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Enter the Rumormill: Audi R8 getting twin-turbo V10 from RS6
We see a lot of rumors here at Autoblog, but this one just has to come true. Word around town is that the same engine that powers the 580-hp 5.2L twin-turbo V10 in the recently announced Audi RS6 Avant could also find its way to the back hatch of the Audi R8. We first reported on the possibility of a twin-turbo V10 back in February, and it seems the stat sheet on the RS6 has merely stoked the flames.
With 580 (or more) ponies in tow, the R8 should beat most anything on the road, including its current competition like the Porsche 911 that offers more powerful models in its lineup. Throw in bigger brakes and wheels with a modified suspension, and even the vaunted GT2 should begin to worry.
[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
J.Crew 12:14PM (9/07/2007)
Makes perfect sense to me. What a sweet ride to begin with...and adding this new engine is like throwing gas on a fire!
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zamafir 12:13PM (9/07/2007)
"With 580 (or more) ponies in tow, the R8 should beat most anything on the road, including its current competition like the Porsche 911 that offers more powerful models in its lineup."
Agreed, and troublingly, Lamborghini as well. The R8 already outshines the baby lambo, 911 4s/AMV8 prodrive/M6 (per some small rag named EVO) and is brawney enough to hang with the 911 Turbo, Viper SRT10 and Z06. I think EVO sums it up best:
"But, in the end, purity of purpose and breadth of ability win the day, and no car here – probably none under £100K – expresses the fusion more perfectly than the R8. There are faster supercars, but we can’t think of another currently in production that takes a demanding road apart with quite the surgical precision and cool-browed composure of Audi’s incandescently rapid and hugely desirable R8.
So here’s the answer. It’s one we sometimes doubted we’d ever witness, but, for the good of the supercar’s evolution, it could hardly be better. Audi humbles Porsche. A new dawn starts today."
-EVO
I'm very interrested to see if VAG/Porsche will allow VAG's most profitable car maker (audi) to imbue it's most astonishing car (the R8) with this much power... I'm wagering not.
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James 12:44PM (9/07/2007)
I don't think Porsche cares about staying on top anymore. They only care about the "heritage" of the 911 brand and won't let the Cayman (or any other superior production model platform) surpass it.
Audi has been on a rampage lately. All of their cars are quite desirable (even the Q7!), however, I wonder if the R8s that have caught fire were running with this V10 engine?
CoffeeJones 1:18PM (9/07/2007)
Yeah, it's complicated: Lambo, Audi, and Porsche all under the same roof.
Maybe they'll just keep doing the same thing independent of each other.
I think that while pure performance figures are used in marketing, the buyer with this kind of means has already made his mind up.
No one's cross shopping Gallardo, 911 GT2, and Continental GT (also under the VAG umbrella), even if they're in the $200k range.
Chris 12:45PM (9/07/2007)
If Audi doesn't do it, you can bet ABT or MTM will.
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nagmashot 1:30PM (9/07/2007)
In Germany the R8 plans from Audi are longtime known
R8 basic powered by 4.2l V8 420hp n/a
R8-S powered by the V10 n/a 5.0l from the Gallardo Superleggera with 530hp (information from a german Audi salesmen)
R8-RS powered by the V10TT 5.2l with over 600hp (R8 easy to id by the wider sideintakes the two testmules that catched fire)
Audi completly owns Lamborghini... they don´t car if they kill some Gallardo or even Murcielago sells... to Audi´s understanding the R8 targets more to the German car maker like Mercedes and BMW and of corse Porsch. Porsche don´t need to worry... 911 customers are the most loyal customers in the world. For sure the R8 will NEVER reach selling numbers of a 911... but Audi needs it for good PR.. and all tests agree today that Audi did a very good ob with the R8.
Evotec 12:22PM (9/07/2007)
there goes the gallardo sales...
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Evotec 12:24PM (9/07/2007)
there goes the gallardo sales...
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Js 12:27PM (9/07/2007)
Porsche builds great cars... but as a company I think they are all a pack of sore losers... Porsche has already stated that in their opinion Lambo and Bugatti don't "need" to exist in the VAG group, because Porsche covers the sports car arena already... To me it just sounds like they are jealous of Lambo's looks and fear Bugatti's awesome power... If they hold back further development of Audi (and I don't just mean the R8) it would be really lame on their part. I mean what's wrong with a little competition from time to time ? Isnt that what sports cars are all about ?
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Brad 12:31PM (9/07/2007)
Whoooooah. I do remember reading that the engine in the RS6 is particularly smaller than what a twin turbo'd V10 should be.
Sweet jesus, a 600hp R8......
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Devin 12:58PM (9/07/2007)
With Porsche close to buying out VAG, the question is will they allow Audi to one (or 5) up the Porsche 911? There is already a lot of toe stepping going on at VAG, with the R8 probably taking a lot of Lambo Gallardo and possibly even Muciellago and Veyron sales.
