Mysteriously burnt Audi revealed to be V10 RS8
The phrase "580-HP twin-turbo V10" is hot enough to raise the temperature of any sports car enthusiast. And as sad photos of flambeed Audis have attested, without glacial cooling it's also hot enough to turn Audi RS8 test mules into fireworks.
When we first wrote about the burned out Audi R8 in the picture above, we mentioned scuttlebutt saying it was a test mule. Now, Quattro GmbH director Werner Frowein reveals that it was indeed an RS8 test mule, and that the problem was specifically due to the turbos of its V10 powerplant getting too hot in the mid-engined layout. Based on the best translation we can find of the Dutch article, Frowein says (or at least we think he says) that putting the twin-turbo V10 in the R8 is out of the question, and that they are instead working on a normally-aspirated V10 with a little more than 500 HP.
[Source: Paul Tan]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mad max 1:30PM (1/30/2008)
audi is a dkw they should have bought a subaru.
that whould not have caught fire.... lol
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Allan 2:01PM (11/27/2007)
Did someone forget to close their bold tag?
Test mule or not... poor, poor car.
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Luis 2:04PM (11/27/2007)
Yet another volkswagen catches fire...
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Kevin 2:07PM (11/27/2007)
That picture, that car, and that audi badge are proof why German engineering is now a days considered crap.
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zamafir 2:44PM (11/27/2007)
crap? really? the R8? when was the last time you drove one? who exactly considers audi crap? Certainly not anyone in Europe, their primary market. Certainly not the purchasing public in north America where Audi shows considerable growth every single quarter? Certainly not the automotive press who cant stop gushing over the R8.
Though I would like to thank you for that sophomoric comment, it brought a smile and a chuckle to my face, the assertion that a test mule should some how connote final build quality, and that an entire brand who has made unbelievable strides the last two decades should some how be dismissed, lmao. Good one. Keep the sardonic/sophomoric troll comments rolling from under that bridge of yours.
R 2:58PM (11/27/2007)
Wow, that's a nice sweeping bold statement based on a test mule. So what isn't considered crap? If you're going to consider failures in test mules, then every brand probably is.
Kevin 10:08PM (11/27/2007)
Eww, so I live under a brdige, am a mental midget, sadonic/sophmoric speaker.
lol
Peter 3:15PM (11/28/2007)
Audis are like potato chips. Once you brake them you can never put the back. HA HA HA!!!
@ ZAMAFIR
Audis in europe and north America are still consider wannabe BMWs
inCore 6:10PM (11/28/2007)
As said on Top Gear:
People who buy a BMW would buy a turd with the BMW badge on it.
I don't mind BMWs, they are good cars but setting them superior to Audis just doesn't work. Most people either belong to the BMW, Audi or Mercedes fan-club and are foolishly blinded by their own biased illusion.
Don't lecture about things which you have no idea about.
LOs 2:10PM (11/27/2007)
Another? It's a re-has of a past article?
And it's a test mule. and exactly the reason they aren't putting it on the road, I would hardly put the entire reputation of German Engineering on the shoulders of one mule.
And yes I once owned a VW Corrado, so I know how they like fire and other unexpected niceties.
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BILL 2:47PM (11/27/2007)
Germany is still using mules? Do they have mule lanes bordering their roads? What happens when a Porsche hits a mule? Ugh, I do not want to know................................
Alex 2:15PM (11/27/2007)
i'm kind of surprised they are not looking for ways to cool the turbos with additional air ducting or some sort of coolant. then again its not like they just got hot and broke.
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nagmashot 2:37PM (11/27/2007)
http://img269.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1903iw2.jpg
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/1087/img1914tn3.jpg
http://images.fotopic.net/ykc54g.jpg
Corvetts on fire...
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srivendel 2:52PM (11/27/2007)
It's Corvette, with an "e" at the end, genius.
nagmashot 2:54PM (11/27/2007)
who cares if with or without..it burns like a R8 testmule
nagmashot 2:42PM (11/27/2007)
Several newer Honda CR-V catching fire..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5403348/
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zamafir 2:47PM (11/27/2007)
They have been. I'm very surprised for two reasons. First and foremost, why a biturbo v10? Why not a biturbo 4.2l? We've already seen the performance potential of such a set up, and the weight would be less significant then a bi turbo V10.
Secondly, and most importantly, was it gas, or diesel? Audi's been quite clear the only reason they haven't seriously contemplated dropping the V12 derived from the R10 in the car is due to cooling issues, now this? I'm still curious if this engine in the mule was in-fact petrol.
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Paul Tan 3:01PM (11/27/2007)
it was the gasoline v10 twin turbo because the article specifically said from the RS6
zamafir 3:15PM (11/27/2007)
Gotcha, thanks!
nagmashot 2:48PM (11/27/2007)
Toyota recalls 54,000 vehicles because of engine problems that led to at least two fires in cars left parked with their engines running, Japan's Transport Ministry said Thursday
http://www.autospies.com/news/Toyota-Recalls-54-000-Japanese-Vehicles-For-Spontaneous-Combustion-10091/
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