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Audi R8 LMS GT4 debuts in New York, a ready-made race car

The new Audi R8 LMS GT4 race car has made its debut at this year's New York Auto Show. Since 2009, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 has been available for customer purchase, but this new model is intended to be even more affordable. LMS GT-class racing is some of the most entertaining out there. Unlike racing series such as Formula 1, NASCAR, or even the World Rally Championship, GTE, GT3, and GT4 cars are still based heavily on cars you can find on dealer lots today. The GT4 class was created to have a true entry-level racing series. Homologation keeps the cars closer to their production counterparts than any of the other GT classes. Engines, bodywork, and suspension are all similar to production versions, though substantially beefed up for racing. In the case of the Audi R8 LMS GT4, more than 60 percent its parts are shared with the R8 coupe. That means parts are plentiful and relatively affordable. There are some significant changes between the production and racing versions. First, the V10 in the road car is actually far more powerful. The R8 LMS GT4 is limited to 495 horsepower, though that can vary slightly to meet different regulations. Also, rather than having Audi's wonderful Quattro all-wheel drive system, the R8 LMS GT4 is rear-wheel drive. Power is sent to the wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Though the car is set to make its debut next month at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, it won't actually be competing until the start of the 2018 season. Audi is simply tuning the car at different tracks before asking for approval at the end of the year. Pricing hasn't been announced, but expect it to fall between the $145,000 of the RS3 LMS and the $450,000 of the R8 LMS GT3. That's not nothing, but in the world of professional racing, it's a relative bargain. Related Video:

Notes from day one of the Rolex 24 at Daytona

We came to Daytona Beach, Florida where you can drive on the beach, gun shops outnumber doughnut shops and you can putt-putt and fish for alligators at the same place. But we're not here for any of that - we've made the trip with Audi in order to experience the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first race in the 2013 Grand-Am season and the only 24-hour race in America.
Three teams are racing four Audi R8 Grand-Am cars - WeatherTech Racing, Rum Bum Racing and APR, which is running two cars. Shown to the world two years ago, the R8 Grand-Am is part of Audi Sport's R8 LMS customer racing program that was commenced in 2008, and ever since 2009 has been nabbing success all over the world: In four years it has taken 154 victories and 17 series titles. That is with less than 100 cars sold to customers throughout the world, and the trophies - either class wins or overall victories - have been gathered from all of the major endurance races except one: Daytona.

Hydrogen could deliver one fifth of world carbon cuts by 2050, industry says

BONN, Germany — Increasing the use of hydrogen in power, transport, heat and industry could deliver around one fifth of the total carbon emissions cuts needed to limit global warming to safe levels by mid-century, a report by the Hydrogen Council said on Monday. To encourage industries to use hydrogen, Toyota and Air Liquide helped set up the Hydrogen Council, a global lobby launched in January this year. Its 27 members include automakers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Honda and Hyundai, and energy firms such as Shell and Total. The council said using hydrogen for transport, energy generation, energy storage, industry, heat and power could cut annual carbon emissions by 6 billion tonnes by 2050. "This would ... contribute roughly 20 percent of the additional abatement required to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius," the council said in a report released on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Bonn. To achieve a two-degree limit this century agreed by governments in Paris in 2015, the world must reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2050. The report said one in 12 cars sold in California, Germany and Japan were expected to be powered by hydrogen by 2030. By 2050, hydrogen could power 400 million cars, 15 million to 20 million trucks, around 5 million buses, a quarter of passenger ships and a fifth of non-electrified train tracks, as well as some airplanes and freight ships. Achieving this shift in transport and other sectors would require investment of $280 billion by 2030, with about $110 billion to fund hydrogen output, $80 billion for storage, transport and distribution, and $70 billion to develop products. Fuel cell vehicles combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power an electric motor, producing water as a byproduct. However, making hydrogen from fossil fuels, a common route, also produces some greenhouse gas emissions. So far the take-up of hydrogen vehicles is tiny and industry experts say their wider use is years away, with high purchase prices and a lack of refueling stations the major barriers. But some firms, such as miner Anglo American and carmaker Toyota, are pushing for fuel cell cars to play a role even with the rise of battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). Woong-chul Yang, vice chairman of automotive research and development at Hyundai said EVs and hydrogen fuel cell cars were needed because EVs were better for city driving and fuel cell vehicles better for longer journeys.