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The 2027 Audi Q9 Flagship Has Cupholders Big Enough for a Stanley and a Sound System That Vibrates Your Seat

admin — Tue, 12 May 2026 11:25:14 +0000

Audi management is keenly aware of recent missteps and aims to quickly rectify issues in rapid succession based on feedback seen and heard from around the world at every level. The first salvo in this offensive? Filling a family-sized hold in the lineup with the new Q9 SUV.

On Monday, the 2027 Audi Q9 three-row crossover SUV’s interior was revealed with upscale materials, life-sized cup holders, what can only be described as truly over engineered technology, and seating for the entire family. The Q9 will be unveiled on July 28 ahead of arriving in the U.S. near the end of the year. It will take aim at the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class and BMW X7, the former of which was just facelifted and the latter of which is about to be redone in similar fashion as the BMW 7-Series.

Joel Feder

While the exterior hasn’t been revealed, yet, I can say visually and while standing next to the Q9 the thing is large. Long, wide, and tall, this is easily the largest production Audi in history and should measure right up against the GLS and X7.

All four doors can open electronically with a pull of a real exterior door handle. The driver’s door can be setup to shut when the brake pedal is pressed, when the driver’s seat belt is fastened, or it and any other door can be electronically opened or closed at the push of a button on the touchscreen, though it takes three taps to get there and you must hold the digital button until the door’s opened or closed, and the doors each have sensors in them so they won’t open into anything. Safety first!

Those doors also feature electronic controls from inside the cabin. A button opens and releases the door. There’s no mechanical backup like in a Porsche Cayenne Electric, rather, each door has a small capacitor that stores energy. That capacitor can open the door in case of an emergency to ensure no matter what, unless the door’s no longer on the vehicle or is so smashed it can’t physically open, it has the ability to unlock and open regardless of the vehicle system’s power supply.

Joel Feder

Inside the Q9 feels like a return to form in many ways for Audi. There’s basically almost no shiny piano black plastic anywhere (hallelujah!). Trim on the center console ranges from open-pore wood to carbon fiber weave, which all look and feel lovely. Most plastics are matte instead of shiny to minimize finger prints like the old days. Stitched leather lines the dashboard, and is augmented with wool-like cloth trim that spans the lower section of the dashboard to hide inset speakers that are part of the 4D surround-sound system. A strip of ambient lighting arcs across the base of the windshield and acts as a communicator changing colors in various situations. If automatic emergency braking where to kick in it would flash red to alert the driver, and when turn signals are engaged the corresponding side will flash green to keep your eyes up away from the gauge cluster and closer to the road. It can even be synced to the beat of the music, if you are into that kind of thing.

The triple-screen setup pairs a digital gauge cluster with a touchscreen canted slightly towards the driver all under one curved piece of glass that looks right out of the A6 E-Tron. It’s accompanied by a standard front passenger touchscreen display with YouTube, web browsing, and video watching capabilities including the ability to pair Bluetooth headphones. There’s a real volume knob on the center console alongside, unfortunately, a only a handful of key function buttons that are all one single piece of plastic. The rest of the controls including climate control, vent controls, and infotainment functions are all housed in the touchscreen display. There are two cooled wireless smartphone chargers at the front of the center console, each with Magsafe compatibility and up to 100 watts of power output along with two USB-C ports. Perhaps above all else, the front cup holders, which have a flip away cover, are American sized and can hold a Stanley cup for those in need. In fact, the rear-seat cup holders can hold Stanley mugs as well, which my daughter will be thrilled to hear (feel my pain, please).

Joel Feder

Audi’s trick, and highly over engineered yet functional, one-piece stalk that incorporates the gear selector, turn signal, and wiper controls into one unit is here in the Q9 (and is still fantastic).

Joel Feder

Families will take note that the rear doors open a full 90 degrees. The Q9 will be available in six- and seven-seat configurations with the ability to hold up to three car seats across when optioned with the second-row bench seat thanks to three tether anchor points. The outboard second-row seats slide and tilt forward making it so car seats (that are unoccupied, of course) don’t have to be removed to access the third-row. The third-row is adult sized with plenty of room for my 5-foot-10 frame to sit (albeit a bit knees up) comfortably behind a 6-foot-5 adult in the second row. While we don’t have final measurements, yet, there’s real cargo room behind the third row, and with that row folded the space for cargo (or activities) looks immense.

The available Bang & Olufsen 4D surround-sound system has 24 channels, 22 speakers, and 2 actuators in the front seats. Those actuators induce motion and vibrations into the seats to make it so you physically feel the music. It’s like the sound vibrations are being put into your body.

Everyone seated in the Q9 will have quite the view of the sun and the stars. Most of the roof is glass to the tune of 16 square feet. An electrochromatic-like function using Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) technology can be optioned, and it can make the entire panel of glass, or just certain sections, opaque to block the sunlight and up to 99.5% of UV rays. Further, embedded lighting can be optioned with 84 LEDs placed inside the glass panoramic roof to make it a true statement piece.

Audi provided The Drive with travel, accommodations, some German pretzels, and access to the vehicle for the purpose of writing this story.

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The Sound of Progress: How Car Exhausts Have Evolved

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:14:57 +0000

Enthusiasts love a powerful car exhaust note, and Kelley Blue Book’s 100th Anniversary presents a great opportunity to look back at how the sounds of the industry have changed over the years. From Formula 1 cars to electric vehicles, automotive exhausts help drivers build a special connection with their rides while working hard to reduce harmful emissions. Let’s dive in.

