Car and Motorcycle

No doubt the Audi R8 is a true sports car and during its life time has won lots of prestigious awards. But even for Audi what we might call a "best car" can be better. Thus the R8 V10 5.2 FSI, an even faster R8. The V10 version will be offered with two distinct gearboxes, both manual and R tronic, with prices starting at $146,000. The R8 V10 is powered by the same 5.2 liter V10 as the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and is rated at 525 HP, which is 105 ponies more than the V8 version but about 27 HP less than the Gallardo.
What also distinguishes the V10 version is a new rear diffuser, twin oval tailpipes and new LED headlights while the super car keeps the same road hugging magnetic ride dampers. The R8 V10 can accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in under 3.9 seconds and the R tronic semi automatic equipped V10 will reach 125 MPH from a standstill in another 8.1 seconds with a top speed around 197 MPH.
Audi is launching the next variant of its top-of-the-line model. With the R8, the brand has established itself at the forefront of high-end sports cars from the very start – and now comes the R8 V10. Its 5.2-liter, ten-cylinder engine churns out 386 kW (525 hp) and 530 Nm (390.91 lb-ft) of torque, which makes for breathtaking performance. With superior Audi technologies such as quattro all-wheel drive, the lightweight aluminum body, the innovative all-LED headlights, and its striking design, the R8 V10 takes pole position against the competition.

The R8 V10 is the result of cumulative know-how from Audi’s string of Le Mans victories. Its naturally aspirated engine combines racing technology such as dry sump lubrication with FSI gasoline direct injection. The ten-cylinder design is the perfect synthesis for impressive top performance, mighty pulling power, and low weight. Starting in 2009, this engine will also prove its potential on the world’s racetracks – in the new R8 racing car Audi is developing for customer teams in conformance with the GT3 rules.

The V10 engine in the production sports car will be almost identical in construction to the one in the racing version. Its displacement is 5,204 cc, at 6,500 rpm it delivers 530 Nm (390.91 lb-ft) of torque, at 8,000 rpm its power tops out at 386 kW (525 hp).

The specific power output is 100.9 hp per liter of displacement – and each hp has to propel only 3.09 kilograms (6.91 lb) of weight, because the Audi R8 V10 in the version with the six-speed manual gearshift weighs only 1,620 kilograms (3571 lb). The engine accounts for 258 of these kilograms (569 lb) – that’s only 31 kilos (68 lb) more than the V8.

The Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro rockets from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 3.9 seconds. In the version with the sequentially shifting R tronic it reaches 200 km/h (124.27 mph) in another 8.1 seconds. Even then its propulsive power hardly lessens: it’s sufficient to reach a top speed of 316 km/h (196.35 mph). The immense force, the spontaneity and the thrust of the acceleration, plus the sound of the engine – all these impressions coalesce into a breathtaking sports car experience. The V10 plays a concert with growling bass tones and powerful high notes, which grows into a grandiose fortissimo as the engine revs up. This sonorous acceleration doesn’t reach its limit until 8,700 rpm.

Cadillac makes this machine with a 3.6 L engine twin turbo charger V6 to deliver a more than 450 horsepower to take form non to 60mph in less than 4 s , and up to a maximum speed of 185 mph 

Some domestic cats regard parked convertibles as feline hammocks, a great place to nap while depositing furry evidence. Pro detailing tip:
Stash one of those sticky lint rollers in the glove box alongside the sunblock, bandana, and hairbrush. Especially if the convertible has a nice fabric top like that on the BMW 228i tested here. Pet hair clings to this quality woven fabric more than it does to cheaper vinyl tops.

Sleepy cats may be disappointed to learn that convertible sales are down 44 percent in the past decade, with only 1 in 100 U.S. buyers opting for folding roofs, per research firm IHS. Not even wider availability of the retractable-hardtop variant stemmed the global tide—from a 21st-century peak of more than 800,000 units in 2004, worldwide convertible production is down to 450,000 or so, a meager 0.7-percent share of the market. Americans and Europeans have embraced crossovers (the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet sadly failed to establish a beachhead for softtop crossovers) while buyers in the Middle East, India, and China have shown ostensibly zero interest in top-down motoring. Fears of sun-induced melanomas and breathing urban air that hasn’t first passed through a charcoal filter probably contribute to the shift in preferences. Whatever the reasons, mass-market standard-bearers like the Toyota Camry Solara and the Chrysler 200 (née Sebring) convertible have gone out of production.

In the 1970s and ’80s, too, eulogies for the convertible were as common as black cat hairs on white linen trousers, so let us not rush to doomsaying. Sales could well rebound as those who remember the ’70s move into retirement age. Droptops make us think about being young, single, and free, but in reality most buyers are empty-nesters and retirees from cold-weather states now living in the Sunbelt. That windblown hair? It’s probably gray.

Long gray locks would look good behind the wheel of this BMW, handsomely turned out with Glacier Silver paint ($550) and a Coral Red Dakota leather interior highlighted with brushed-aluminum and gloss-black trim. Prices start at $38,895 and even this heavily optioned example’s $53,870 sticker barely breaks into the price zone of a larger 428i convertible with the same turbocharged four-cylinder/eight-speed automatic powertrain (starting price: $49,745). Those figures are for 2015 models like the tested car, although BMW has already adjusted content and revised stickers upward on both 2-series and 4-series models for 2016.