The combination of classy looking projects and gorgeous women always brings the best in cars, no matter what. That’s the idea behind this Vorsteiner photoshoot. The shoot brings together the after-market wheels paired with a beautiful young model who rather profoundly fits as the potential owner of this gorgeous Riviera Blue Audi S3 seen here. The perfect appearance of a young woman joined together by one of the hottest small sedans on the market, this is a great way to finish off the week, wouldn’t you agree on that?

This Audi (ETR: NSU) S3 comes equipped with a set of Vorsteiner FlowForged V-FF 103 wheels. These are sized 19×8.5 in the front and rear. The squared combination works well with the Quattro all-wheel drive employed within this Audi S3, perfectly complementing the high-performance nature of this vehicle. The Mystic Black finish, this is what accentuates these contemporary style wheels just right.

As Vorsteiner describes it: “The comfortable V-FF 103’s featured on the 2015 Audi S3 symbolizes the thrill of a lifetime.” We couldn’t agree more. A lot of class, a beautiful showcase of modern lines with the Audi S3 combined with a stunning young woman, all makes for a perfect photoshoot. Take a look at the media gallery right below for further wallpaper sized images.

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Improved aerodynamics, hybrid drive and many other new details is what’s making the Audi (ETR: NSU) R18 E-Tron such an interesting vehicle. It’s ready for the 2015 Le Mans season, where Audi will certainly have more to say in a tough race against its competitors.

“The possibilities of the revolutionary regulations that have been in effect for LMP sports cars since 2014 are far from having been fully used. The rules harbor so much potential that there is room for future developments,” said Jörg Zander, Audi Sport’s new Head of Engineering, in a press release. “We expect that the technological progress resulting from the fierce competitive pressure exerted by four automobile manufacturers that are now involved will significantly improve lap times this season – while concurrently reducing fuel consumption.”

Even though the new Audi R18 e-tron looks similar to its predecessor, the racing prototype clearly differs both visually, performance wise and most importantly, technically. The fresh look results from a new way of conducting airflow around and through the front end, in the area of the sidepods and at the rear of the LMP1 prototype. Large air inlets in the front wheel arches reduce aerodynamic drag of the body and have led to an all-new design of the headlights. The lighting units feature Matrix LED technology combined with Audi Laserlight – two innovations that improve active safety in road traffic and that Audi customers can now order for their production models as well.

Audi has maintained the central safety aspect coming from the monocoque construction of the car, the hood together with the front wing and wheel arches is a completely redone design overall. A completely new crash test has been performed and it resulted in an element that incorporates the new crash structure ready for the 2015 season. Sidepods with new radiator configurations for cooling the engine and hybrid system further optimize the aerodynamic drag thanks to the modified airflow through the sidepods on the exterior

This year, Audi is again preparing two body versions for the various tracks on the FIA WEC calendar. In combination with an optimized chassis and in close cooperation with tire partner Michelin, Audi has further improved the performance potential of its sports prototype this way.

As a hybrid pioneer, Audi is taking the next step in recovering more energy through the vehicle as well. Audi is the only manufacturer to date that has won the Le Mans 24 Hours with hybrid sports cars. It is worth noting that, from 2012, the German motorsport team backed by the factory from Ingolstadt in every aspect, has not been beaten on the 24 hour race. This means that the hybrid system employed proved itself on one of the most daunting racing events out there.

During braking, energy is recovered which the system subsequently feeds back to the front axle on acceleration. The electrical machine that performs this task now delivers an output of more than 200 kW (272 hp), which is a significant increase compared to last year. Therefore, Audi has increased the capacity of the energy storage system as well. The encapsulated flywheel energy storage system that sits in the cockpit alongside the driver can store up to 700 kilojoules of energy that it subsequently returns to the electrical machine – which is about 17% more than in 2014.

Alongside the performance increase, Audi has made great strides to keep the weight down as the car weighs at a minimum of only 870 kilograms – notably in what is currently the world’s most complex racing category. This helps the hybrid, but overall, it results in a restriction for the internal combustion engine due to the rules applied in this racing series. According to the sporting regulations the fuel-energy amount has to be further reduced if the engineers opt for higher hybrid output. As a result, the R18 e-tron quattro has to make do with 2.5% less diesel fuel per lap than in 2014.