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Nick 1:16PM (9/07/2007)
What would they call it? The RS8? The SR8? I can only assume that Audi wants to put that engine in the A8/S8 as well, so they have an interesting naming problem on their hands.
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thesawzall 1:19PM (9/07/2007)
Hopefully this won't preclude a Diesel like their Le Mans engine.
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toyota_luver 1:36PM (9/07/2007)
And check this out:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/227640/#
The R8 is maving some serious waves with serious cars... My question is why the heck did they wait so long to build an exotic car like this?
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zamafir 2:20PM (9/07/2007)
If you read CAR or EVO frequently, you're privy to a lot of inside power shuffling within the auto industry not necessarily covered by other rags. Part of the RS4's success, and R8s, is a result of Audi AG's deliberate poaching of people from BMW's M division. Also, Audi AG has been building more and more upon their experience since their first RS experiment (awe the RS2, such fond memories I have of that quirky grocery-getter). With Bentley proving to be the most successful luxury marquee (compared to Rolls + Maybach), Bugatti producing the single most exceptionally refined and fast car ever, and Lamborghini consistently turning out great products, it’s little wonder Audi, who’s engineers have contributed to these other marquees success for so long, should finally benefit from all that experience.
While Audi has been considering something like the R8 since back in the AVUS/SportsCoupe, they are VAG's most profitable company and as such are behooved to certain business strategies. It's no small coincidence that their extremely well honed 4.2l finally found it's place in a car like the R8 a short time after the platform (Gallardo) became available. It pretty much appears to be a combination of the right component mix, favorable initial reaction, and easy business case, at the right time.
It's heart warming for people who have grown up on Audis as I have to see them finally competing with the big players in an arena Mercedes and BMW have yet to compete in (While EVO tossed the M6 into the fray for good measure, I'm not sure it is a fair comparison).
Toy Yoda 1:55PM (9/07/2007)
Why not swap in a blown LS7 motor? :) Chances are it will be lighter than the current R8. So it will handle better too.
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mk 3:36PM (9/07/2007)
man, I hope you are kidding. Seriously.
It sounds like sarcasm, but so many people would love the SBC in every car ever built, regardless of brand or purpose, that I have to wonder.
Toy Yoda 4:56PM (9/07/2007)
I'm half kidding. :)
I love the LS7 motor. My friend has a Z06, and I have a BMW 6. After sitting shot gun in a Z06, I wish I could swap in an LS7 motor in my car. Doing so would not only make my car faster, but it would be more agile too.
Ah... to dream.
mk 6:44PM (9/07/2007)
If you are talking about a new-style 6-series....
I am not sure an LS7 is the entire reason that you were impressed. The new 6 is not exactly a featherweight, and a Corvette is a different animal, and probably significantly lighter, as well as more powerful than a non-M6. Fiberglass 2-seater built for performance vs not-small steel 2+2 build for performance and luxury. None of this is news to you, I am sure.
I don't mean to slag the SBC, it wouldn't be more than 50 years old if it were a bad engine. It's longevity and current state of tune is a testament. But there are a lot of other engines out there, and most are much newer designs, and most don't use pushrods, for better or for worse. But it remains that there is more to life than pushrods and a wide cylinder bore.
A big block american V8 mid engined high-dollar sports car sounds more like a Saleen S7, and less like an Audi R8. The R8 is absolutely cutting edge in nearly every respect, and a 50 year old engine just doesn't seem to fit the part, despite it's admittedly positive qualities.
I think that even the R8 with the small-displacement V8 sounds just fine to me. Turbos, or additional cylinders, or both are better, sure. But there is something about a modern high-revving naturally aspirated multi-valve V8... just seems like a lot of fun in a sports car with not a lot of extra heft to push around, and tuned for driving purity. A 6+ liter V8 seems like more muscle than balance, and extra bragging rights for displacement than really well-suited amounts of power to me, especially in the R8's class of cars.
The turbo V10 in this article seems to be on the verge of that, too. Bragging rights for the sake of bragging rights, over what is truly balanced and appropriate for the car. The car may be able to handle it, but there are a lot of cars that become a handful for the driver with prodigious amounts of power. A bunch of wrecked Enzos would seem to solidify that point. Ferrari didn't under-engineer the car, but that doesn't say that the driver can handle it well.
I like the F430, and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage for much the same reasons as the V8 R8, and even the Porsche 911, although not a V8 or even the 6 being in the "right" place.
They aren't king of the horsepower hill like the Veyron (gratuitous, more for the sake of more, IMHO), or the Enzo, LP460, McLaren Mercedes, and other top-bracket cars, but the V8 european sports cars are still far above most cars on the road, and beautiful and balanced machines inside and out, technically, and aesthetically.
naggs 6:11PM (9/08/2007)
too bad its awd
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