We had a car show at my office and a guy entered his Tesla. As my friend and I walked by it he remotely popped the frunk and asked us to check out the engine. Mind you, I work at an agricultural/commercial truck engineering company, so it’s not like this place is populated by a bunch of people that don’t stuff about…

Drove the Tail of the Dragon for the first time Sunday morning. Ended up following a Prius who had a quarter mile or so head start. Took me almost the whole 11 miles to catch him. Couldn’t figure out why until I got close and saw he was cutting any corner he could. Definitely not his first time up there...

Can confirm, zero cops today on the Tail, end of December. Thank Doug for El Niño.

If I could get the current RS6 Avant in a manual, I would stop asking for anything, ever...

Can he appeal the conviction based on the fact that we’re all pretty sure it’s a Lamborghini?

For another recent “It’s not OK to fail” example in regards to emissions compliance, look at what has happened to Navistar over the last 2-3 years as an outcome of their own aversion to implementing liquid-based SCR on diesel engines in the US. Their former CEO pushed engineering to do anything but utilized DEF on…

Off the top of my head:

Note to self: Next time I buy a high mileage used Audi S4, make sure it has a CarMax warranty and that I have a job writing internet things so I don’t have to worry about going broke and I can call it all a “business expense”.

Saw the original R10 TDI’s at an ALMS race at PIR years ago and for the first few laps I thought they sounded really weird as they flew by. Then I realized it was the camera chopper overhead that I kept hearing when one came by without it overhead. The Audis were strangely quiet for as fast as they were.

Test drove an S7 the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how good the V8 sounded when I floored it. Between the turbos and the luxury car, I did not expect it to sound so good with the windows up. Makes me want to trade in the S4 for an S6/7...

At least for the current A4 vs A3, check the mirrors. A4 side mirrors connect at base of A-pillar and the A3 they connect lower on the door. But the B9 A4 coming out next year changes this I believe.

S7 is more of an S6 with a squashed roof. Almost identical interiors. Test drove one last week and loved the sound of that V8.

I’d take that over my job right now. I do diesel engine cert (not for VW!) and have to sign my name to stuff that could put me in jail if it ends up being false. Dieselgate has added a whole new amount of scrutiny in everything we do these days.

Perhaps it’s time to quit my engineering job and go flip burgers or serve drinks for a little bit.

But the exhaust note...!

For any parts that are emissions-relevant, there would have to be some check or quality control that each dealer printing them could do so within spec, or else the certificate of conformity might be invalidated somehow.

I test drove an S7 with the 4.0TT this weekend and was not disappointed with the power. While unique to Lambo, I assume the V8 in this will have some similar VAG DNA from the powerplants in the S6/7/8 and RS7 which aren’t exactly lacking for fun.

when I was 20, the fastest thing anybody could reasonably afford was a first-generation Cadillac CTS-V

The Fast and the Furious came out my senior year of high school. Everyone at school wanted a fast Civic or Prelude or Integra. But looking back, the kid with the Lightning had the fastest vehicle by far of anyone.

B7 RS4