(Mon 30 Nov 09)

The Autonomous Audi TTS Coupé is a prototype which differs from all production TTs in various ways, the most obvious being that it can drive itself.

Self-driving technology is not unknown within the Volkswagen Group, but the Autonomous Audi is being prepared for a number of tough challenges in 2010, one of which may be a drive up the 12.42-mile Pike's Peak hillclimb course in Colorado. This would not be a competitive run, and it would be separate from the annual hillclimb event, but if the car can get to the top without falling off the side of the mountain it would still be quite an achievement.

The eventual aim of all this is not to produce a car that customers would not have to - or be able to - drive themselves. As Dr Burkhard Huhnke of the Volkswagen Group Electronics Research Laboratory explains, "We believe that developing a car that can perform as well and respond as rapidly as a 'professional' driver, like a race or rally driver, will eventually be able to drive its way around incidents in a way that a 'normal' driver couldn’t.

"While a less experienced driver may freeze or make the wrong correction, the Autonomous TTS would be able to take over or guide the driver to escape from a critical situation. It could also compensate if a driver is inattentive to conditions or distracted but of course, it won't prevent all accidents."

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