Transylvania is one of the most naturally scary places on the planet. Spread over central Romania, the region is littered with dense forests, villages, and fog-covered mountain ranges, each sprinkled with an undeniable sense of mysticism that’ll probably keep you inside at night. Transylvania is also home to the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, a vicious prince commonly known as Vlad Dracula.
While the area is commonly associated with vampires and other blood-sucking creatures, our eyes are drawn to Transylvania for a slightly more mechanical reason this year. That’s because to celebrate Halloween, Audi is going on a high-speed tour of the region with two of its most beastly creations — the RS 7 Performance and the R8 supercar. It just so happens that the cars will be driving on the Transfagarasan Highway, which was coined “the best road in the world” by old Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson. After a quick look at the photos, it’s hard to argue with him.
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The brand is making a number of stops throughout its Transylvanian tour, including the city of Sighisoara where Vlad Dracula was born. You can follow along on Audi’s social media channels, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, and there should be plenty to witness. Happy Halloween!
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.