Daily Archives: December 14, 2012


Self-shifting Audi R8s finally have a decent gearbox The first time I ever drove an +Audi USA R8 was…

Self-shifting Audi R8s finally have a decent gearbox

The first time I ever drove an +Audi USA R8 was way back in 2008 when I drove two different examples in the span of a few months, both with the rather unfortunate R-Tronic automated manual transmission. At various times over the years, I had many unkind words for this gearbox most notably during this episode of the Autoblog podcast http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/16/autoblog-podcast-170-the-hooniverse-visits/ when I referred to it as a piece of crap. Needless to say the folks at Audi PR at the time weren't thrilled by my assessment. 

On the other hand the manual transmission was wonderful as I noted in this review http://www.luxist.com/2009/11/17/review-2009-audi-r8-5-2-fsi-v10-an-everyday-supercar/.  In the aforementioned podcast I referred the R8 while talking about the S5 Cabrio and its absolutely sublime S-Tronic gearbox http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/12/2010-audi-s5-cabriolet-review/

Unlike the single-clutch R-tronic with its hydraulically actuated gears, the S-Tronic is a dual-clutch unit with silky smooth and fast shift action. This year Audi finally did a refresh of the R8 and installed a 7-speed S-Tronic beefy enough to handle the output of the V8 and V10 engines in that car and according to +Jonny Lieberman of +Motor Trend Magazine who was fortunate enough to go to Italy to drive it, it cures all the problems caused by the old transmission. 

On this episode of Ignition, Motor Trend Senior Features Editor Jonny Lieberman drives Audi’s R8 V10

+Motor Trend Magazine technical director +Frank Markus takes a road trip in the north east with a +Ford…

+Motor Trend Magazine technical director +Frank Markus takes a road trip in the north east with a +Ford Motor Company Shelby GT500 convertible

On this episode of Epic Drives, Motor Trend Technical Director Frank Markus saddles up a Ford Shelby

The arguments for having more guns as a solution to the gun violence in America just… 3

The arguments for having more guns as a solution to the gun violence in America just make no sense. America already the highest concentration of guns in the world with 88.8 firearms per 100 people. Gun violence is proportional to the number of guns available. 

So while I abhor what happened in Newtown CT, the calls for new gun control laws seem unlikely to have any significant impact as long as we already have almost 300 million guns in the wild. Unless and until we dramatically reduce the number of weapons, the violence will almost assuredly continue unabated. 

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"… the same old lies: it doesn’t happen here more often than elsewhere…

Reshared post from +Dan Gillmor

"… the same old lies: it doesn’t happen here more often than elsewhere (yes, it does); more people are protected by guns than killed by them (no, they aren’t—that’s a flat-out fabrication); guns don’t kill people, people do; and all the other perverted lies that people who can only be called knowing accessories to murder continue to repeat, people who are in their own way every bit as twisted and crazy as the killers whom they defend."

Newtown and the Madness of Guns
The people who fight and lobby and legislate to make guns regularly available are complicit in the murder of those children. They have made a clear moral choice: that the comfort and emotional reassur…

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Self-shifting Audi R8s finally have a decent gearbox

The first time I ever drove an +Audi USA R8 was way back in 2008 when I drove two different examples in the span of a few months, both with the rather unfortunate R-Tronic automated manual transmission. At various times over the years, I had many unkind words for this gearbox most notably during this episode of the Autoblog podcast http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/16/autoblog-podcast-170-the-hooniverse-visits/ when I referred to it as a piece of crap. Needless to say the folks at Audi PR at the time weren't thrilled by my assessment. 

On the other hand the manual transmission was wonderful as I noted in this review http://www.luxist.com/2009/11/17/review-2009-audi-r8-5-2-fsi-v10-an-everyday-supercar/.  In the aforementioned podcast I referred the R8 while talking about the S5 Cabrio and its absolutely sublime S-Tronic gearbox http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/12/2010-audi-s5-cabriolet-review/

Unlike the single-clutch R-tronic with its hydraulically actuated gears, the S-Tronic is a dual-clutch unit with silky smooth and fast shift action. This year Audi finally did a refresh of the R8 and installed a 7-speed S-Tronic beefy enough to handle the output of the V8 and V10 engines in that car and according to +Jonny Lieberman of +Motor Trend Magazine who was fortunate enough to go to Italy to drive it, it cures all the problems caused by the old transmission. 

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Remind me again why any civilian needs access to assault weapons and people are allowed… 4

Remind me again why any civilian needs access to assault weapons and people are allowed to buy weapons at gun shows without background checks or even ID?

Reshared post from +Talking Points Memo

The scene outside a Connecticut elementary school where 27 were reported killed today, including children. More photos: http://tpm.ly/SWHWTF

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