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DETROIT  — Few people need an SUV with 567 horsepower that can scream around a racetrack and go from 0 to 60 in four seconds.

A small but growing number want one.

These drivers aren’t satisfied any longer with an ordinary luxury car. They crave speed and handling, and they’re willing to pay for it. That’s why BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac and Porsche are introducing six new high-performance versions of existing vehicles at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens to the public on Friday.

Although these super-fast models make up only around 3 per cent of luxury automakers’ sales, the cars and SUVs bring big profits and give brands an aura of race-car performance that boosts their image with many buyers.

Buyers of these cars still want all the accoutrements that luxury brands have to offer, but a cushy ride is a secondary concern. Dealers and industry analysts say two kinds of people desire ultra-high-performance cars. One seeks the speed and handling. The second simply wants to be different from others who can afford luxury brands.

“It’s the ‘when they don’t make very many of them, everybody wants one’ concept,” says Steve Late, president of BMW of Austin, Texas, who can’t keep the German automaker’s limited-production, high-performance “M’’ models in stock.

BMW will introduce two updated high-performance SUVs at the Los Angeles show, the X5 M and the X6 M, both with a twin-turbo V8 that puts out the 567 horsepower — 267 more than a standard X5. Suspensions also are beefed up on the M SUVs, with technology borrowed from the racetrack. But the speed and handling come with a price. The X5 M starts at nearly $100,000, over $46,000 above the current base X5. Both new 2015 M SUVs hit showrooms in the spring.

The higher prices mean big gains for automakers, even with the relatively small sales numbers, says Stephanie Brinley, senior analyst for the Americas for IHS Automotive. “Porsche and Mercedes and Cadillac can add those in with comparatively low investment to all new cars and get a good, healthy profit out of it,” she said.

In Austin, where a Formula One racetrack is often rented for a day by car clubs, demand for M versions is high, Late says.

The automakers picked Los Angeles for the introductions because residents have money to buy such cars, and because the metro area often sets automotive trends, Brinley says.

Other high-performance luxury cars slated for introduction this week include:

— Two Mercedes AMG high-performance cars, the C63 sedan and GT sports car. There are two versions of each, regular and the higher-performing S. All have a hand-built 4-litre V8 engine that makes 469 horsepower for the AMG and 503 for the S version. All go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds or less. Mercedes has 19 AMG models, and the AMG line has seen 58 per cent growth so far this year, the company said.

— Sedan and coupe “V’’ high-performance versions of the Cadillac ATS compact car. Both have a twin-turbo 3.6-litre V6 that puts out 455 horsepower. The cars will go from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 189 mph.

— Porsche’s 2016 Cayenne GTS with a 440-horsepower turbocharged 3.6-litre V6 that can go from 0 to 60 in around 4.8 seconds. And it’s not even the fastest version. The GTS Turbo is.

Here are some of the other most talked-about vehicle introductions:

Audi

The German luxury brand hints at its new design direction with a concept sedan, the Audi Prologue. It’s the first vehicle from Marc Lichte, a Volkswagen veteran who was appointed head of Audi design in February. The car is shorter and sportier than the current A8, and has a lower, wider and more angular grille. Under the hood is a 605-horsepower V8 engine. The two-door coupe could become Audi’s new flagship A9. But in the meantime, look for the new design to trickle into the brand’s future products.

Chrysler 300

Chrysler hopes to breathe some life into the lagging full-size sedan segment with the first full update of the 300 since 2005. The car still has its imperious, 1950s-inspired looks, but there’s a new, more prominent grille and LED lights. Inside, there’s more premium content, including a new 7-inch driver information display. Chrysler promises best-in-class fuel economy of 31 mpg on the highway with its eight-speed transmission — now standard — and new safety features, including forward collision warning. The new 300 goes on sale early next year with a starting price of $32,390 including shipping.

Ford Explorer

The SUV that kicked off America’s love affair 20 years ago is getting a refresh for 2016. New features include front and rear cameras equipped with washers — an industry first — and a hands-free liftgate that can sense the driver’s foot. Ford says the new 2.3-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine with 270 horsepower should deliver fuel economy similar to the 2-litre EcoBoost it replaces. The Explorer goes on sale next summer. Pricing wasn’t released.

