Audi’s latest piloted driving concept RS7 has just debuted at the Sonoma Raceway in California, lapping the 4.05km track in only 2:01.01 minutes, and thoroughly trouncing professional racecar drivers in the process.
Affectionately nicknamed “Robby” by its Bavarian makers, this self-piloting 2016 RS7 is 400 kgs lighter than its predecessor “Bobby” that lapped Hockenheim last year without a driver. Most of the weight-savings came from the elimination of redundant visual and mechanical back-up systems.
Its twin-turbo V8 makes 568 PS (560 hp) of peak power and is fitted with automated controls that power the electromechanical power steering, brakes, throttle valve and eight-speed transmission. 3D cameras make sure that Robby can monitor its surroundings in real time and compare the images with a database of reference points, such as buildings at the track. The 0-to-96 km/h dash is done and dusted in 3.6 seconds.
“In Sonoma, we took the Audi RS7 piloted driving concept to its physical limits lap after lap, and it handled the task with uniform precision,” says Thomas Müller, the man responsible for the development of brake, steering and driver assistance systems at Audi. “The car turned in lap times that were better than those of sports car drivers.”
Audi did acknowledge that a fast lap in a WTCC racer with a pro driver behind the wheel is around 15 seconds quicker. They also announced that the technology will make its production debut in the redesigned Audi A8 full-size luxury sedan, taking control of the car during parking or in stop-and-go traffic on freeways at speeds of up to 60 km/h.
Amazing as all these are, we just can’t help wondering: What’s the point of taking a driverless car around a racetrack, any racetrack?
Our best guess that it is just to show how far the technology has come.