The Audi R8 & Lexus LS460

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The Audi R8
When the German Rudof Christian Diesel first unveiled his new prototype in 1892, he thought he had invented a cheap and reliable power engine for the masses. Even now if you ask a diesel driver to describe their engines performance the word economical will soon crop up, however the German car manufacturer Audi is now looking to challenge that perception of the diesel engine with the worlds first diesel super car, the Audi R8 V12 Tdi.

It is safe to say that the words performance and diesel are not often used together, diesel engines are renowned for their ability to produce more miles per gallon than their petrol counterparts, whilst also producing considerably more torque from much lower down the rev range. Unfortunately diesel does have its drawbacks, including leaving the driver with hands smelling of diesel after filling up at, and belching out huge clouds of black smoke when accelerating to any motorist that may be following behind.

However in 2006 Audi set out to change the public's perception of the diesel engine when it took its R10 diesel powered prototype to race in the famous Le Mans 24 hour race. The 24 hour Le Mans was a happy hunting ground for Audi who had already won the race five times previously with its petrol powered R8, and beat off stiff competition from Bentley and BMW in the process.

On its first race at Le Mans the diesel R10 was a winner, and so the belief of what a diesel engine was capable of began to shift. Audi has swiftly followed this up with further successes at Le Mans and in the American Le Mans series, and now it has launched its first diesel powered super car in the shape of the Audi R8 V12 Tdi.

The diesel Audi R8 looks almost identical to the petrol powered model especially with its LED car bulbs, however very eagle eyed spotters will notice that the carbon fibre side blades are slightly larger, which allows them to scoop larger volumes of air into the twin intercoolers. Being a diesel the R8 has an abundance of torque, over 700 lb ft, meaning you could leave this car in sixth gear all day and still be first away at the traffic light grand prix.

With all that torque available from right at the bottom of the rev range the Audi R8 diesel is no slouch hitting sixty in just over four seconds and accelerating up to 180 mph. Unfortunately like all diesels the R8's power band is very narrow and maximum revs occur at just 4500 rpm, however you can console yourself with the fact that the diesel powered R8 produces considerably less carbon dioxide than its petrol equivalent.

The making of the diesel powered Audi R8 has really pushed the performance boundaries of the diesel engine, however until Ferrari include a diesel powered car in their model range, I think its safe to say that the petrol engine still has plenty of time left.

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This year would be the time when the automobile world and the rest of the market would come to know the 2007 Lexus LS-460. This vehicle would soon be rolling out of its manufacturing and assembly plants and would be later on shipped to the auto market of North America for sale. Now this new one would hold more technology features compared to all the other vehicles that are offered at present. This is according to the Telematics Research Group (TRG).

One of the major features that the 2007 Lexus LS-460 has to offer is the factory-installed 30GB hard drive disk that could be used not only for music but for navigation as well. Although the 2007 Lexus LS-460 is not the only one to offer a hard disk with a great amount of space, it is important to note that the Mercedes Benz S-Class (the other vehicle that offers such a feature) is only able to use such a feature for navigation purposes.

Aside from the 30GB hard drive, the 2007 Lexus LS-460 also has cameras. These cameras are actually installed for the purposes of lane departure warning as well as park assist. This vehicle holds three cameras and these would lend out an eye during parking. These would also help out in warning the driver when the 2007 Lexus LS-460 veers out of the lane.

Other features that this high-technology packed vehicle has include a touch-screen and voice activated navigation system, a Bluetooth phone control, monitored telematics, live traffic reports, as well as a 19-inch speaker audio system that is able to read compressed audio formats like MP3.

According to Phil Magney, the president and principal analyst of TRG, claims, “The 2007 Lexus LS-460 includes more technology that any other passenger vehicle offered for sale in the US. Based on our criteria of 30 technology features in the areas of telematics, infotainment, and driver assist technologies, the 2007 Lexus LS-460 scores the highest of all vehicles.”