Honda HR-V

Honda enters the subcompact SUV market — one of the fastest growing in the industry — with its Fit-based HR-V. The tiny five-seater is cleverly designed to maximise space; with the second-row seats folded, there’s 59 cubic feet of cargo volume. That’s 23 more cubic feet than one of its chief rivals, the Nissan Juke. Like the Juke, its back door handles are hidden, giving it a sporty, coupe-like look. The HR-V has a 138-horsepower 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine and the choice of a continuously variable automatic transmission or a six-speed manual. All-wheel drive is optional. The HR-V goes on sale in the US this winter. Pricing and fuel economy weren’t released.

Lexus LF-C2

Toyota’s luxury brand celebrates its 25th birthday with the LF-C2 concept convertible. The show car will definitely draw some stares, if only for its striking goldenrod paint job. Lexus says the LF-C2, with its exaggerated take on Lexus’ signature spindle grille and sharply angled front bumper, gives clues to Lexus’ future designs.

Mazda CX-3

Mazda joins the subcompact SUV market with the CX-3. The tiny utility — at 168 inches, it’s about the same length as the Buick Encore — will be sold in North America with Mazda’s 2-litre Skyactiv-G engine, which gets up to 40 mpg on the highway in the Mazda3 compact car. It will also have a six-speed automatic transmission and optional all-wheel drive. The CX-3 goes on sale in the spring in Japan and globally soon after. Pricing wasn’t announced.

Scion iM

Twelve years after its launch, Toyota’s youth-oriented Scion brand is having an identity crisis. US sales are down 15 per cent so far this year as buyers wonder what to make of its mishmash of cars, from the tiny iQ to the boxy xB. Enter the iM hatchback. Scion makes sporty new statement with the low-riding iM, which has 19-inch tyres and an edgier grille than siblings like the tC. The iM goes on sale next year and will likely be priced under $20,000. It’s the first of three new models intended to overhaul the brand in the next three years.

Volkswagen Golf R Variant

The wagon version of the sporty Golf R is a parent’s dream: It seats five and has the cargo space of a small SUV but also has a “race” mode for track driving and accelerates from 0 to 50 mph in just 3.8 seconds. It shares the Golf R’s 296-horsepower, 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Golf R Variant goes on sale in Europe this spring before coming to North America. Pricing wasn’t announced, but the Golf R on which it’s based will start at $37,415.

Volvo V60 Cross Country

The cross country sits up higher and has bigger wheels that the regular V60 wagon. It will launch with Volvo’s five-cylinder, 250-horsepower engine and all-wheel drive. Later, a four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive version will be available. The cross country goes on sale in the US early next year at a starting price of $41,000. Volvo, suffering from a decade-long slide in sales, also announced a plan to regain US share by redoing all of its vehicles over the next five years.

Sometimes unexplained things happen around you. It does not make much sense when you try and relate it to other people. Logical and scientific minded folks think it is your addled brain that is conjuring up such scenarios. Especially when you have travelled half way across the globe, locked up for 10 hours in an airplane, and have emerged red eyed and jet lagged. But the fact is that life is stranger than fiction. 

Take the case of the ringing bell, for example. I have an old call bell in my house that was installed more than four years ago. Now the thing is, this was fixed inside my home, in the downstairs lobby area. Why there? Well, sometimes when you were indoors and if you needed to catch anybody’s attention, this was a perfect way of doing so. You just had to press a button on a handheld remote and a loud sound would echo around the house, making everyone rush towards the atrium. 

It was supposed to be as easy as that. But like most things associated with my life, simple things get complicated from the word go. And so, from the day it was connected, save for the couple of minutes when the mechanic showed me how it functioned, it refused to work. I tried pressing it from different angles, facing north, south, east, west and all the rest of it, but the bell remained as silent as a mouse. 

The ringer box I had artfully hidden behind one of the potted plants, the wires camouflaged around the palm leaves. It was so well concealed that after a while I forgot about its presence. Completely! I had taken to using my voice to call out to the others and it never failed me. That was the other reason why I could not even recollect its precise place and location. 

Our daughter worried about me, as daughters usually do. Whenever I was ill, she would fish out the thin wand of the remote and place it next to me on the bedside. Both if us knew that it was a useless activity but it reassured her to think her mum could ring for assistance if needed and I pretended that I would do exactly that. The soundless bell could start ringing, who knows? 

And then one evening, that is exactly what happened and it rang! We were all assembled downstairs in the sitting room. Some guests were visiting from out of town and suddenly the loud notes of the bell chimed out. It was so unexpected that it made us jump up in surprise. 

In the general confusion, I never got around to investigating how this unusual thing happened. We even forgot to ask each other as to who had gone upstairs to press the remote button. I assumed one of us must have done it. A few days later while I was marvelling at how the bell had finally sorted itself out; we figured that the bell had not only fixed itself but in some weird manner, it had also pressed itself. 

