The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship has been won by Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes powered McLaren. The tile was decided on the last corner of the last race in a season that has seen exciting racing and its fair share of controversy.

Mercedes weren't the only German manufacturer to taste the champagne this season, BMW managed their first F1 win as a manufacturer.

Final championship positions (top 10)

1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
5 Fernando Alonso Renault
6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
7 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
8 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9 Jarno Trulli Toyota
10 Timo Glock Toyota

Audi S4

The latest 333PS incarnation of the Audi S4 is due into dealers from March 2009 onwards. Using a new forced induction 3 litre V6 petrol engine performance should be in the region of 0-62 in 5.2 seconds for the Estate and 5.1 seconds for the (lighter) Saloon. Consumption and emissions should be lower than the current model. Prices in the UK should be around £42,000.

Mercedes E Class

Geneva Motorshow 2009 will see the launch of the new Mercedes E Class (W212), the AMG saloon is due to follow closely on from the standard modle, the Estate will be another 10 or so months later.
As with every new Mercedes {link} model the new E Class will be larger, the wheel base is around 2cm longer, and better equipped. Knee airbags, traffic sign display and tiredness monitor are all available as are a range of new petrol and diesel engines. As Mercedes move away from superchargers back to turbochargers all the 4 cylinder engines petrol will be turbocharged whilst the range topping V6 & V8 engines will undergo minor enhancement ~ aimed at improving economy mainly. New to the E Class will be the 2.2 twin turbo diesel engine plus a V6 too.
With square front lamps and modified rear lamps the new E Class will immediately look different to the out going model, its styling is drawn from both the C and S Class.

DKR Porsche 997 TT

For those who want more from their 997 Turbo DKR are offering 2 stages of upgrade; 525PS and 540PS. Achieved through chip tuning, air filter and a 4 pipe exhaust system the DKR upgrades improve total performance, top speed and torque as well as power are all raised.
To compliment their power upgrades DKR {link} have also developed their own rear wing and front spoiler. They use H&R suspension and Cargraphic {link} wheels (8½x19” front & 11½x19” rear) to help control all the extra power.
Prices for the kits start at around £4600.

VW briefly becomes the world's biggest firm

Astounding German stock market {link} activity on Tuesday the 28th of October 2008 briefly made Volkswagen {link} the world's biggest company (by share value).
Traders who had short-sold VW shares were desperately trying to buy them back so they could close their deals and this, in conjunction with Porsche having bought shares, made Volkswagen worth a staggering $370 billion (shares peaked at €1,005 each). The largest firm in the world is (in reality) Exxon Mobil with a value of $343 billion.
Porsche {link} announced that it owned, or has options to buy, more than 74% of Volkswagen's shares whilst Lower Saxony controls 20% of the VW shares which left just over 5% available on the market. This scarcity was the factor that fuelled the huge increase in VW’s (paper) value. Traders who had short sold, betting that VW shares were going to fall in value were forced to buy shares at any price resulting in the massive hike in VW’s share price (their shares rose a stunning 146.6% on the 27th October 2008).
Volkswagen shares and company value have seen a return to normal, less astounding levels with shares now trading at around €650 instead of over €1000 as they were at points on Volkswagen’s Super Tuesday.

Audi 1 & 2 in season finale.

Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr lead home their Audi team mates Emanuele Pirro and Christijan Albers as the Bavarian manufacturer took victory and second overall in the American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca.

Excellent strategy and the sheer power of the R10 TDI away from restarts helped the Audis move into the lead after qualifying down on the 5th row of the grid. Once in the read they did not relinquish it.
Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr dominated the ALMS {link} championship, finishing on a total of 219 points (each) with fellow Audi driver Emanuele Pirro finishing second with a mere 156 points.

Irmscher Opel / Vauxhall Insignia

The Opel / Vauxhall Insignia has yet to reach dealer’s showrooms and yet reknown GM tuners Irmscher {link} are already offering a range of styling products for it!
Ranging from the traditionally styled Irmscher cross hatch front grille (either in black or stainless steel) to side skirts, front spoiler and rear spoiler. Also available are a range of alloy wheels in a variety of sizes (up to a maximum diameter of 20”) finishes and designs plus a suspension kit that should lower the Insignia approximately 20mm.
Also in the pipeline but not available at the launch of the Insignia are a rear diffuser and twin exit exhaust system.

Carlsson Mercedes CK63S

Carlsson’s CK63S is a refinement and optimisation of the AMG C63. With some careful extra tuning the C63’s V8 produces a maximum torque of 685Nm and 565PS.
Having added 100PS to the AMG C63 through mechanical and electrical alterations Carlsson {link} have also uprated the suspension, which is now fully height adjustable as well as fitting an adjustable rear differential to cope with the new found performance. Keeping the car in contact with the road are bigger, wider wheels ~ 8½ x 19” on the front and 10 x 19” on the rear.
Externally Carlsson offer a new front spoiler and spoiler lip as well as a rear boot spoiler ~ all available in carbon or plastic.
The AMG C63 is no slouch but after the Carlsson CK63S treatment 0-62mph takes a mere 3.8 seconds and (thanks to removal of the limiter) top speed is around 185mph; figures that are impressive for such a large car.