Autonomous Audi RS7 Sportback to take on Hockenheim

Audi will run its self-driven RS7 Sportback on the 4.5km Hockenheim GP track in Germany. With this, Audi is aiming to prove how far driverless car technologies have come.

According to fastestlaps.com, the Audi R8 4.2 FSI quattro has the fastest time among all the Audi cars that have tried to tackle the track, clocking the full circuit at 2m65s back in 2006. The German car manufacturer expects the driverless RS7 Sportback to make it to the finish line in just over the two minute mark on the stopwatch, which is as good as it being driven by a professional racing driver.

The RS7 is powered by a turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 direct-injection petrol engine producing 552bhp and 71.33kgm of torque. Official performance figures point to a 0-100kph sprint time of 3.9 seconds, and a top speed of 250kph.

This is not the first time that Audi is portraying its driverless technologies; Audi had shown a specially designed TTS rally car which tackled the notorious Pikes Peak hillclimb. The autonomous RS7 will be shown off during the season finale of the German Touring Car Championship on October 19.