It may be the case that Audi's foray into the midtacular* world of mid-engine cars won't end with the new R8 super sports car. German outlet Autobild claims that Audi is considering a smaller mid-engine sports car called the R4 that would obviously make life a little harder for the Porsche Cayman and Boxster. It's also claiming that Audi may revive the rear/mid-engine NSU TT, the car after which the current TT was named. The original NSUs were much like the European version of the Corvair, featuring rear-mounted air-cooled four- and two-cylinder engines. The hotted up version was, of course, called the NSU TT. It's hard to tell through the garbled Google translation how solid any of this information is, but we're certain the success of Audi's mid-engine R8 will play into Ingolstadt's future product plans. *"midtacular" on loan from Comedy Central and The Daily Show / The Colbert Report. We have to give it back before tonight's episodes.
[Source: Autobild via German Car Blog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peter @ Nov 9th 2006 5:05PM
Oh please oh please! I'd love an NSU tt. The old ones are Imp-tastic. ;)
DPC car videos @ Nov 9th 2006 5:26PM
Very nice, hope we see this in the United States.
Kamil @ Nov 9th 2006 5:26PM
Didn't NSU have rotary engines? Some of them maybe?
Robert Brodrecht @ Nov 9th 2006 5:32PM
@ Kamil
You beat me to the punch. NSU was the first company to mass produce rotary engine cars (and I believe Felix Wankel, the inventor of the rotary engine, worked with them before). According to some quick research, the Ro80 was released in the late 60s with a rotary engine that wasn't quite ready for prime time. The Ro80 apparently left a bad taste in consumer's mouthes for the rotary engine because this particular 100 HP one-litre engine was very unreliable.
corsa @ Nov 9th 2006 5:34PM
Wow, that rendering of the NSU TT is awesome! There are more than a few styling hints of the early (1960-64) Corvair bodystyle. Build it!
Armen @ Nov 9th 2006 6:26PM
Hey guys, think this may be part of the reason that Porsche is trying to assert control over VW and Audi? Although Audi's sales in the US don't yet reflect it, I think that Audi's line-up is one of the strongest of the Euro up-market players and continues to get broader and stronger. Maybe they're getting a little too close for comfort to the segments that Porsche is or wants to be dabbling in.
Tiago do Vale @ Nov 9th 2006 7:23PM
Well, there are news on a small Bugatti... and there was the Ecoracer and Concept R, from VW. Also news from a Seat Tango... They all could share a platform with this R4, no need for an NSU.
But what about the KTM project with Audi? Isn't is in the same area? Something isn't quite right.
Howard Kerr @ Nov 9th 2006 8:41PM
Strange, every book or source I can find calls the NSU TT a REAR-engined car. Also, the TT was a version of the small NSU sedan.
The "bigger" NSU sedan, the RO 80 debutted in '67 and was the first Wankel powered SEDAN, it was introduced AFTER the NSU WANKEL(powered) Spider...a small roadster with a 1 chamber rotary engine. The RO 80 was done in by a poor design to it's rotary "lobe" end seals (actually, poor metallurgy). The engines turned to sieves in under 10,000 miles and NSU was forced to keep replacing them...until they ran out of money.
NSU was later absorbed by Audi/VW.
M. @ Nov 10th 2006 2:32AM
#5: The original Prinz/TT already had some styling hints to the Corvair:
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_Prinz
I love these cars. I went to mechanics school in Neckarsulm and there where air cooled twins as well as rotary engines in very corner.
Audi R8 @ Nov 10th 2006 5:12AM
It would be interesting to see if Audi takes a wait and see approach on the R4 until after the R8 is released and they find out if they have a hit on their hands or not.
I think they have a large hit, it is unfortunate that they are limited the UK production to only 400 units, doesnt seem NEAR enough to me.
http://www.r8talk.com
Admriral Ackbar @ Nov 10th 2006 2:17PM
I have a fully restored NSU Prinz (not a rotary engine) in the family. It really is a wonderful little rear engined car. Looks like you could drive it frontwards or backwards.