THE most powerful series production Audi in history will cost from £119,500 when it hits UK streets towards the end of this year.

That tab is for the 540PS R8 V10 'standard' model, while the 610PS V19 Plus flying machine will carry a label of £137,500.

When performance Audi fans put their deposits down in May when the order book opens they will be able to look forward to a car capable of blasting past the 200mph mark.

It is the second generation of the R8 mid-engined sports car and has been newly developed from the ground up.

The flagship Plus version can scorch from 0-62 in 3.2 seconds and on to a potential top speed of 205mph, its power transmitted to the road via a seven-speed S tronic transmission and a newly developed quattro all-wheel drive system.

Yet despite extra equipment and greater rigidity, the R8 V10 plus variant weighs up to 50 kilograms less than its predecessor.

Inside the Audi virtual cockpit, where the displays are digital, the principal controls are grouped together in button clusters - which Audi calls satellites - on the steering wheel.

The driver is given the impression of sitting in a racing car and MMI navigation plus with MMI touch is standard.

Audi says the second generation R8 will form the basis for more models, like electric supercar the R8 e-tron with its 462PS of punch and 0-62 time of 3.9 seconds.

Courtesy of new battery cells, its range could be more than doubled compared to the first version of the car, which now exceeds 280 miles.

Audi's technical chief Dr Ulrich Hackenberg said: "With the new Audi R8, our engineers are bringing accumulated racing expertise from the race track onto the road. No other model of ours evokes more dynamic emotion.

"The new R8 V10 plus is the most powerful and fastest series-production Audi of all time."