Preview: 2022 Audi RS 3 ramps up the turbo-5 power and track capability - Motor Authority | Canada News Media
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Preview: 2022 Audi RS 3 ramps up the turbo-5 power and track capability – Motor Authority

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The next generation of the raucous little Audi RS 3 compact sedan is coming for 2022, alongside new versions of the A3 and S3, and it promises even more fun and performance.

The RS 3 has always been a delightful oddball with its turbocharged 5-cylinder engine, and it continues down that path, but now with more power. The 2.5-liter turbo-5 ramps up to 401 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque from 394 and 354, respectively for the last model, and the U.S. version will have slightly more hp than the European model.

The horsepower comes on early at 5,600 rpm, and the additional torque, which hits its peak between 2,250 and 5,600 rpm, aids acceleration at low revs. That power vaults the RS 3 from 0-62 mph in 3.8 seconds and sends it to a top speed of 180 mph when equipped with the optional carbon-ceramic brakes. Other versions top out at 155 and 174 mph.

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Power runs to all four wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with what Audi calls a sportier gear-ratio spread.

The RS Torque Splitter replaces a simple limited-slip differential that lacked the ability to vector torque between the rear wheels. This is a Haldex differential with multi-disc clutches on each rear axle shaft that apportions power between the rear wheels, sending up to 1,290 lb-ft of torque (after torque multiplication from the driveline) to the outside rear wheel. The torque vectoring will surely provide better handling by combating both oversteer and understeer. It also enables Audi to add a new RS Torque Rear mode that allows the RS 3 to drift.

The RS 3 also has RS Performance, Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, and RS Individual modes, plus a new Efficiency mode. The modes change the behavior of the torque splitter, engine and transmission, steering assistance, adaptive dampers, and exhaust flaps.

2022 Audi RS 3

Audi says the RS Performance mode offers the best track performance and is calibrated for the newly available Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires, which amount to  R-compound semi-slicks.

The stability control also has standard, sport, and off modes. Sport mode automatically accompanies RS Performance mode.

A new modular vehicle dynamics controller captures data about the car’s lateral dynamics and coordinates the torque splitter, available adaptive dampers, and torque at individual wheels to help improve the car’s agility.

2022 Audi RS 3

The RS 3 will offer a choice of suspensions. The standard version will come with new shocks with valves that react quicker on rebound and compression. An RS Sport suspension uses adaptive dampers with comfort, balanced, and sporty damping curves. To add more grip in turns, the suspension now has almost 1 degree of negative camper. Audi modified the pivot bearings for the additional negative camber, and used stiffer bearings, subframes, and stabilizer bars. The rear suspension has separate springs and dampers, and a four-link independent design. The car sits 0.4 inches lower than the forthcoming 306-hp S3, and the front track is 1.3 inches wider while the rear track is 0.4 inches wider.

Audi equips the RS 3 with variable-ratio steering that speeds up as the steering angle increases.

The RS 3 comes standard with 14.8-inch front discs, while the optional carbon-ceramic front discs are 15 inches in diameter. Both use 6-piston calipers and both have better cooling and larger brake pads. The iron brakes get red or black calipers, and carbon-ceramic buyers can choose from gray, red, or blue calipers.

2022 Audi RS 3

Audi outfits the RS 3 with 19-inch wheels in a standard 10-spoke design or an available five Y-spoke design. Perhaps the biggest performance upgrade is the optional Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires. These R-compound semi-slicks will be a boon to track driving.

The RS 3 features the design changes from the standard A3, including a body that’s longer by about 1.6 inches, a larger grille, and more body sculpting. New vents behind the front wheels look like gills and aid with cooling. The RS 3 also gets LED headlights and taillights, optional matrix LED headlights, and a checkered flag design in the daytime running lights. The checkered flag is part of a start-up and shut-off sequence, and it stays lit while driving.The honeycomb grille is available in gloss or matte black. Buyers can choose any color for their RS 3s as long as they are Kyalami Green or Kemora Gray.

Inside, the RS 3 has Audi’s 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit digital gauge cluster with bar graph displays for power and torque. It also has a shift light when the transmission is in manual mode. The shift light can also be shown in the newly optional head-up display. An optional Virtual Cockpit Plus adds performance displays for g forces, lap times, and acceleration runs. The RS 3 also comes with a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen that can also show additional gauges.

2022 Audi RS 3

2022 Audi RS 3

2022 Audi RS 3

Other features of the RS 3’s interior include a carbon-fiber instrument panel, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and diecast zinc shift paddles. The RS sport seats have the RS logo embossed into them. They are nappa leather and come with black, red, and now green honeycomb stitching.

The RS 3 sedan arrives in Europe this August, along with a cool-as-hell Sportback hatchback body style that recalls the BMW M Coupe of the late 1990s/early 2000s. There are no plans to bring the Sportback to the U.S., but the sedan will arrive here next spring. Look for prices closer to launch.

For more on the complete Audi A3 range, read the in-depth reviews at The Car Connection.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.

Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.

There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.

Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.

“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”

Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.

“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.

But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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