Audi A4 news - Biogas A4 hits 227mph - 2009

An Audi A4 has set a world record for a biogas-fuelled car, hitting 227mph in the hands of German racer Jurgen Hohenester.

That's really quite quick, especially for a car that looks even duller than the standard A4, if that's possible. Just check out those flush wheel trims and the blocked-off front grille: all for aero, of course, but you'd hardly pick it as a 200mph-plus car if it swept past you on the M6, would you?

But the silvery saloon is powered by Audi's twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, modified to run on compressed biogas and putting out a frankly loony 700bhp.

That's thanks in part to sheer amount of bang in biogas, which has an octane rating of as much as 140, er, octanes. Hohenester says that, running on biogas, the engine is capable of developing over 800bhp, but his team had to turn down the wick a few notches to stop the Audi's gearbox from going ‘pop' in quite a spectacular way.

Still, 227 isn't to be sniffed at. Hohenester beat the previous record, held by Bugatti, by a full 9mph. We've smelt the future, and that smell is gas...