Furthermore, rectifying this but not made because of this issue, Audi has further developed the four-liter V6 TDI engine by performing a lot of detailed work to achieve the optimized consumption levels. Power output levels have been increased. The most efficient power-plant in the field now delivers 410 kW (558 hp). Apply this to the lightweight vehicle, add the overall improved fuel efficiency and this is a perfect solution for a race like this. In 2006, Audi’s TDI engine debuted at Le Mans, followed by eight victories until 2014. While lap times continually improved, fuel consumption decreased by 38 percent during this period.

As a result, the youngest generation of the R18 emphasizes the purpose which motorsport serves at Audi in many fields. Ever since the first Audi quattro was fielded in 1980, the brand has consistently been using circuit racing and rallying for the development of forward-thinking technologies that are subsequently used in production – from quattro four-wheel drive to TFSI gasoline direct injection, to the further development of TDI engines, through to innovations such as Matrix LED light and Audi Laserlight.

At the Geneva Motor Show in March, Audi unveiled two other innovations with a reference to motorsport. For the first time, the brand showcased a hybrid model – the Q7 – that combines the e-tron quattro principle with a TDI engine. And the new R8* is the first model featuring the Audi Space Frame as a multi-material construction. In addition to aluminum, the frame includes a component made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), a material that has long become a staple in racing.

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There are several high-profile companies developing high-performance and high-quality aftermarket products in the automotive world. Vorsteiner, being one of them, recently revamped its Flow Forged wheel line.

These wheels are highly coveted in the automotive world, as they bring the lightweight configuration with the less impacting price tag – a perfect choice for performance vehicle owners. The selection of possible applications, alongside the available finishes, make for a great deal of choices when it comes to these wheels overall.

As you may know, the Audi S5 Coupé uses the 3.0L Supercharged V6 TFSI engine producing 329 horsepower in its standard configuration for this vehicle. It is a further development of the highly popular engine. This powerplant is already found in the S5 Cabriolet and Sportback, which is also shared with the 2010 Audi S4 3.0 TFSI quattro sedan and avant. This engine is a development of the same powerplant done for the Audi S5 Coupé, where Audi left out the naturally aspirated V8 powerplant previously installed. This is done to accommodate strict emission regulations, but also combat the high fuel consumption of that particular engine as well.

The other major change (compared to the V6 TFSI engine found in the Sedan and Avant) under the bonnet is the introduction of stop-start technology for better fuel efficiency. According to the official info from Audi, owners can expect to achieve an average fuel economy of 8.9 litres/100 km (compared to the current 12.6 litres/100 km in the V8 coupe and 10.7 litres/100 km in the Cabriolet).

The Audi S5 we have in front of us has been equipped with a set of Vorsteiner V-FF 104 wheels. This is a limited run wheel lineup, dedicated to fulfill the needs of high-performance builds like this one here. These wheels are sized 20×10 front and rear respectively. They come with a Mercury Silver finish. The five-spoke design is clean, works wonders for the exterior of the Audi S5, but it also produces a rather impressive performance upgrade, thanks to their lightweight construction and design.

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A few months earlier, at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Audi (ETR: NSU) presented the Audi Prologue concept car. A glimpse into the brand’s future. That’s what everybody in the automotive business thought about this concept. It showcased what design language will Audi employ in the forthcoming years. Only four months later, the premium manufacturer is showing a variant of its visionary concept at the Geneva Motor Show. With a length of 5.11 meters (16.8 ft) and a width of 1.97 meters (6.5 ft), the five-door car with its pioneering body concept positions itself clearly in the luxury class.

On the other hand, Audi was always a company that put a lot of emphasis on sporty performance. The same has been applied to the Audi Prologue Avant Show car concept as well. The Audi prologue Avant uses technology which is close to series production. It is equipped with the plug‑in hybrid drive from the Audi Q7 e‑tron quattro which achieves even higher performance in the show car. 335 kW (455 hp) of system power output by the 3.0 TDI engine and the electric motor in combination make the car sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 5.1 seconds. The purely electric range is 54 kilometers (33.6 mi). The chassis is equipped with adaptive air suspension and the dynamic all‑wheel‑drive steering system – thus combining comfort, sportiness, handling and stability on a new performance level.

“With our show car for Geneva, we now translate the design language of the Audi prologue into a new, dynamic and stretched form. We are merging it with a concept of high variability”, said Board Member for Technical Development, Ulrich Hackenberg in a statement. “The Audi prologue Avant is progressive, emotion-filled and versatile, it reflects Audi’s technological competence and quality claim perfectly.”