Since then four more times it has rung automatically. 

“Our house is becoming mysterious,” I told my husband. 

“And spooky,” he noted. 

“I know who is pressing the bell,” I claimed.

“You?” asked spouse

“Casper,” I replied. 

“You’ve changed your name?” he quizzed. 

“That friendly ghost,” I reminded. 

“You are a spirit?” he queried. 

“Yes, a kindred one,” I said, giving up.

BERLIN — A burst of sunshine in the spring could be just the wakeup call for Europe’s comet lander.

Scientists raised hopes Monday that as the Philae lander nears the sun its solar panel-powered battery will recharge, and the first spacecraft to touch down on a comet will send a second round of scientific data back to Earth.

Since landing with a bounce on the comet Wednesday, Philae has already sent back reams of data that scientists are eagerly examining. But there were fears its mission would be cut short because it came to rest in the shadow of a cliff. Its signal went silent Saturday after its primary battery ran out.

Shortly before that happened, the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to attempt to tilt the lander’s biggest solar panel towards the sun — a last-ditch manoeuvre that scientists believe may have paid off.

“We are very confident at some stage it will wake up again and we can achieve contact,” Stephan Ulamec, the lander manager, told The Associated Press.

That should happen next spring, when Philae and the comet it’s riding on — called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — get closer to the sun, warming up a secondary battery on board and bringing it out of its unplanned hibernation. A few days of sunshine on the solar panels should be enough to charge the battery sufficiently to resume collecting scientific data, Ulamec said.

Philae’s position in the shadows may even prove to be a blessing in disguise. Shielded from the sun’s rays, the lander could survive for longer as the comet approaches perihelion — its closest point to the sun — in August.

Before they can say for certain if they’ll be able to restore contact with Philae, scientists first need to find out where on the 4-kilometre-wide comet the washing machine-sized lander is, he added.

New pictures released Monday offered very good clues.

The high-resolution images taken from Philae’s mother ship Rosetta show the lander descending towards the comet, then bouncing off when the thrusters and harpoons meant to anchor it to the surface failed. It drifted through the void for two hours before touching down again — after a second, smaller bounce — then coming to rest in a shallow crater.

Scientists at the German Aerospace Centre said Monday that an initial review of data the lander sent back 311 million miles to Earth showed the comet’s surface is much tougher than previously assumed. There’s also evidence of large amounts of ice beneath the lander.

Scientists had speculated the comet’s surface could be quite soft, but that has turned out not to be the case. “The strength of the ice found under a layer of dust on the first landing site is surprisingly high,” said Klaus Seidensticker of the German Aerospace Centre.

Scientists are still waiting to find out whether Philae managed to drill into the comet and extract a sample for analysis.

Material beneath the surface of the comet has remained almost unchanged for 4.5 billion years, so the samples would be a cosmic time capsule that scientists are eager to study.

One of the things they are most excited about is the possibility that the mission might help confirm that comets brought the building blocks of life — including water — to Earth.

Tantalisingly, one of Philae’s instruments was able to “sniff” the presence of organic molecules on the comet, the space centre said. A full analysis of the molecules is still under way.

The European Space Agency has stressed that even if the lander fails to awaken again, Rosetta will be able to collect about 80 per cent of the data scientists are hoping to glean from the $1.6 billion mission.

SAN FRANCISCO — Ubisoft is out to build on the success of its “Far Cry” video game franchise with a new installment promising players more choices and smarter enemies in an expansive world.

The action-adventure game set for release on Tuesday will be the fourth edition in the series, which has sold a reported 20 million copies since the first version was released in early 2004.

About half of those sales have been credited to “Far Cry 3”, which won legions of fans after it hit the market at the end of 2012.

“Far Cry is a sleeper in some ways, but it is building momentum,” analyst Scott Steinberg of high-tech consulting firm TechSavvy told AFP.

“It has become a popular franchise but still has plenty of room to grow.”

“Far Cry 4” which came out on Tuesday was billed as the most expansive and immersive version yet of the open-world, first-person shooter game.

While its predecessor played out on a tropical island, the story in “Far Cry 4” is set in a fictional region of the Himalayas serving as a stronghold for a self-appointed despot.

“The first idea for Far Cry was not to put it in the mountains; it was that someone on the team wanted to ride an elephant,” game executive director Dan Hay told AFP while providing an early glimpse at the new version.

“Maybe we took a hard road, but we asked what we wanted to do as game players.”

