What the car then does with that info, however, is the issue: If your set cruise speed is higher than the speed on a sign you pass, the car will drop the cruise speed down to the limit. But it's not perfect. On one stretch of highway, the Q7 picked up the speed limit posted on the parallel service road, dropping me down from a little above the limit to 30 mph. It didn't slam on the brakes, but it did confuse me at first and require intervention before the car slowed down to a crawl. This feature isn't ready for primetime. Luckily, it can be turned off or switched to a mode where it gives you a warning that the speed limit has changed (or at least that the car thinks it has) and lets you react before the set cruise speed is changed automatically. When activated, it's a safety issue. A more serious one, in my opinion, than driving a little over the speed limit, especially when it means interrupting the flow of traffic. There's nothing predictable about a car trundling along in the fast lane and then completely letting off the gas. It's not predictable for the driver behind you, and it's not something a driver expects of their own vehicle. Yes, this feature was obviously developed for people driving on the Autobahn, where speeds can drop down from unlimited to a slow crawl pretty quickly when entering a construction zone or approaching a built-up area. German roads also have more consistent signage, so the false-positive scenario I experienced might not have come up there.

Best cars for snow and ice in 2023 and 2024

What's the best car for snow? The real answer is "the one with winter tires." What do we mean by that? You could have the finest, most advanced all-wheel-drive system or four-wheel drive in the world, but if you're running all-seasons (the spork of tires), your fancy four-wheeler won't matter much. The odds are, any vehicle on the road running good winter tires will probably perform adequately in slippery, slushy and/or snowy road conditions. (Here's a more complete explanation of why winter tires are totally worth it). In other words, you don't really need any of the cars on this list. With a set of winter tires, countless others will do the job, and even these will be at their best with proper rubber. You can find a variety of winter tires for your car here at Tire Rack. Keep in mind that you will need a full set of four snow tires for safety and performance, no matter what you're driving. The days of your dad putting just two snows on the family truckster to get it moving in a straight line are long gone. Don't get us wrong, getting a car that performs well in snow and ice is still a worthy criteria for car buyers. According to the U.S. Transportation Department, 70% of Americans live in places that get snow and ice. And much of the country has been blasted with arctic air for much of the new year. So let's look at the cars. First, we're highlighting choices for a variety of buyers and price points. Second, we're not just considering snow; we're considering general wintery conditions people will experience driving to work or school. As such, these are all choices with advanced all-wheel-drive systems, usually with "torque-vectoring" systems that not only automatically shunt power front and back, but side to side between the rear axles. Most have extra ground clearance for getting through deep snow, and we prefer those vehicles with more responsive steering, throttles and transmissions that provide a greater sense of vehicle control in slippery conditions.    Acura RDX Read our Acura RDX Review Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive system was one of the first to offer torque-vectoring, and besides often being touted for its ability to greatly enhanced dry-road handling, its benefits in the slick stuff can be profound. It's actually surprising that Acura hasn't leaned into this capability further by offering more rugged versions of its vehicles.