Audi unveiled the RS 7 Piloted Driving Concept car that will lap the Hockenheim track on October 17 and 19 at racing speed without a driver.

Audi says the prototype is the world’s “sportiest piloted driving car,” with the RS 7 concept to prove that at the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) season finale on the Hockenheimring.

With 560PS (552hp) and a top speed of 305 km/h (189.5 mph), the Audi RS 7 Piloted Driving Concept is not your average autonomous car.

Audi says the prototype is largely identical to the production model, but its electromechanical power steering, the brakes, the throttle valve and the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission that sends power to the quattro all-wheel drive system are controlled automatically.

So how will the RS 7 autonomous prototype know how to stay on the track? The technology platform uses specially corrected GPS signals for orientation on the track. These differential GPS data are accurate down to a centimeter and are transmitted to the vehicle via WLAN according to the automotive standard and redundantly via high-frequency radio.

In addition, 3D camera images are compared in real time against graphical information stored on board. The system searches in each of the countless individual images for several hundred known features, such as building patterns behind the track, which it then uses as additional positioning information.

To demonstrate its capabilities, Audi says the RS 7 Piloted Driving Concept will drive a clean racing line at Hockenheim, with full throttle on the straights, full braking before the corners, precise turn-in and perfectly metered acceleration when exiting the corners. Tests on the Hockenheim track suggested an expected top speed of 240 km/h (149 mph) and a lap time of 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Scroll down to find out more about the Audi prototype from the official video posted below.

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