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In honour of the company’s tenth 24 Hours of Le Mans title, Audi UK has just announced the arrival of its R8 V8 Limited Edition. Restricted to just 100 examples, the R8 V8 Limited Edition comes with titanium finished 19-inch R8 GT alloys (covering red brake calipers), and is available in any of the metallic and pearl effects usually offered as an option – for no extra price – unless the owner chooses this special Titanium Metallic paintwork.

Inside, there’s contrasting crimson red accents on the Black Fine Nappa Leather-upholstered seats and headrests, Sat Nav, the Audi Music Interface (AMI), and a premium Bang and Olufsen sound system.

Audi’s magnetic ride suspension comes as standard, but the carbon pack – including carbon sideblades, door mirrors, inlays and door sill trims will cost you a few more pennies.

Speaking of pennies, the R8 V8 Limited Edition is available to order from July, starting at £93,935 OTR. Deliveries begin in October.

[Source: Audi]

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Motor Trend heads out to the test track in Audi’s hardcore R8 GT model to see if it has what it takes to battle the world’s top supercars. With 100kg shaved off the weight of the regular R8 – and a 35PS power upgrade, the GT hits 62mph in 3.6 seconds, 124mph in 10.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 199mph – where conditions permit. (more…)

Rolls-Royce has been conducting thermal tests on its Phantom Experimental Electric prototype, the 102EX. The Phantom Experimental Electric (EE) spent a week at Warwickshire’s MIRA1 research centre, with engineers monitoring it to see how it copes in varying conditions, ahead of its world tour.

Amazingly, the EE’s 96 cells can cope temperatures as high as 500C, which will be handy for when it visits the likes of Dubai and Los Angeles later this year. Before that it will be appearing at the 2011 Festival of Speed this weekend, even taking part in a hillclimb or two on Thursday.

[Source: Rolls-Royce]

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Ahead of its début at the 2013 Monte Carlo Rally, Volkswagen will not only be developing and perfecting its 300 hp Polo R WRC car, but assessing prospective pilots for the Baby VW rally car.

The Volkswagen team will be taking part in selected rallies throughout 2011 to gain valuable experience, borrowing a machine from elsewhere in the Volkswagen brand – a 270 hp Škoda Fabia S2000 SWRC car – to give potential future drivers a chance to shine.

Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen has stated that, apart from established WRC stars, the team would be willing to take on younger drivers – if they impressed him under competitive conditions, saying: “It would be great if we could find a new Walter Röhrl or Michèle Mouton using this approach.”

The first event will be next month’s Finland Rally, with the team running two cars; the first driven by 22-year-old Andreas Mikkelsen, and the second by 26-year-old Joonas Lindroos.

Good luck guys!

[Source: Volkswagen Motorsport]

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Following on from the superb ‘Walls’ promo for its 1 Series M Coupé, BMW has just released a follow-up that’ll have any vertigo sufferers reaching for the sick bag. Filmed on top of the world’s highest helipad, you have to wonder why the driver bothered with a helmet… (more…)

Along with six partners, Volkswagen is conducting a fleet study in electric mobility. Based around the use of twenty Golf Variant twïnDRIVE models, the project will run until June 2012. Thanks to its plug-in hybrid drive drivetrain, the Golf is capable of travelling up to 57 km (35 m) purely on electrical power, and for further distance its small internal combustion engine provides for a total range of around 900 km (558 m).

Cleverly, the driver can program the car (via the radio-navigation system) to utilise the E-motor – purely for city driving, but switch to the internal combustion engine when enhanced performance is required.

According to plans by the federal government, by 2020, Germany’s number of pure electric vehicles will have reached one million units.

[Source: Volkswagen]

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