Sound Wasn’t the Initial Focus

We’ve come a long way from the exhaust systems seen in early automobiles. While they were originally designed solely to carry toxic gases away from passengers, automotive exhausts now come in a wide range of designs, from high-flow performance applications to systems that make electric vehicles (EVs) sound like their gas-powered counterparts.

One of the first automotive exhaust systems was patented in the United States in 1897, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that mufflers became commonplace. With a growing number of cars on the road, noise became a significant problem, pushing auto engineers to develop mufflers with baffles and air chambers to dampen the sound.

The Need for Speed Drove Innovation

It didn’t take long for tuners and hot-rodders to figure out that a free-flowing exhaust could boost performance, leading to a boom in development in the 1950s. That boom continued into the 1960s and the muscle car era, as American automakers duked it out on the street and drag strip. The hulking V8 engines of the era saw improved fuel economy and power output with performance exhaust systems. However, things took a turn as emissions regulations became tighter later in the decade and into the 1970s.

Federal regulations forced automakers to rethink their exhaust system designs. The catalytic converter helped reduce carbon emissions, but early applications also made it harder to extract the big horsepower numbers buyers had become accustomed to over the previous decade. That change, combined with a push to increase safety standards and badge-engineered vehicle design, led to the “malaise era” in the U.S. auto industry, which lasted until the mid-1980s.

Exhaust technologies evolved as smaller, more fuel-efficient cars became common in the 1980s. While many automakers still struggled to deliver performance, 4-cylinder engines and the more widespread use of turbochargers made it easier to generate usable horsepower without comparable increases in emissions.

The situation improved further in the 1990s and early 2000s as computer components became smaller and less expensive, leading to onboard diagnostic systems with sensors and variable intake systems that could modify the air-fuel mixture on the go.

As someone who reached driving age in the mid-1990s, this era remains my favorite for exhaust designs, as imported cars dominated the enthusiast scene with big pipes on little cars and sounds that tuners still chase today.

Electrification Has Changed the Game

Some of the most notable changes to automotive exhausts over the last century have occurred in the last 20 years. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and electric vehicles (EVs) have slashed our reliance on gas engines. With more power coming from the electric side of the equation, many vehicles have smaller, quieter exhaust systems, with PHEVs and EVs operating in near-complete silence much of the time.

Electric motors often deliver significant horsepower and acceleration gains over gas engines, but they don’t generate the sound and level of engagement that many driving enthusiasts expect. In response, some automakers and aftermarket manufacturers have developed synthetic exhaust systems that emulate the sounds of high-performance gas vehicles.

The Dodge Charger Daytona EV uses a unique “Fratzonic” exhaust system that relies on chambers and speakers to generate sounds coordinated with the car’s acceleration and cruising speed. Borla Performance Industries has also developed an upgrade for the Ford Mustang Mach-E that uses the throttle position, wheel speed, and other metrics to simulate a sporty exhaust sound.

David Borla is the Chief Marketing Officer at Borla Performance Industries, which describes itself as “the pioneer and leader in the design and manufacture of stainless steel performance exhaust.” Regarding sound and drivers’ connection to their vehicle, Borla said, “I often say that sound is an instrument in two distinct ways, and that philosophy shapes how we approach performance acoustics. The first way it’s an instrument is like a gauge on your instrument cluster. As humans, we drive primarily with sight, touch, and sound,” he said.

“Sound even overlaps with feel, because frequency and vibration are something you experience physically. In performance driving, engine tone tells you about load, traction, shift points, and timing,” he continued. “Long before digital displays, sound was a primary performance gauge, and it still sharpens reaction time and deepens the connection between driver and machine.”

Borla said drivers also build a sense of identity based on their car’s sound. “The second way sound is an instrument is in the musical sense, and it’s also identity. Throttle input, gear selection, and load shape the note, and a driver can play the car the way they play a musical instrument. That interaction transforms transportation into an experience. The sound becomes part of the vehicle’s personality and the driver’s signature. In car culture, how a vehicle sounds is just as important as how it looks, because it communicates character and intent before you ever see the badge. When engineered correctly, sound is one part telemetry and one part swagger, and that’s what makes a vehicle feel alive.”

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Listen to the 2026 Ferrari F1 engine sound courtesy of Cadillac

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:00:13 +0000

Last week, we got our first glimpse of the 2026 Audi Formula 1 car when it was out for filming at the Circuit de Barcelona in Spain. Another new entry this year is Cadillac, and they’ve been testing their F1 race car at Silverstone in the UK.

Cadillac will be running a Ferrari engine this year, and the recent test gave us a chance to hear the Ferrari’s 2026 regulation engine for the first time. Unlike the Audi R26, the Cadillac has a more familiar engine sound.

There has been a lot of excitement around the new F1 cars because of the new regulations. Significant changes have been made to the engine and aerodynamics.

While the 1.6-liter V6 turbo hybrid has been retained, the output of the internal combustion engine has been reduced, while that of the electric motor has tripled, for a 50-50 power split. The complex MGU-H has been scrapped. The Energy Recovery System (ERS) can now recharge the battery with twice as much energy per lap.

Source: Instagram

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