The Audi Prologue Avant is an elegant car. It shows us the elongated lines seen on various newer models. But with a touch more style and sophistication. As we know, the car wont enter production in its current form. But it still gives us a rather remarkable view of what could be achievable if the bean counters were not running the show. Hybrid technologies coupled with some great design cues, fabulous interior solutions – that’s what the market wants. While just a concept car, it still shows us the creativity focused on style, sophistication and design that is needed in today’s car world. If only Audi would not stray much from this concept in the production car. It would make a lot of petrolheads rather happy.

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Audi (ETR:NSU) has bought fuel-cell patents from Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems (TSE:BLD), a company that is one of the world’s leading companies in the technology of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Ballard provides clean energy products that reduce customer costs and risks, and helps customers solve difficult technical and business challenges in their fuel‑cell programs.

The German car manufacturer Audi will push up investment in car-making operations by 2 billion euros ($2.44 billion) to a record 24 billion euros over the next five years. Most of these funds will be directed to their production plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm which accounted for half the carmaker’s nine-month output of 1.34 million autos. Overall, Audi is investing in green car technologies across the board lately. This means that the car maker’s push for electric and hybrid driving systems will make a big chunk of their future expenditure, but also the profit arising from sales of such vehicles.

The purchase of these patents will provide new impetus for the development of fuel‑cell drive systems at Audi, VW and the Volkswagen Group. As explained by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at AUDI AG and responsible for the steering of the development departments of all brands in the VW Group: “Audi is acquiring these strategically important patents for the entire group and will make them available to all the brands. In this way, we are securing crucial expertise that will provide new impetus for the further development of this technology.”

While no further clarification on what exactly will these new technologies be used at, we can reasonably presume that new all-electric and hybrid models will benefit from these. Audi has been pushing with their research in this field. Cars like the upcoming Audi R8 e-tron are just a part of the whole model range that will benefit from such research, while the big German car maker is making great strides and slowly catching up to the likes of Tesla Motors and others.

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Viewed by many as the most daunting racing event in the world now, the LeMans 24 Hour race has always brought the best in the automotive world.

The most impacting feature of the LeMans racing are the technological breakthroughs that empower car companies to produce some rather impressive racing solution with viable applications in day-to-day driving and street legal cars. For this years LeMans race, Audi (ETR:NSU) received ann approval from The Selection Committee of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) which has accepted all nominations submitted by Audi for the 83rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

As a result, three Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars will be competing in the world’s major endurance race on June 13 and 14, 2015, for which Tom Kristensen has been appointed as ‘Grand Marshal’ by the organizer. This will allow Audi to once again run their Quattro powered hybrids in a competition that’s more about endurance and fuel efficiency together with performance than anything else. Cutting fuel runs, allowing for more driving time and affording better range is key to success in this racing series.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is a hybrid version of the R18 ultra, with a 500 kJ flywheel accumulator system designed by Williams Hybrid Power. The R18 e-tron comes with two two 101 PS (74 kW; 100 hp) Bosch Motor Generator Units driving the front wheels with water-cooled integrated power electronics, powering all four wheels through the Quattro drive system. The car comes with a smaller fuel tank, affording just 58 litres. This, on the other hand, keeps the weight low. The hybrid system allows for better fuel utilization, more mileage and better performance overall. The quattro system, as per the regulations, is available only at speeds above 120 km/h (75 mph).

“We’re delighted that the ACO has accepted our three nominations,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who attended the event in Paris together with Chris Reinke, Head of LMP. He also added: “Audi will be competing at Le Mans for the 17th consecutive time and has been unbeaten with its hybrid drive so far. This year, we’re welcoming a new competitor. This provides further proof of the positive development that prototype racing and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) have seen since 2012.”

Last year’s winners Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) are set on battling for their fourth victory this year in the number ‘7’ Audi R18 e-tron quattro. This will mark another chapter in the quest for the title at LeMans, one of the most highly prestigious racing events. Now, with the advent of hybrid and electrical power, this will give many car manufacturers the perfect testing atmosphere to run their newly invented and reinvented solutions in the car production, performance, fuel efficiency and other areas.

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Meet the NIA

This is"the" NIA. Device is much smaller than people think. Quite portable.

