By Bill Buys - Community Newspaper Group motoring editor
THE German police don’t mess about.
They’ve just shown their latest pursuit car, probably the world's fastest, at the Essen Motor Show.
The already stove-hot Audi R8 GT-R has been fettled by German tuner ABT Sportsline, which upped the power of the standard 5.2litre V10 from 400 to 450kW.
Also, 100kg was shaved from the R8’s weight by replacing the bonnet, front and rear aprons, rear wing, tailgate, exterior mirrors and door panelling with carbon fibre.
The car runs on Hankook Ventus S1 evo ultra-high performance tyres, speed-rated for the Audi's 325km/h capability, and its suspension has been uprated by ABT Sportsline with an all-aluminium coil-over set-up.
More than law enforcement, the R8 GT-R police car is also part of a public awareness campaign by the German Transport Department and the nation’s automobile tuning association.
The campaign encourages German enthusiasts who modify their cars with after-market products to do so within safe and legal limits.
Hankook has partnered the campaign since 2005, when it was begun by police in response to a massive increase in the number of shoddy and potentially dangerous tuning products entering European markets.