Outposts on crack

The Montreal Ubisoft studio behind the game set out to imbue “Far Cry 4” with features people loved in its predecessor and unexpected new twists.

For example, players can indeed ride elephants while attacking mountain fortresses that Hay described as “outposts on crack that can fight back”.

Artificial intelligence built into the game has resulted in virtual enemies even surprising its creators with reactions to situations.

Even the fictional villain in the game, a character named Pagan Min, is billed as deviously insightful.

“Everyone has that friend in the past who was bad for them,” Hay said while describing Pagan Min.

“They are a blast to hang out with; but if you hang out with them you are going to wind up dead or in jail. This is that guy.”

Along the way, the new version of Far Cry calls on players to choose between tradition and seizing new opportunities in the Himalayan realm.

“Far Cry asks you to take a digital year of your life and meet credible characters who will challenge your assumptions,” Hay promised.

“After finishing school we start with the idea that we are going to get it right; better than our friends or parents — Far Cry gives you the choice.”

Versions of the game for play on current and previous generation Xbox or PlayStation consoles, as well as on computers powered by Windows software, will launch at a price of $60, according to France-based Ubisoft.

GENEVA — A new kind of bird flu hitting European poultry farms will surely continue to spread among birds, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday, urging countries to be "vigilant".

Whether the virus will spread to humans remains unclear, the UN health agency said.

"We should all be quite vigilant," Elizabeth Mumford, a scientist with the WHO's Global Influenza Programme, told reporters in Geneva.

Responding to questions, she said she "absolutely" expected more bird flocks to fall sick.

She stressed the importance of culling sick birds and monitoring fever in humans who have been in contact with sick birds to ensure any possible human infections are spotted.

Germany and the Netherlands have been confirmed to be dealing with the same subtype of a highly infectious strain of bird flu, called H5N8, which appears to be similar to a virus that has been infecting birds in China, Japan and South Korea since the beginning of the year, she said.

Britain has also been hit with "a highly pathogenic H5 outbreak also in poultry”, Mumford said. It was not yet confirmed, though, that it was the same H5N8 strain.

"It could be something else," she said.

Renowned virologist and bird flu expert Ron Fouchier, however, told AFP Monday that British authorities had told European authorities that their virus was the same H5N8 strain as found in Germany earlier this month and now in the Netherlands.

An EU source told reporters that it is "most likely the same strain in all three places".

Some 150,000 hens at an egg farm near Utrecht in the Netherlands were set to be culled, while 6,000 ducks on a Yorkshire farm in Britain were also to be put down, authorities said.

WHO said the virus had most likely moved from Asia to Europe with migratory wild birds.

Several hundred thousand birds, mainly ducks, have been culled over the last two months because of a South Korean outbreak.

So far, no cases of human infection have been detected, either in Asia or in Europe, Mumford said. She acknowledged though that "influenza viruses are very unpredictable, and it's very difficult to tell what a new virus will do".

"I must say that we really know very little about this virus, and until we get some experience with it, it's a bit wide open."

Since H5N8 seems to be spreading quickly among poultry, "we will probably see some human cases", she told AFP.

But while some people may be infected by sick birds, so far it appeared unlikely that the virus would begin spreading between humans, she added.

The H5 component of the virus appeared similar to that found in the H5N1 strain of bird flu that has killed more than 400 people, mainly in southeast Asia, since first appearing in 2003, Mumford explained.

But the N-component was from a completely different virus with no human component, indicating it really prefers to attach to birds, she said.

The fact that no human cases have surfaced in Asia, where the virus has been circulating for some time, with authorities closely surveilling the situation, "is encouraging", Mumford said.

Another positive fact, she said, was that in lab tests the virus responded to anti-virus drug Tamiflu, meaning if it did jump to humans, the medical community should have a tool to fight it.

In the meantime, WHO is urging people in Europe to avoid touching sick or dead wild birds.

People involved in culling the sick poultry should monitor themselves for fever for two weeks after coming into contact with the birds, Mumford said.

For consumers, she stressed that "poultry meat safely prepared and well-cooked is completely safe”.

PARIS — A new pop-up shop in the hip Marais district of Paris is giving people the opportunity to immortalise themselves with a tiny printed 3D figurine for the not so tiny price of 230 euros ($286).

The studio, called “Le Moimee Store”, hails itself as the world’s first specialising in 3D portraits. It allows customers to print a figurine 1/12th their size, in whatever pose they like, wearing their favourite clothes and accessories.

“We think of it as giving new life to the portrait,” said Sylvie Roche, the project director.

