2018 Audi S4

The B9 was the sixth iteration of Audi's S4 sports sedan. What had started as a small, taut competitor for the M3 had aged into plump middle aged, and found itself competing in the marketplace with compact sporty crossover SUVs as sedan sales dwindled.

Under the hood was Audi's 3.0L DOHC turbocharged V-6 making 345 SAE net horsepower, and the only transmission choice was the eight-speed ZF Tiptronic slushbox, driving all four wheels in classic Quattro style.

Curb weight might have ballooned to 3,928 pounds, but the brawny six still had the Wheaties to push nearly two tons of sedan to sixty miles per hour in only 4.2 seconds and through the quarter in 12.8 seconds, clearing the traps at 108 miles per hour when tested by Car and Driver.

This Glacier White one was photographed using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and an EF 28-70mm f/2.8L zoom lens in January of 2022.

2018 Audi S5 Cabriolet

Audi added the A5 model in the late '00s as a designator for coupes, cabriolets, and five-door fastbacks ("Sportbacks" in Audi-speak) that shared a platform with the A4 sedans and wagons. Naturally there was also a high-performance S5 model to accompany them.

The A5 and S5 got their second generation for the 2018 model year, like the Monsoon Grey example in the photo. Where the regular A5 had a 2.0L 16V turbocharged inline four, the second gen S5 got a brawny 3.0L 24V turbo V-6 making 354 SAE net horsepower and driving all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic.

When Car and Driver tested a 2018 S5 ragtop, they recorded a zero-to-sixty sprint of 4.8 seconds and quarter mile run of 13.5 at 103mph through the traps. Top speed was governor limited to 155 and it managed 0.94g on the skidpad.

This one was photographed in September of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.

2018 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible MC

The end of the road for the first generation M145 Maserati GranTurismo came after the 2019 model year. The 2+2 GT coupes were based on a shortened version of the M139 platform that underpinned the company's Quattroporte sedans.

The GranTurismo was offered in regular and convertible form here (the latter was called the GranCabrio elsewhere) and in regular Sport or MC trim. The MC, like the Blu Sofisticato one in the photo, was festooned with scoops and vents and spoilers and carbon fiber accents for the full aggro vibe.

Under the hood was Maserati's Ferrari-derived F136Y 4.7L DOHC 32V V-8, backed with a ZF six-speed automatic. The 454-horse motor was enough to push the GranTurismo convertible MC to sixty in a hair under five seconds and to a claimed top speed of 181 miles per hour, only a few MPH slower than Joe Walsh's.

The one in the picture was snapped with a Canon EOS M and EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens in May of 2019.

2018 Rolls-Royce Wraith

While not a thunderously gauche assault on the senses in the manner of, say, an orange Culloden, a Rolls-Royce Wraith coupe is still an immense slab of vehicle; it's a hard car to miss. It's two and a half tons of metal, leather, Wilton wool, wood veneer, and twin-turbo V-12. Over seventeen feet long, with a roofline most of five feet high, it's a coupe of near SUV-proportions.

Introduced for 2014 alongside the Phantom Coupé (Rolls of course sniffily insists on the accented "e"), the Wraith pulled a name from corporate history and eventually supplanted the Phantom. Unlike its predecessor, the enormous grand tourer rides on a platform derived from that of the F07 BMW 7-series sedans.

The clear, oddly shaped headlight lenses on this Midnight Sapphire example tell us it's a 2017-2023 model, after the modest facelift. Earlier ones had rectangular lenses.

Motor Trend tested a 2014 car and claimed the 624 horsepower twin-turbo 6.6L V-12 would launch this rolling landmass to sixty in a mere 4.1 seconds and dispatch the quarter in 12.5 at a buck-fourteen. More impressively, the brakes would stop Rolls's two-door leviathan in only 109 feet from sixty, which must feel like driving into a sand dune.

I was tooling down 54th Street in Indianapolis back in August of 2021 when I noticed this beast in the parking lot at the American Legion hall, so I swung in to get photos with the little Nikon D3000 in the passenger seat.

Notice the Rolls logo is upright on all four center caps? Yeah, they don't spin. I have to replace a couple little roundel center caps on the Zed Drei every few years when they get bounced loose on Indy's bomb-cratered streets. Fortunately the plastic caps on the Bimmer are cheap. I should start keeping a spare or two in the trunk. Hopefully the ones on the Roller are more secure, since a set of four that claim to be OEM goes for seven bills on Amazon.