NIA itself comes in a white, mysteriously labeled box (“Advanced Biotechnology for Gaming”), and is consisted out of headband with three carbon-fiber electrodes, NIA USB box, USB cable, CD and a manual. USB cable was long enough, but after some problems, I decided to use my 9-foot EMI-shielded USB cable from Hiper. The headband is without any doubt, least sleek part of the package. Rubber-band with residues of glue on electrodes left the impression of ultra-cheap part from mainland China, not of eye-opening device. There are three carbon-fiber diamond-shaped sensors at the front of the band, and two additional ones at the very end of rubber band, ideally positioned just above your ears. First three sensors pick up your electrical signals, while side sensors are picking up muscle contraction, such as swallowing, moving your teeth, eyebrows and so on. Through time, you will learn to use all of these reactions to control more and more controls with your face, rather than mice or a keyboard.
The rubber band will also leave a mark on your forehead after hours of long use, but in a sense – it is the ultimate geekdom. If somebody asks you on the street: “what is this mark on your forehead?” and your answer is: “Ah, nothing special. Those are marks from sensors that I use to control computers” – your status as computer-deity is nothing else but guaranteed.

Also, there is a special way how people look at you in the lounge. Last week, I was sitting in First Class Lounge in Munich, playing Call of Duty 4 using the NIA. Besides the fact that I was youngest by some 10 years, several guys approached me and ask me what the device is. When I briefly explained what is that, people started asking me where they can buy the device. When they heard about the price, they could not believe it.
The NIA box is quite small and easy to pack. You can feel the vibrations while the device is working, but that’s nothing special or annoying. OCZ did a brilliant job with the design of this one, completely opposite of headband.

How it works?
For starters, NIA is not a mind-reader. OCZ Technology worked hard with Brain Actuated Technologies on creating a gaming device that would read the reaction of your Glance, Muscles, Alpha and Beta waves. Gamma, Delta and Theta waves are not scanned due to desire to keep the price of device under $100,000 ;-).
Now, the hard part: if you think “go straight”, you will not “go straight”. NIA does not work like that, since it cannot translate your thoughts.

NIA measures electrical potentials when you are thinking about going left, right, straight, back and so on. For best possible results, your mind has to be as relaxed as possible, and without disturbances. What you need to do is allow NIA to adjust to you, and think of movements. Also, you have to adjust to NIA – this is a way into bionic computing, and instant gratification is something that will not happen (unless you have a focus-driven mind with high levels of concentration). After a while, NIA’s driver will begin to pick up your signals and move your virtual avatar in the right way. With combined usage of muscles and glands, your movement will become smooth, and shooting, jumping and similar operations will pass in mere milliseconds before they’re rendered on screen.

Experience
First of all, this is a device which you cannot benchmark. Every individual has a brain with unique signature, and it will take different time of adjustment between your brain and NIA. It may sound like rocket science, but Brain Actuated Technologies’ technology works adaptively, and adjusts to signals produced by your brain. Thus, this is no overnight “becoming super gamer” project, rather a timely and sometimes a frustrating experience.
NIA is only intended for gaming, not for your every day Windows experience. But after two weeks of using the device, I decided to try surfing through my site. Scrolling up and down was easy, but point and click is a difficult one, sadly. Back to square one. Today, four months later, I can actually go back and forward through websites, even managed to control switching between tabs. Yes, it is not easy and it still takes me much more time than to use a mouse, but this is a first generation device.
Installing software was easy-peasy, and thanks heaven’s - OCZ released 64-bit drivers. You can turn on and off NIA control at any time by simply pressing the Ctrl+F12 keys. In order to test the device, I used 32-bit Windows XP Pro SP1 operating system and later migrated to 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate SP1.
For the test, I selected couple of my family members:

