Supercars may be fast, but the cutting-edge of automotive technology is happening in luxury sedans like the new 2019 Audi A8. The fourth-generation of Audi's most luxurious car, the new A8 introduces Audi AI, a vision of smarter mobility including industry-first Level 3 assisted driving that, the automaker says, will eventually see all of its cars intercommunicating.
The world’s moving towards turbochargers and Audi’s not immune to the change, and as a result, we have this new Audi-built 2.9-liter V6 twin-turbo engine. It’s at the heart of the 2018 Audi Sport RS 5 Coupe, described by Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Audi Sport GmbH., as “the gran turismo among the RS models from Audi Sport." That means “elegant aesthetics with high everyday usability," something I got to test out in full on the roads of Andorra.
What a cruel joke the American automotive market continues to play on the once-proud station wagon. At a time when new car buyers seem determined to turn their backs on traditional sedans in favor of SUVs and crossovers of all shapes and sizes, manufacturers are equally resolute in their desire to leave the just-as-practical wagon in the lurch. Audi, a company which produces beautiful long-roofs that are sold everywhere but here, has been forced to play the game, too. In doing so, however, it's tapped into a level of style that has produced some of the most appealing luxury options for the cargo-friendly set: the Audi A7 / S7 twins, and their new, more affordable siblings, the 2018 Audi A5 and S5 Sportback.
Android may have spread to the dashboard, but Google won't be happy until its OS fully colonizes the auto industry. At Google I/O 2017, it's showing off the next phase of that plan, cars from Audi and Volvo running the new Embedded Android for Automotive. In the case of this gleaming metallic orange Audi Q8 sport concept, that means the German automaker's regular MMI infotainment system has been cast out and replaced with a new, Android-based alternative. We clambered inside the hybrid SUV concept to check it out.
![Volvo is using Android for its new infotainment system [UPDATE: Audi too!]](https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/VolvoCars_AndroidOS-embargoed-to-May152017-9amET-980x420.jpg)
Volvo and Google are teaming up to build a new, Android-based dashboard for future cars from the safety-obsessed Swedish automaker. The partnership will see the next generation of Volvo's current Sensus infotainment platform built on Android, co-developed by the car company and Google. According to Volvo, we should be seeing it show up on a new car within two years.
Audi is making good use of its all-new five cylinder engine, dropping the 400 HP monster under the hood of the 2018 Audi TT RS, which has finally been priced up for the US today. The latest addition to the renamed Audi Sport range, the 2018 TT RS is the most powerful production TT so far, with the automaker claiming a 0-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds. Top speed is 174 mph with the optional Dynamic plus package.
By now, Audi knows the formula for making attainable performance cars like the 2018 S5 Coupe and 2018 S4 Sedan. Take the A-series vehicles on which they're based, glam up the exterior and interior, drop in a more powerful engine, and you end up with a rewarding driver's car that doesn't break the bank. In the process, you find yourself in the midst of a growing segment of enthusiasts' wheels.
For nearly twenty years, Audi Sport was known as quattro GmBH, but with cars like the 2018 RS 3 the performance division is embracing its more public persona. There’s brand equity in “Audi”, and Stephan Winkelmann, Audi Sport’s CEO is under no illusion about how much potential that has for his line-up of unusual, rip-roaring cars. Winkelmann’s next job, he tells me, is to bring the brand to a whole new level.
Could Audi have just out-maneuvered BMW with a refined but potent grand tourer? The new 2018 Audi RS 5 Coupe would certainly argue so, a 2.9-liter V6 biturbo powered two-door with enough straight-line speed to satisfy performance fans, but the long legs to keep road trip travelers happy. The second-gen car has been revealed for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show today.
What if I told you that you could have the luxury of a big SUV, the performance of a V8, but the economy of a four-cylinder? That's what Audi is promising with the new Q8 sport concept, a second take on its SUV-range-topping Q8 concept that throws some "mild hybrid technology" into the mixture. And, while they may be saying "mild", this is no shy, retiring truck for the school run.
Audi had been holding out on North America when it came to the 2018 S5 Sportback, but now we know exactly how much it - and the 2018 Audi S4 - will cost when it arrives on these shores. It's also an opportunity to confirm just what sort of performance we can expect from the 3.0-liter V6 that both cars share. That musters an impressive 354 horsepower courtesy of its turbocharger - replacing the supercharging on its predecessor.
Audi is undoubtedly one of the most known brands in the automobile industry, but it isn't satisfied in just having its brand on the road, so to speak. It is now leaving an even greater imprint in the world of soccer in the US, football for the rest of the world. Audi has signed up to be the sponsor for the new home of D.C. United, one of the US' most popular soccer clubs. Rising soon will be Washington D.C.'s newest soccer stadium named, what else, Audi Field.
