In another move that signals the oncoming driverless car, Audi is preparing to let a fully autonomous RS7 take a lap of the Hockenheimring race course at full speed on October 19, 2014, in conjunction with the final DTM race. Audi is expecting to push the driverless RS7 to speeds in the 150mph neighborhood in a demonstration of the precision and intelligence of it’s autonomous system. According to Audi, they expect the RS7 to lap Hockenheimring at a time of just over two minutes, which, if it’s under 2:02.71, will beat the BMW M3 sedan for the title of fastest four-door around the track. No word yet on if Johnny 5 will hop out of the car and wheel around freaked out if something should go wrong.
From the press release:
Ingolstadt, 2014-10-09
At the limit: Audi shows the world’s sportiest piloted driving car
– Audi to demonstrate piloted driving potential at DTM finale
– Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept car at the Hockenheimring race track
Audi takes the world’s sportiest piloted driving car to the starting line: A driverless Audi RS 7 Sportback* will take a lap on the Hockenheim race track on Sunday, October 19, in the season finale of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).
The Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept car will handle the Hockenheim track at racing speed. With the latest Audi developments on board, the technology demonstrator will drive to its physical limits with millimeter precision. In the process, it will be approximately as fast as with a professional race car driver at the wheel. Tests conducted so far indicate that on the grand prix track a lap time of just over two minutes can be expected, and that the technology demonstrator should reach speeds of up to 240 km/h (149.1 mph). With the Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept car, Audi wants to show the great potential of piloted driving, which the premium carmaker has lined up for the future.
The performance of the world’s sportiest piloted driving car will be broadcasted live and exclusively on the Internet on October 19 starting at 12:45 p.m. on Audi MediaTV.
As much as I like technology…I hope it spectacularly fails. Cars that drive themselves would only erode driving skills that are already poor. Car companies should spend their (our) dime on efficiency and drivability. Please leave cash in the collection plate when you leave.