February, 2015 | Ugo Colombo

Jack – The Self Driving Audi

Last year Audi attempted a ride along a freeway in Las Vegas. The system failed during that attempt, and the driver had to take over. Audi must feel as though they have made great improvement in the last year, because they are doing it again! An A7 has been fitted with self-driving gear, and will be attempting to make a 550-mile round trip journey from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Audi has been making significant advances in recent years with their “Piloted Driving” technology, and claims that the sensors being used in test car, “Jack,” are ready for immediate production.

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“Jack” is equipped with Audi’s standard long-range forward radar, as well as two rear-facing and side-facing radar sensors. A laser scanner behind the grille of the car helps with solid object detection, and several cameras have been placed on the front of the vehicle, as well as the front and rear corners. These sensors in combination with a GPS locator feed to an onboard computer, which controls the car’s steering, acceleration, and braking.

The only real challenge the system may face is the condition of the lane lines, which the car uses to stay on course.

2016 Maserati Alfieri

The Maserati concept car Alfieri is about to make the jump to showroom. Harald Wester, the CEO of Meser, said the Coupe will be virtually unchanged when it is launched in 2016. The 2016 release will be followed up by the release of a soft-topped convertible in 2017; the cars are a tribute to Alfieri Maserati, who began making sports cars 100 years ago.

The Alfieri was designed to rival the current stars like the Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type. It will be offered as a 2+2 coupe, with identical rear wheel drive architecture as the Ghibli, or as 4 wheel drive. A turbocharged V8 engine boasts around 404bhp in the base model, and Wester says Maserati is working on a new hybrid plug-in system for range. An auxiliary 48V electrical system and plug-in are in the works; this will add a boost of speed, as well as enough power to feed the AC and suspension.