But it’s a portrait with a different perspective.

“You know what you look like in a picture, but the day you see your ‘Moimee’ you go ‘Wow, I look like that’?” said Roche.

The Moimee studio has just opened to the public, and is a venture of The Vibrant Project, a company specialising in digital and interactive art installations.

Before its official opening, the company held a contest called “Le Peuple des Cours” or “The People in the Courtyard”, where participants could win one 3D printed version of themselves, and have a second one used in a special art installation representing the Marais neighbourhood.

So far, about 150 winners have been immortalised as figurines and about 15 people have come to purchase them at the pop-up shop.

The new store hopes to surf the wave of 3D printing, which is fast becoming the hot new trend — as well as big business.

The small Moimee studio is located in an outdoor courtyard next to the BHV, one of Paris’ top department stores, and is surrounded by coffee bars, sandwich stands and faux-fur-covered lounge chairs.

Model figurines line the walls of the shop, and 3D printers sit in the window. Neon signage gives the place a modern feel.

Frederic Saunier, 48, who was in Paris on holiday from the south of France with his fiancée Valerie, 47, decided to have a figurine printed for the top of their wedding cake.

“We saw it on the news and said: ‘Why not?’” said Saunier.

The couple was dressed casually for the photo-shoot that would begin the printing process of their figurine, and planned to hold hands or embrace as the 50 cameras captured the image that would eventually be “printed” for the top of their tiered cake.

“At first we thought it was too expensive, but we figured we would do it anyway,” said Saunier.

The price for one figurine is 230 euros for a “double-dipped finish”, 245 euros for a “waxed finish”, the latter being more detailed. For two people it’s 345 and 360 euros respectively.

After the initial photo-shoot, the images are uploaded to software for retouching. The figurine is then painstakingly printed, layer by layer, and the colours are developed and sealed. Clients receive their mini-me in about three weeks.

The Moimee Store sees a variety of clientele come through their doors.

“Very different people come in,” said Roche. “Most people want to fix a moment in their life that’s very important.”

Drop-in shoppers are more rare, with most clients planning their figurines in advance.

“Most of the casual shoppers are foreigners,” said Roche.

“I don’t know many people in France who would come and drop 1,000 euros on four figurines,” she said, referring to a group of Mexican tourists who recently purchased four 3D figurines on a whim.

LOS GATOS, United States — Ever since Marty McFly rode on one in 1989’s hit film “Back to the Future Part II”, fans have dreamed of having their own levitating skateboard, or “hoverboard”. 

That wish has now come true, as engineers in Northern California have turned the futuristic device into reality. 

The Hendo Hoverboard levitates on conductive surfaces: defying gravity, it floats about an inch above the ground, powered by four disc-shaped magnetic engines. 

That means you can ride it just like a skateboard on a ramp-style platform, albeit one made only of metal or otherwise electricity-conducting material, to produce the magnetic field. 

It can move speedily, if noisily, in multiple directions, as well as turn around. The battery only lasts seven minutes, but that is still enough time to take a grown adult for an exhilarating ride. 

The technology that propels it is called Magnetic Field Architecture, developed by the startup company Arx Pax, which turned to the Kickstarter crowdfunding website to raise so-called seed money to bring it to market. 

“We want to seed this hover ecosystem by putting the technology into the hands of all those tinkerers,” said Jill Avery Henderson, co-founder and chief operating officer of Arx Pax. 

The board itself — which is partly made by a 3D printer — levitates on top of conductive materials such as aluminum or a copper half-pipe, which its makers have been using to show off their device. 

Arx Pax chief executive Greg Henderson, who founded the company with his wife, explained the technology behind it.

“We are creating a magnetic field, and then through a method of induction, that’s part of our secret sauce, we are creating a secondary and equal magnetic field in this conductive surface,” he said. 

And the couple believe their technology could be used for all sorts of purposes, even for example designing more earthquake-resistant buildings — a particular concern in quake-prone California. 

In theory with more powerful magnets, an entire building could be made to float off the ground, albeit briefly.

“Imagine there’s an earthquake and the early warning turns on the warning systems and the [concrete or other physical] supports fall away as the building starts to hover,” said Henderson. 

“The shaking stops, the supports return, and no one in that room or in that building ever knew there was an earthquake.” 

The pioneering pair long ago reached their target of $250,000 on Kickstarter, and the first 10 hoverboards — costing $10,000 apiece — have sold out in advance.

But for far less money amateur inventors can get their hands on a developer kit — and theoretically use the technology to make anything hover. “Curious minds, the power of many minds as Greg likes to say,” said Jill.

