Skip to main content

We’re taking our Car of the Year for a spin in Forza 6 live!


While the computing and gaming writers might not get a chance to take the Audi R8, our car of the year, for a spin on an actual track, we have the next best thing. Forza Motorsport 6 features both the 2013 tricked-out racing edition of Audi’s masterpiece, as well as Lime Rock Park in Connecticut where we tested it.

The Audi R8’s best features are on display in Forza Motorsport 6 as well. Its mid-mounted 5.2-liter V10 engine’s growl can be heard loud and clear in-game. The 610 horsepower engine will have you screeching towards the track time leaderboards, and its smart all-wheel drive system will ensure you stay on the track doing it.

Of course, it isn’t just about speed, and Audi’s fully aware of the luxury side of the market. The cabin is spacious and comfortable, and that’s just the start. The 12.3-inch virtual cockpit is packed with functionality and utility, offering the driver a wealth of options and information based on what’s need at that very moment.

A digital gauge helps the driver shift exactly when its needed, taking the guesswork out of track driving. A Google Maps overlay keeps you aware of upcoming turns and straightaways, so you can take full advantage of the R8 V10’s massive speed flat-out. It’s truly a car for the modern age, that still embraces the old school power and speed that automotive enthusiasts crave, whether taking on the track or flying down the freeway.

It wasn’t the only vehicle that made our short list for Car of the Year, although it was certainly the most all-around impressive. Mazda’s CX-5 is an excellent option for those looking for something with a little more room in the trunk, while still handling like a car with more speed-focused design. The Volvo S90 also left a mark in the luxury department with an amazing, comfortable interior and a wealth of features meant for those who don’t necessarily need to take it our for a track day.

We’ll take it the Audi R8 V10 out for a spin on Lime Rock Park where we actually tested it, and see which of us can pull in the best track time, and then maybe take some other vehicles out for a spin. Tune in at 4 PM PST to join in on the action.

Editors' Recommendations

Brad Bourque
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad Bourque is a native Portlander, devout nerd, and craft beer enthusiast. He studied creative writing at Willamette…
Best GPU deals: MSI, XFX, EVGA
An AMD graphics card in an external GPU enclosure.

Getting into gaming can be an expensive hobby, especially if you're building a new PC from scratch and want to get the best GPU that you possibly can. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, GPU prices have skyrocketed, especially for RTX 40-series cards, and they don't look to be coming down any time soon, whether you're going for AMD or Nvidia. Luckily, there are still quite a lot of great deals you can take advantage of that will let you snag a card for a great price, and we've collected some of our favorites below. That said if you'd rather go for something that's already been put together, check out these gaming PC deals instead.
XFX SPEEDSTER SWFT210 AMD Radeon RX 6600 Core 8GB GDDR6 -- $230, was $280

XFX is a pretty well-known brand that makes AMD Radeon GPUs, so you're getting a good-quality device right out of the gate. It has an impressive 8GB GDDR6, at least for this price bracket, and will give you a bit longer life out of it when games start using up a lot more VRAM, even at lower graphical settings. While the base clock runs at 2.0 GHz, the boosted clock speed is 2.5 GHz which is pretty good, and the whole thing is unlocked, so you could theoretically boost it higher if you have the right cooling. This RTX 6600 can support resolutions up to 8K, but really, this is an ideal 1080p gaming GPU.

Read more
All upcoming PC games: 2024 and beyond
Ships flying by giant purple towers.

While the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X might dominate the gaming news spotlight, the PC continues to be one of the best gaming platforms out there. 2024 has seen a variety of high-profile releases already, and there's still more to come.

If you're searching for your next big PC game (or want to see what's on the horizon before investing in a new rig), here are the best upcoming PC games set to arrive in 2024 and beyond.
Upcoming PC games 2024
Confirmed 2024 releases
Here’s everything that’s on our radar for 2024. The games immediately below have set release dates. We'll get into anything that's more up in the air below the confirmed launches

Read more
All upcoming Xbox Series X games: 2024 and beyond
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

The Xbox Series X and Series S have now been out for three years, bringing better resolution, higher frame rates, and ray tracing to gamers around the world. And the upcoming Xbox Series X games on this list promise to continue to show off all those bells and whistles in fun, new experiences.

If you're eager to find out what Microsoft has in store for the years ahead, we've rounded up every game confirmed so far, including new offerings, franchise installments, and ports of existing titles. We're looking beyond the first-party projects here to encompass all the great games coming to this powerful piece of gaming hardware. Maybe some of them will end up being among the best games on Xbox Series X.
Upcoming Xbox Series X games 2024
The games listed below either have 100% confirmed release dates or solid release windows that we expect them to hit in 2024. Any games with more ambiguous release windows will be listed below the confirmed releases.

Read more