2001 Audi A6 2.8 Avant Quattro on 2040-cars

Auto blog

New Audi Q5 refines original model's winning formula

The first Audi Q5 made a name for itself as a baby Q7, hitting a Goldilocks zone in the crossover segment and challenging BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus for supremacy in what would become one of the luxury market's most important segments. The Q5 is already Audi's best-selling vehicle globally, underscoring its importance to the German brand. Like its predecessor, the second-generation Q5 takes the Q7's looks and tech, then distills it into a smaller package. But unlike the Q7, the Q5 doesn't look quite so dowdy in its redesigned body. We'll attribute that to the smaller front and rear overhangs, which keep the Q5 looking like a crossover instead of a high-riding wagon. The face is mostly a carbon copy of the Q7's, with a prominent grille featuring a silver surround and flanked by a set of clean, stylish headlights. In back, the smaller Audi gets more expressive taillights that harken back to the first-generation model in their lighting signature. We aren't really sure what Audi was going for with its two-tier rear bumper, but it doesn't work and is inarguably the worst piece of an otherwise fashionable design. Aside from restyling the Q5's body, Audi managed to both expand it in every direction and trim nearly 200 pounds of body fat through a mix of "maximum tensile strength" steel and aluminum. Audi is also promising an impressive aerodynamics gain for the new body – the company's engineers slashed the coefficient of drag from 0.33 to 0.30. That should mean a quieter and more efficient drive. Like the Q7, the new Q5 benefits from Audi's push into advanced driver information systems. It gets the 12.3-inch TFT display, also known as Virtual Cockpit, on top of the 8.3-inch MMI display atop the center stack. MMI takes a page from Apple with its Personal Route Assist. Much as CarPlay will automatically display how long it takes you to get home, Audi's new system can study an owner's behavior and suggest the best route to a given spot, even when the navigation isn't active. While we're geeked about the new tech, the powertrain front is less newsy. The European press release lists one gas engine – a 252-horsepower 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder – and four TDI powertrains. Those latter engines are dead to the US, as Audi faces the backlash from parent company Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal.

Audi says fixing diesel emission problem is simple

Audi reportedly has a simple repair nearly ready to fix the emissions problem on 85,000 vehicles with the 3.0-liter TDI V6 in the US. "Swift, straightforward and customer-friendly solutions are in discussion," company exec Rupert Stadler told workers in Germany, according to Reuters. In late November, Audi announced that the 3.0 TDI had three previously undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices, including one that was potentially considered a defeat device under US law. At the time, the German automaker claimed it could repair the problem with just a software update. Stadler's statement indicates that just such a simple fix might be on the way. Even before Audi's disclosure of the emission control devices, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation against the 3.0-liter TDI for allegedly having software to defeat emissions tests, and the agency later expanded the scope to any vehicle with the engine from 2009 through 2016. The affected models include the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5, Q7, Volkswagen Touareg, and Porsche Cayenne. New diesel versions of these vehicles have a stop-sale. Audi offered owners of affected vehicles the same $1,000 Goodwill Package that parent company VW offered to its affected diesel owners. The money is split up into a $500 gift card and $500 to spend at the Audi dealer. The package also comes with extended roadside assistance. Audi needs to find a solution quickly because it's under a 45-day deadline from the California Air Resources Board to submit a recall plan for the 15,000 vehicles with the 3.0 TDI in the state. The automaker also must include a report on any effects to fuel economy and performance from the proposed repair. Related Video:

Audi traffic light recognition could save 240 million gallons of fuel [UPDATE]

Any hypermiler will tell you that the way you drive your car has a huge impact on how much energy it uses. But these greenfoot drivers haven't had a car that's smart enough to tell them about the inner lives of traffic lights. That's what a prototype system in an Audi A6 Saloon that the German automaker recently tested in Las Vegas can do. Since the car can communicate with local traffic signals and is able to predict when lights will change, the car can help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15 percent. Further, Audi says that the system could save some 238 million gallons of fuel (900 million liters), if deployed across Germany. We can only imagine what hypermilers could do with this. We got to drive the Audi Online traffic light information system prototype in January, but we focused more on how the system worked rather than the green aspect. Now that Audi has had a bit more time to crunch the numbers, it has released fuel economy information for the connected car. The key points for the eco-side of things are that the driver is told in the dashboard how fast/slow to go to hit the next green light. This can help prevent unnecessary speeding and or encourage drivers to go a bit faster in order to hit the green, thus preventing idling and wasted time. The system is too smart to let you idle for long. Except that Audi Online is too smart to let you idle for long. The Audi connect system can calculate how much longer the light will be red and can access the car's start-stop capabilities and will fire up the engine "five seconds before the green phase." That seems like an awful long time in a world where competitors have figured out ways to restart an engine in 0.35 seconds. We've asked Audi for an explanation on why this buffer is so lengthy, and will let you know what the reasoning is when we hear back. Despite the trials in the A6, Audi says the Audi Online traffic system could be integrated into any Audi model, "subject to the necessary government legislation." Aside from the Sin City tests, Audi is running trials of the connected car in Verona, Italy and Berlin, Germany. If you'd like to test it out yourself some day, take heart from this line in the press release, available below: "A market launch is currently the subject of intense analysis in the United States." *UPDATE: Audi's Mark Dahncke told AutoblogGreen that the five second window is meant, "To alert the driver that the light is about to turn green.