Audi uber alles at 150 mph on German autobahn

I'm going in excess of 100 miles per hour when I glance in my rearview mirror. A police van is behind me. I step on the accelerator — yes, accelerator. Yet, it's still getting closer.

How fast does the ultra-exclusive, $200,150 Audi R8 GT go, anyhow? Quick enough to beat a police van. I send the speedometer needle even farther to the right.

I'm still abiding the law, as I'm on a stretch of German autobahn without a speed limit. But apparently the local constabulary thinks I'm not hustling enough as the van passes me.

I've just left Munich airport and am heading 350 miles northwest to the town of Nurburg. I've got to be there by early evening. I could have flown, but this way I can see the German countryside and experience the rarest of delights: highway driving in a supercar without speed restrictions.

Google Maps tells me it should take just over five hours. Yeah, right.

And what a ride the GT is: the newest and rarest version of Audi's mid-engine uber-car, the R8. Only 333 of the GT model will be sold worldwide, with 90 headed to the U.S. Each has its number inscribed on the top of the metal gear shift. Mine says 0, as it's a pre-production car.

As is often the case with making a supercar a bit more super, Audi has used carbon fiber to lighten loads, losing some 180 pounds, and the engine gets an extra 35 horsepower for a total of 560.

The GT looks similar to the $150,000 R8 5.2, but it has an even more savage rear end and aerodynamic changes improving downforce, keeping the car glued to the road at airplane speeds.

Those last modifications most interest me on the autobahn. The only downside is the quick math needed to translate kilometers per hour to mph in my European test car.

It's outfitted with a racing package, an option unavailable on U.S.-bound models. This includes a racing-red, four-point safety harness rather than regular seatbelts, a roll-cage between the roof and rear window and a fire extinguisher tucked into the passenger footwell.

I wonder if it would be discomfiting to other drivers if I wore a racing helmet to complete the look?

The upright sport seat adjusts little and doesn't recline. Fortunately it fits my body better than a tailored Hugo Boss suit, with my arms at the perfect angle.

Also lucky that I'm alone, as my backpacks occupy the passenger seat. The 5.2 liter V-10 engine lives behind the driver, so there's no rear trunk, and the hood's front storage compartment is small. That's what FedEx is for — you can race against your luggage.

Kilometers to Miles | Metric Conversion Calculators

A mile is a unit of length, commonly used in the United States and the United Kingdom. The international standard symbol for mile is mi , but in everyday usage (like miles per hour – mph) is used shorten version m. Depending on the yard definition conversions of the mile to SI units can be different. The “international mile” of 1,760 international yards is exactly 1,609.344 meters.

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