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Audi wants to keep you healthy while behind the wheel

Health tracking is all the rage. You can get smart watches and smart wristbands and all sorts of silly tech to give you intricate metrics about your wellbeing. Hell, my bathroom scale is connected and will automagically sync my latest weight, body fat, and heart rate readings to an app on my smartphone. Bathroom scales and wearables aside, Audi is hoping to bring this fitness-tracking tech to four wheels with its new Fit Driver system. No surprise, the new program was announced at the technophile's paradise that is the Consumer Electronics Show. Paired with a wearable, like an Apple Watch or FitBit, that would monitor heart rate and skin temperature, the car's sensors can track a driver's breathing and driving style. This data can be analyzed alongside weather and traffic information, effectively allowing the car to determine how stressed or tired a driver is. Systems within the vehicle would then be tweaked to "relax, vitalize, or even protect the driver." This can take the form of an automatic massage and adjustments to the cabin temperature, ambient lighting, and infotainment. So when you're about to go full road rage because there's a Camry doing ten under in the left lane, Sirius could flip on the easy listening of Watercolors to calm you down. Naturally, this technology is still in the early stages, and there's no word about when it could actually arrive in production vehicles. But as driverless systems evolve, Audi is aiming to develop such an advanced health suite that an autonomous vehicle could detect a medical emergency, pull over safely, and call for assistance. Here's to the future, folks. Check out the official release below. Audi Fit Driver Audi envisions a future in which drivers leave their cars more relaxed than when they entered them. The car, as a personal yet simultaneously connected space, is ideal for health and fitness monitoring. Under the motto "my Audi cares for me", Audi Fit Driver will become a supportive driving companio. The Audi Fit Driver project focuses on the well-being and health of the driver. A wearable (fitness wristband or smartwatch) monitors important vital parameters such as heart rate and skin temperature. Vehicle sensors supplement this data with information on driving style, breathing rate and relevant environmental data such as weather or traffic conditions. The current state of the driver, such as elevated stress or fatigue, is deduced from the collected data.

166 MPGe diesel-electric Audi Q7 E-Tron Quattro gets real in Geneva

Despite some warnings that plug-in vehicles would not make a big impression in Geneva this year, the first big reveals from the Peace Capital are indeed PHEVs. For example, the diesel-electric Audi Q7 E-Tron Quattro, which right out of the gate comes at us with some impressive numbers: an all-electric range of 34 miles and the "potential" to hit 166 miles per gallon equivalent. Whatever scale Audi is rating the new Q7 PHEV on, 166 MPGe is a resounding success. As we might guess from the prototypes we've seen and hints we've had, the Q7 E-Tron Quattro is not some auto salon fantasy. The vehicle will go on sale at the end of this year, in the UK, at least. Availability in the rest of Europe and here in the US is likely but unspecified in the press materials we've seen so far. The real-world reality of the Q7 E-Tron Quattro means that specs like a 0-100 kilometers an hour (62 miles per hour) time of six seconds and a top speed of 225 kmh (139.8 mph), CO2 emissions of under 50 grams per kilometer and a total system torque output of 516.3 pound-feet should be ours to test in the not-too-distant future. This whole E-Tron program is turning out to be quite something. Who else is ready? Related Video: AUDI Q7 ENTERS THE VOLT AGE IN GENEVA WITH NEW SUB 50 G/KM Q7 E-TRON QUATTRO 02/03/15 Commanding new Q7 incorporates hybrid drive for a combined 876-mile range and 166mpg potential First diesel plug-in hybrid with quattro drive in its segment First ever plug-in hybrid TDI from Audi Six-cylinder TDI engine develops 373 PS Electric-only range of up to 34 miles, increasing to 876 miles combined Fully charged in two and half hours Maximum efficiency with hybrid management UK ordering expected to open at the end of 2015 Ingolstadt/Geneva, March 2, 2015 - Audi has combined its world renowned diesel engine expertise with its equally widely acclaimed flair for technological innovation to create its first TDI plug-in hybrid with quattro all-wheel drive. Making its world public debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the new Q7 e-tron quattro combines a frugal TDI engine with lithium-ion battery technology for a potential range of up to 876 miles and the ability to travel emission-free for over 34 miles on electric power alone, contributing to an official CO2 figure of less than 50 grams per kilometre. The Q7 e-tron quattro is the second Audi model with a powerful plug-in hybrid drive system.

Watch the Le Mans Audi R8 safety car drift during red flag

With open-wheel, prototype, and GT cars so dependent on keeping their tires warm, European series enlist much higher-performance cars than the family sedans that pace the NASCAR field. That also means their drivers need to know their way around a race track. Yannick Dalmas, the driver of the 24 Hours of Le Mans' Audi R8 safety car, proved that point during heavy rains yesterday. The four-time Le Mans champ and former F1 driver had a bit of a moment during the red flag. We don't know if Dalmas was having a bit of fun or genuinely getting out of trouble on the deluged track, but cameras caught him executing an lurid drift that will probably end up in an Audi commercial in the near future. It's hard to tell what section of the track Dalmas went drifting at – it's pitch black in the video – but based on the downward, right-hand bend, we're guessing it was between Tertre Rouge and the start-finish line, maybe in the Esses. You can see the big moment in the video, which generated plenty of cheers from the red-flagged racers and their pit crews. Stick around for the end of the video for Porsche driver Mark Webber's impressed reaction. Related Video: News Source: TheGamingCouple via YouTube Motorsports Audi Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance Videos circuit de la sarthe