–    75 year old female (grandma)
–    47-year old female (mum)
–    29 year old male (me)
–    23 year old male (bro)
23 year old - After four days of using NIA, it was a challenge to successfully navigate in 3D games. I was quite surprised to see this subject having so many difficulties and undergoing numerous calibrations, rotating the headband, and still nada. The issue was that the left diode is not touching the forehead completely, and this person has a perfectly normal, average forehead. But in some specific head-types, positioning NIA can be a challenge. After countless hours of calibration, we finally managed to get things going. But the feedback for the device was negative, since my brother felt that he is much faster with a keyboard and a mouse.
29 year old – By some odd stroke of luck, the author of these lines syncs with NIA without any issue. I’ve been covering NIA through the last two years and every event I had a chance to play with NIA – virtual or real foes just fell on the ground. If you’re able to calm down and focus on playing the game, adaptation to NIA should pass in a whim, and it is really easy to adapt the skills. I started playing Unreal Tournament 3 on novice level, and gradually progressed to on-line play. Within a week of using the device, I’ve managed to average 25 kills and 20 deaths on 50-kill limit deathmatch maps. Today, I can say that there is no difference for me if I play with the NIA or on a keyboard+mouse combination. To me, biggest challenge was alternative mode on rocket launcher.
47 year old – My mum sporadically used computers for the past eight years, but did not play 3D computer games. Setting the device proved to be the challenge similar to my bro, but in a matter of half an hour, we managed to get the perfect signal. The game of Pong proved to be quite fun, but mum was an avid fan on Tetris and complained that OCZ could have used Tetris as a training game. Guys’n’girls from OCZ, take note ;). Moving inside the 3D game proved to be a non-issue, sans often jumps (neck muscles were configured as jump). When we moved jumps to teeth and shoot to neck muscles, subject killed herself several times with a rocket launcher. Of course, commenting on the game and playing it at the same time proved to be quite… entertaining. Who says that the Wii is the only “fun for the whole family”?
75 year old – We decided to do something different with the three-quarter century grandma. Given her absolute-zero experience with computers, instead of learning to move on a keyboard/mouse combination, we did the opposite. Subject adjusted to NIA in a matter of minutes, instead of hours. After passing the Brainfingers and Pong training, elderly person started walking inside a 3D level for the very first time. To be honest, we’ve activated only one bot on novice skill level. After “thumbs up” and comments in regards to the late Arthur Clarke, grandma tried keyboard and a mouse. She complained that the commands are too unintuitive and wished NIA back. This is probably the most surprising experience with the computers that I’ve personally experienced, and a sheer witness of how genius the device is. According to her, “I did not believe that I’ll live to see the day Star Trek come to life”. The Original Series, not to confuse with franchise business of today.

From this small sample of four relatives, it is obvious that NIA has some design challenges to overcome. Mum and bro experienced issues with contact of one of sensors, which was a consequence of rubber headband. Personally, the best design was the “Rambo-style” cotton headband with Velcro adjustment that OCZ used while developing the NIA. Sadly, OCZ discovered that design was uncomfortable after a while, so the company came up with the actual design. Beside the 23-yr old, three subjects had no major issues in adjusting to the device and were able to move inside 3D space. Yes, I will continue to use NIA

Issues? What issues?

If you run into a calibration problem...

...don't become discouraged. Adjust the headband, check for potential EMI issue and shut your cellphone until you see this image ;-)

During past four months, I’ve only experienced two potentially major issues. Firstly, bear in mind that this device is nothing else but a cruder EEG unit. As such, the device proved to be quite sensitive to Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI), and it refused to work in my Lab, surrounded by open configurations. However, notebook or a closed case resulted with no signs of trouble. This is the reason why I moved to Hiper’s USB cable, since I was able to put the NIA box far away from the testbed.
Also, I noticed an issue with cell phones. When cell phone positioned next to the NIA device went through standard network check, I lost control inside the game. Thus, I would recommend that you position the NIA analyzing part as far from EMI sources as possible. Since I haven’t seen any reviews online that mentioned EMI shielding problems, there might be a problem with my device.

Once more, I feel obliged to stress out that the headband is not the most comfortable device on the planet, and it will leave a mark. I hope that 2nd gen device will have a modified rubber band.
Conclusion
At the end, I cannot say that I am done with Neural Impulse Actuator. This device is just fascinating, and I hope that second generation will bring improvements such as negating the need for mouse and start exploring letter recognition support.
OCZ is positioning this device in the gaming segment, next to its line of gaming mice and keyboards. If I have to judge this device as a gaming controller alone, it can offer unique gaming experience, but it will take some time to adjust.
But if you look into this device as an “enabler” or 3D worlds to elderly and disabled people, that’s a whole another ballgame. There is tremendous number of people that were physically stopped from enjoying 3D worlds through their respective disability. NIA enables those people to start playing games and improve their life. And that is something that is not just commendable, but is truly inspiring. OCZ did a brilliant job with this one, and I hope that the company will continue to develop this concept into the future.
There is no Editor’s Choice or 10/10 award for this device. I can only say that you should try it. If you find 100 or so bucks in your budget, don’t think about $90 SideWinder or G9 mouse, or a $100 “gaming” keyboard. This might give you a whole lot more than those peripherals.

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