“By putting this technology in their hands, we’ll be able to solve problems we didn’t even know exist.” 

Dramatic, low-slung and luxurious, the Audi RS7 is the four-ring Ingolstadt manufacturer’s gambit into the high performance coupe-like prestige 4-door car segment.

Arriving in 2013 — three years after the standard A7 model line’s debut — the brutally powerful Audi RS7 competes in an almost exclusively German niche, directly against the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, BMW M6 GranCoupe and Porsche Panamera Turbo. 

Like its Mercedes and BMW rivals, the Audi RS7 is based on the brand’s corresponding executive class saloon — A6 in Audi’s case. However unlike the self-proclaimed 4-door coupe saloons, the RS7 is, like its Porsche competitor, a more practical 5-door fastback body with liftback tailgate.

Rakishly dramatic

With slim heavily browed headlight and LED lower outline, big gaping side air intakes and vast bold trapezoidal honeycomb grille combined menacingly predatory figure. A moody and aggressive design that is accentuated by its low, sloping liftback roofline and a defined rear boot-line ridge hanging heavily over its tail lamps, the RS7 is easily the moodiest, most dramatic and chiselled car in its executive coupe-like saloon segment.

Chiselled and defined, the RS7’s sheet metal and aluminium body features a sharp side crease line, angularly framed rear fascia, aggressive sills, muscular rear haunches, defined wheel-arches and again, sharp edged air-splitter style lower front bumper lip.

A lower and longer car than its Audi RS6 super-estate sister, with which it shares much in terms of platform, underpinnings, chassis, drive-train and technology, the RS7 has a distinct sense of width and road presence about it. Sporty and muscular details include sharkish gill-like vertical vents in its front air intakes and black grille surround with “quattro” etched below the license plate in front.

Rearwards, a chrome outline frames its air diffuser style lower rear bumper section and chrome-tipped dual exhaust pipes. Fitted with optional five-spoke alloy wheels riding on low profile 275/30R21 tyres, the RS7’s mighty brake discs and callipers are proudly visible.

Brisk brute

Powered by the most powerful iteration of Audi’s 4-litre twin-turbo direct injection V8 engine, the RS7 develops a brutally mighty 552BHP throughout a broad 6,700-6,600rpm band and a muscular 517lb/ft during a broad 1,750-5,500rpm range. 

Quick to spool up owing to its twin-turbos being situated between its engine’s ‘V’ design heads, the RS7’s induction piping ensures turbo pressure accumulates easily and allows for excellent responsiveness and little by way of turbo lag at idle and low rpm engine speeds.

Immensely muscular and effortlessly versatile in its broad mid-range torque band, the RS7’s volcanic power accumulation is underwritten by its gloriously rich mid-range thrust.

With good throttle response for a big beefy turbocharged engine, the RS7 allows precise power modulation than some similar engines, and is ultimately a more intuitive driving experience.

With legendary Quattro four-wheel-drive providing tenacious traction and volcanically powerful engine, the Audi RS7 shrugs off its hefty 1,995kg mass and blasts the 0-100km/h sprint in a supercar-like 3.9-seconds, and though normally electronically restricted to 250km/h, can be unlocked at the owner’s request to 305km/h.

Unexpectedly and relatively frugal for such a heavy and powerful beast, the RS7’s automatic 4-cylinder de-activation when cruising and an urban traffic stop/start system allow for 9.8l/100km combined fuel consumption.

Grip and go

A barking and bellowing brute the brisk Audi RS7 channels its vast output through a swift and smooth shifting 8-speed automatic gearbox, with a sequential manual mode through steering-mounted paddle shifters.

More aggressive gearbox, suspension engine and drive-line settings can also be chosen. With in-line engine mounted low ahead of front axle and a direct four-wheel-drive system distributing power to all wheels with a 60 per cent rear-bias, the RS7’s astonishing traction and cornering grip is aided by centre and rear differentials that apportion power between front and rear, and left and right to prevent loss-of traction and ensure power goes where it is best translated into lateral grip and forward momentum.

Slightly nose-heavy, the Audi RS7 nevertheless turns in tidily, and with quick, well-weighted, precise, direct and reassuringly committed steering.

If pushed into or out of a corner too hard, the RS7’s Quttro system and thick grippy tyres dig in tight and ensure grip and cornering lines are maintained. Highly stable at speed and through long sweepers, the RS7 is also happy going through twisting turns, with weight transfers well kept in check by its adaptive air suspension.

