Forget fine-grain leather and seamless connectivity—although the latest iteration of Audi’s A8 executive sedan certainly has that, too. But the next frontier in luxury, according to the German automaker, is mental clarity. The 2019 Audi A8, the brand’s fourth-generation flagship sedan, is fitted with a “brain-supportive” environment, an exercise in how design can impact calmness. The interior lighting, textures and configuration conspire to “take off …
Tag: Cars
Test Drive: 2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF
Immediately recognizable, but now with more power
There are only a handful of vehicles that have achieved eternal pop-culture status thanks to their distinctive, immediately recognizable design—and a name that stays on the tip of almost anyone’s tongue. In this class you have legends like the Mustang, Camaro, 911, Testarossa, and Countach, to name a few. They are verified icons, hallmarks of 20th century design and they’ve each spawned entire subcultures. But, there’s …
Smart’s Forease Concept Car
Design Director Kai Sieber shares the emotion in smart's new design language
Smart, the brand known primarily for its functionality and rationality, is embracing its personality through design. The Forease concept car—just-announced at the Paris Motor Show—is decreasing the distance between the vehicle and the world around it. For starters, the Forease operates on an entirely electric powertrain. Its abbreviated windshield and roofless cabin invite the environment in, and the yellow is a nod to the original smart …
Ron Arad’s Crushed Cars in “CUBA Working Title” at Over The Influence
Exploring the undoing and redoing of objects in the London-based artist's new show
At LA’s Over The Influence, artist and designer Ron Arad is showcasing his knack for working with metals. His show CUBA Working Title (on now through 28 October) centers on cars crushed like pressed flowers—hulking machines reduced to 12-centimeter-thick sheets of metal. The concept was inspired by American cars in Cuba and the intertwining of their histories, from geographic and design (and even political) perspectives. Fantastically maintaining the integrity of …
Test Drive: 2019 BMW X5
Off-roading through Georgia in the new mid-size SUV
Somewhere on a farm 30 miles southwest of Atlanta, the all-new 2019 BMW X5 falls into a rhythm—skirting around trees, up dirt hills and across bubbling streams. This is the fourth-generation of BMW’s beloved mid-size SUV, but it’s the first to come with an off-road package that enables it to tackle an hour-long off-road course with ease. The car’s quartet of drive modes (for rock, …