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'Rich Kid of Instagram' victim of supercar arsonists

A 19-year-old in the UK is smarting after the possibility that his prolific social media use may be at the heart of four family-owned supercars going up in flames in barely a week. Aleem Iqbal has thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram paying attention to his frequent posts about the high-priced cars he's driving. He's even been featured on the Tumblr page Rich Kids of Instagram. It appears that some people might not be so smitten with him, though.
According to his Twitter profile, Iqbal owns Platinum Executive Travel, a luxury car rental company in the England, and UK newspaper The Telegraph claims the company is also owned by Iqbal's father. On June 6, cameras caught three hooded men setting fire to a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster leased by the company for a wedding. A few days later, two Audi R8 Spyders and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur from Platinum also got the torch, and two men were caught on camera setting the blaze. Nobody was hurt in either of the attacks, and the Aventador appeared to be repairable with the fire causing most damage to the passenger seat and dashboard. Police are still investigating both of the crimes.
According to The Telegraph, Iqbal believes that the arsons could have stemmed from jealousy towards him and his family's business. Regardless, setting fire to a bunch of cars that are likely insured isn't a great way to show displeasure.

Audi to abandon CVTs?

The continuously variable transmission is one of those technologies that seems to make a lot of sense on paper, but in reality, almost always numbs the driving experience. That's one reason why Audi, according to reports, is planning to phase them out.
One of the first automakers to implement use of the CVT, Audi mates CVTs to larger engines than many other manufacturers, which typically install them on scooters, hybrids and small-displacement hatchbacks. But the time of the Audi CVT (which it calls Multimatic) may be near its end as a report from Australia indicates that Ingolstadt is moving toward a two-gearbox lineup that does not include the rubber-band transmission.
Instead, Audi is said to be focusing its attention on the S-tronic dual-clutch transmission and on conventional torque-converter automatics - although the development of beefier DCTs could spell the end of the Audi slushbox, as well. We've reached out to Audi for comment, so watch this space for confirmation.

Audi R8 LMX has frickin' lasers for headlights

It might look like just another Audi R8, but Ingolstadt tells us this one is different: it is the limited edition Audi R8 LMX (click image above to enlarge) with laser-enhanced LED high-beam headlights. Audi introduced the laserlight technology on its R18 E-tron Quattro LMP1 race car and then promised a production version of it at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The eyes on the R8 LMX employ the same method when traveling above 37.3 miles per hour, utilizing a tiny laser module in each headlight that, after conversion to white light, can throw a beam about 1,640 feet down the road.
Because no one should ever stop at lasers, buyers of the limited-to-99 examples of the R8 LMX will also get a more powerful engine, with 570 horsepower erupting from the mid-mounted V10; that's ten more horses than came with the R8 V10 GT introduced last year, but the 0-62 mile-per-hour time hasn't budged from 3.4 seconds. It comes in coupe form only, dressed in Ara Blue paint with carbon accents all around, exclusive wheels, red brake calipers, and a black Nappa leather interior with contrasting blue bits.
The order book is open now, and deliveries will begin this summer for those willing to lay down 210,000 euros for the privilege of using one of Superman's powers for good, as standard (the BMW i8 has laser-equipped high beams, but as an option). We won't see them here, though, for as with Matrix Beam lighting and Audi's sequential turn signals, US laws forbid such shenanigans. The press release below has more info.