Stanford University Presents Audi Driverless Rally Car

Future cars seem to have one thing in common, which is sort of bad news for any car enthusiast. They will not need a driver. And we just got one step closer, as a group of researchers from the Stanford University are collaborating with Volkswagen to build an Audi TT that will drive itself up the Pikes Peak course with no driver input, says pistonheads.com.

Volkswagen decided a while ago to set up lab at Stanford University to research the future of driving. But this new project really stands out of the crowd, as the car is not about gentle driving, but all about rally-like cornering.

The base car for the project is an Audi TT-S and it’s been fully tested at the Bonneville Salt Flats, as this place offers something truly unique: nothing to bump into, which is really important if you’re running a driverless car.

Nevertheless, Bonneville is not that big of a challenge, especially considering that Pikes Peak hillclimb remains known as one of the most challenging route for both the car and the driver.

As advertising is everything, people involved in this project have launched a promotional video of the car being tested, In one of the scenes, the Audi logo is drawn in the sand by using the driverless car. And for the real enthusiasts, the video also includes scenes with the 1987 Audi Quattro Pikes Peak rally car in action.

Unfortunately, future cars seem more and more independent of the driver’s input. Probably they won’t even need a steering wheel soon.