A firm yet smooth ride, the RS7 isn’t crashy or uncomfortable, but its suspension is set up to manage it enormous power, traction and grip with calculating confidence. 

Stylish and sporty

With an unmistakably sporty ambiance inside, the RS7 features supportive, contoured and well adjustable leather sports seats with fetching honeycomb stitching, while an optional massage function underlines its luxurious appointment. Sporty and clear dials sit alongside carbon-fibre inlays, intuitive pop-up infotainment screen, metal buttons and a rounded gear lever positioned on a high set centre console. Providing an excellent hunkered-down driving position, with chunky adjustable sports steering wheel and aluminium pedals, the RS7 feels luxuriously sporting in front, while rear seats are adequately sized for most adults, but the rakishly low and sophisticated roofline and optional sunroof do mean that headspace is limited for tall adults. 

With liftback tailgate design providing good boot access, the stylish RS7’s boot is comparable to an Audi A6 saloon, but with 535-litre minimum and 1,390-litre maximum with rear seat folded, it cannot compare to its voluminous RS6 Avant estate body sister’s cavernously luggage capacity.

Thoroughly well-kitted in terms of standard and optional convenience, comfort, entertainment, performance and safety features, the RS7’s spec list includes anything from sophisticated Alcantara roof lining to ceramic disc brakes, luggage hooks to 4-zone climate control, and a Bang & Olufsen sound system, but no dedicated USB port, but instead an adapter cable.

Semi-autonomous driving aids include adaptive stop and go cruise control and active lane assistance.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 4-litre, twin-turbo, in-line V8 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 84.5 x 89mm

Compression ratio: 10.1:1

Valve-train: 32-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive, limited-slip rear-differential

Power distribution, F/R: 40 per cent/60 per cent

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 552 (560) [412] @ 5,700-6,600rpm

Specific power: 138.2BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 276.7BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 516 (700) @ 1,750-5,500rpm

Specific torque: 175.3Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 350.8Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 3.9 seconds

Top speed, restricted/de-restricted: 250km/h/305km/h

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined:

13.9/7.5/9.8-litres/100km 

Carbon dioxide emissions, combined: 229g/km

Fuel capacity: 65 litres

Length: 5,012mm

Width: 1,911mm

Height: 1,419mm

Wheelbase: 2,915mm

Track, F/R: 1,634/1,625mm

Overhangs, F/R: 960/1,137mm

Headroom, F/R: 1,028/944mm

Luggage volume, min/max: 535/1,390 litres

Unladen weight: 1,995kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning Circle: 11.9-metres

Suspension: Multi-link, adaptive air dampers

Brakes: Ventilated & perforated discs

Tyres: 275/30R21 (optional)

The Sum of Our Days

Isabel Allende

Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

London: HarperCollins, 2009

Pp. 301

This is the sequel to “Paula”, the memoir Isabel Allende wrote in response to the tragic death of her daughter in 1992. “The Sum of Our Days” is also addressed to Paula, intending to keep her abreast of happenings in the lives of her loved ones, for in Allende’s world, the demarcation between the living and the dead is ever-shifting and porous. As she writes, Allende is still grieving, but life goes on; the family is expanding and there are new tragedies and joys to relate. Like all of Allende’s writing, fictional or otherwise, this book celebrates life, love, family, imagination, dreams and spirituality. 

After Paula’s death, Allende fears that her muse had dried up and she will not be able to write fiction again. Falling back on her earlier experience as a journalist, she assigns herself a topic to research, travels to India and the Amazon, and publishes “Aphrodite”, a collection of recipes, sensuous stories and aphrodisiacs. She also establishes a foundation to aid poor women in different parts of the world — an idea suggested to her by Paula. 

Gradually and with a concerted effort, the muse returns and one learns the inside story of Allende’s ensuing novels: “Daughter of Fortune”, “Portrait in Sepia” and “The City of the Beasts” — the first in a trilogy of children’s adventures which grew out of telling her grandchildren stories. In connection with telling about writing “Ines of My Soul”, she identifies the pattern in her fiction: “In nearly all my books there are defiant women, born poor or vulnerable, destined to be subjected, but they rebel, ready to pay the price of freedom at any cost. Ines Suarez is one of them. My female protagonists are always passionate in their loves and loyal to other women. They are not moved by ambition but by love.” (p. 267)

Judging from what the author reveals about herself in this book, it means they are all somehow similar in character, if not in background, to her. 

More than a literary memoir, this is a chronicle of family, though perhaps one shouldn’t separate the two as Allende often confides that she draws her characters and inspiration from real people, usually relatives. The loss of her daughter seems to have doubled her commitment to insuring the welfare of the remaining family. Allende’s love, caring and involvement — sometimes too much, she admits — in the life of her son and grandchildren, is at the core of the book. Gathering her extended family around the home she and her second husband, the lawyer Willie Gordon, build in Northern California is her top priority. The family is so expansive and branched that she calls it a tribe. Marrying a family member is enough to gain admittance; even in the case of divorce, membership is retained for those who continue to share their love. Blood relations is not a requirement; the tribe includes soul mates who contribute to its warmth and togetherness and share in its formative experiences. 

Though in many ways embracing her new life in the United States whole-heartedly, Allende continues to write in Spanish and to preserve the family traditions which she brought with her from her native Chile. “A tribe has its inconveniences, but also many advantages. I prefer it a thousand times to the American dream of absolute individual freedom, which, though it may help in getting ahead in this world, brings with it alienation and loneliness.” (p. 173)

Also, in other ways, her commentary on the American way of life and its politics are priceless. 

The first part of the book focuses on the efforts of Isabel and Willie to save his drug-addicted daughter from a previous marriage, and when that fails, to find a nurturing home for the premature child she gave birth to, who is not expected to live. But live Sabrina does, thanks to intense care and love from the tribe. Sabrina’s story is emblematic as the tribe’s fortunes swing from heart-rending situations worthy of Greek tragedy, to near miracles. There is also a fair share of tension in Isabel’s marriage and within the tribe, which she sometimes describes with tongue in cheek: “Fortunately… the family melodramas continued, because if not, what the devil would I write about?” (p. 57)

The years covered in the book (1993-2006) span the birth and coming of age of Allende’s grandchildren, the maturation of her marriage and deepening of the love between her and her husband. “The Sum of Our Days” is also about getting older gracefully. Allende is humbled by life but never daunted. Her prose, as always, is lush, passionate and evocative.

SANTIAGO, Chile — It’s a bicyclist’s dream: A bike that can’t be stolen.

The “Yerka,” a prototype designed by three young Chilean engineering students, is the latest entry in a recent trend of bikes that can be locked using some of their own parts. They include Brooklyn-based “Seatylock”, which uses its saddle seat as a lock, and Seattle-based “Denny”, which is locked with its detachable handlebars.

But the inventors of the Yerka have made a twist in that approach. The bike’s lower frame opens up into two arms that are then connected to the seat post and locked to a post, so thieves would have to destroy a Yerka to get it unlocked, leaving it valueless.

“That’s why our motto is ‘a bike that gets stolen is no longer a bike.’ What we have here is truly an unstealable bike,” said Cristobal Cabello, who came up with the design during a college engineering class with childhood friends Andres Roi Eggers and Juan Jose Monsalve.

In Chile and elsewhere in Latin America, the spread of designated cycling lanes, storage racks and bike share programmes are encouraging commuters to switch from cars to bikes, which are cheaper and environmentally friendly.

Cristobal Galban, who holds a doctorate in naval and environmental engineering and is director of the sustainability research centre at Santiago’s Andres Bello University, said a study by his team in 2013 found that “the use of bikes has doubled among Chileans” in five years.

“The main problem in Chile and elsewhere are the robberies, so the Yerka could help solve this,” said Galban, whose own bike was recently stolen.

Tony Hadland, co-author with Hans-Erhard Lessing of “Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History”, called the Chileans’ design “very clever”.

There have been relatively few attempts to incorporate anti-theft precautions into bicycle design, the British writer said.

Leaving aside the familiar shackle locks and chains with locks, most anti-theft accessories have been bolt-on devices, he said. The latter usually involve a piece that passes between the spokes to stop the wheel rotating, but they can still be easily picked open by a thief, he said.

“The most effective strategy commonly used in London today is to take the bike into the office with you,” Hadland said. “The Brompton folding bicycle, now almost an icon of London, is so compact and so easy and reliable to fold that many cycling commuters take their Bromptons into the office.”

“Other anti-theft strategies involve using a bike that looks so unattractive that nobody will want to steal it,” he said.

The young Chilean engineers said they began experimenting with their idea after Roi’s bicycle was stolen. First they built a PVC model, then constructed a working prototype.

Now, while waiting for the patent to be approved and carrying out more tests on the bike’s resistance to thieves, the team plans to launch a crowd funding campaign seeking to raise funds. They’re also looking for a partner who can invest $300,000 needed to produce a first batch of 1,000 bikes that they hope will be sold by mid-2015.