Audi R8 gets first full LED headlamps
Click above for high-res gallery of the Audi R8
The innovative R8 supercar from Audi is now available for the first time with full LED headlamps. In addition to the standard Audi-signature 24-LED running lamps it's always had, this extremely expensive option (£3,590 converts to $7,100 USD) adds LED high and low beam headlamps and LED turn signals to the front fascia of the mid-engine sports car.
The latest craze in automotive lighting, LED bulbs don't utilize a filament like halogen lamps or gas plasma like HID lamps. Instead, they create light from the movement of current across a semi-conductor chip. They are smaller, more vibration resistant, and much more efficient than traditional bulbs. According to Audi, the light from the LEDs has been designed to closely resemble daylight and provides a greater contrast to be easier on the human eye. LED illumination is also designed to last the lifetime of the vehicle. Audi is no stranger to LED lighting - it first introduced a strip-shaped fog lamp at the Detroit Auto Show back in 2003.
Gallery: 2008 Audi R8
[Source: Audi]
Ingolstadt, 2008-05-30
First full-LED headlamp for the Audi R8
- 54 high-performance LEDs provide all lighting functions
- Color similar to daylight offers advantages at night
- Innovative lighting technology as an option
Ingolstadt – Effective immediately, the range of equipment available for the Audi R8 sports car now also includes the first full-LED headlamp. In addition to the daytime running light which now features 24 LEDs per headlamp, light-emitting diodes are also used for the turn signals, the low-beam and the high-beam headlights. The €3,590 option rounds out the list of equipment available for the high-tech, mid-engine sports car.
The earlier launch of LED technology at the front of the car required a waiver by the European Union. The prominent advantages are lower energy consumption and a color that more closely resembles daylight, provides greater contrast and is easier on the human eye. LEDs are also non-wearing, require a lower voltage, are compact and offer greater design freedom.
The new full-LED headlamp represents the pinnacle of Audi's lighting strategy. The use of LEDs already enjoys a long tradition. This innovative technology has previously been used in production vehicles for tail light functions, brake lights and daytime running lights. Since early 2003, Audi has also used the semiconductor technology in a number of concept cars to implement some or all of the lighting functions at the front of the car.
The brand with the four rings first introduced a strip-shaped fog lamp at the Detroit Auto Show in 2003. That same year, the Audi Nuvolari quattro showing the first full-LED headlamp was a highlight of the Geneva Auto Show. And the Le Mans quattro – a legitimate predecessor to the Audi R8 – illuminated the Frankfurt night with LEDs on the eve of the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show.
Additional concept cars and many refinements to the light source and headlamp geometry followed. This technological highlight is now available as an option for the Audi R8, where it joins other very well-known high-tech components such as the aluminum Audi Space Frame, ceramic brakes and the mid-mounted V8 engine with FSI technology.
AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. With revenue of €33,617 million and profit before tax of €2,915 million, the company attained its best figures ever. Audi produces vehicles in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Györ (Hungary), Changchun (China) and Brussels (Belgium). At the end of 2007, production of the Audi A6 started in Aurangabad, India. The company is active in more than 100 markets worldwide. AUDI AG's wholly owned subsidiaries include Lamborghini S.p.A. in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi currently employs around 54,000 people worldwide, including 45,000 in Germany. The brand with the four rings invests more than € 2 billion each year in order to sustain the company's technological lead embodied in its "Vorsprung durch Technik" slogan. Audi plans to significantly increase the number of models in its portfolio by 2015, from the 26 currently on offer to 40.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
pmiddle5 2:04PM (5/30/2008)
ouch.
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jon 7:35PM (5/30/2008)
this price is ridiculous! if they get away with it, it's because people are fooled into thinking that LED headlights are some kind of far-out space-age technology on the bleeding edge of possibility. what a joke.
in reality, you could meet or exceed the output of a 55W halogen headlight for $100 using about 6 of the latest cree xr-e leds. google them if you don't believe me. nighttime bicyclists have been building some crazy lamps out of them and posting good pictures of what they can do. cutter electronics in oz sells the leds mounted on single or clustered aluminum boards, the optics, and the electronics to drive them.
people say they're hard to design because of heat dissipation issues, but that's a load of crap. they don't put out much heat and there's no shortage of airflow in an automotive application. most of these bike lights are just crammed into a metal tube.
Talisman 2:09PM (5/30/2008)
$7100 huh?
I'll stick with my HID's
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Rick 2:53PM (5/30/2008)
Yea, 'cause after dropping $80k, $7k just isn't an option?
Wow, I can't wait to see how these light up at night, very cool.
Talisman 4:28PM (5/30/2008)
The car is significantly more than 80k. Anyway, it would matter to me because I dont buy cars due to their cool gadgets. I but them for function. If I bought an R8, it would be for the performance. And from what I can see so far, LED headlights dont "perform" 7 thousand dollars better than HID's.
R 5:03PM (5/30/2008)
But if you were buying it for strictly performance, then you would have picked the wrong car, cuz there are other quick, but not so luxury vehicles out there. Especially considering the R8 approaches 3500 pounds. Otherwise, for the target market, I don't think $7k is going to be that much.
Vintage 2:10PM (5/30/2008)
You know... I wonder how Audi warranties this feature. Not that they'd burn out, but there are no 'WHITE' LEDs, only blue ones with a phosphorescent coating. When the wattage of LEDs is increased, so does the heat, and this coating of phosphorus slowly burns away faster with more heat, converting less blue light into white light, which makes the LEDs become dimmer, with a more blueish light. If anyone has a superwhite LED about 5 years old that gets used pretty often, it'll be pretty blue by now.
Not only that, I wonder how it's approved? I mean, 10 years from now, when the light is REALLY blue, and you get pulled over for having headlights that aren't putting out the right temperature of light, how do you explain that they're stock?
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epilonious 2:29PM (5/30/2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED#White_LEDs
A long list of the ways to get white light from LED's, including several that do not use phosphorous based coatings.
Hooray Internet. Yee Ha Google.
Caroftheday.org 2:10PM (5/30/2008)
$7,100 for a headlight upgrade? There are a lot of decent cars driving around on the roads right now that are worth less than $7000.
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zamafir 2:12PM (5/30/2008)
do yourself a favor and don't check out the cost of the upgraded brakes :).
CarbonBlack 2:45PM (5/30/2008)
it isn't that expensive when you look at how much the car costs. For simplicity lets say the R8 is $100,000: it is like a $1750 headlight upgrade on a $25,000 car. Not to bad
why not the LS2LS7? 3:14PM (5/30/2008)
There's really only two ways:
1. Use an R, G and B LED together. You then end up with a true LED that won't wear out and is more efficient. But it costs more and is bigger.
2. Use single-color LED behind a white phosphor. In this case you are basically just making an LED-pumped fluorescent lamp. It has the problems fluorescents have, like line spectra light output (mediocre color rendition) and dimming, color shifting and burning out over over time as the phosphors wear out. They are brighter and cheaper though.
#2 is by far the most common and this is why white LEDs are typically not more efficient than HID lamps. HIDs are more efficient than a fluorescent lamp and white phosphor LEDs.
All I can see you get from this package is instant on and much greater shock resistance.
Jvijil 2:12PM (5/30/2008)
thats a lot of cash.....for headlights....
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adrian 2:19PM (5/30/2008)
I agree thats allot of scratch, but think about the base price of the car and the customer who can afford that, is another 7k a big deal at that point? still, damn thats allot of scratch!!!
Jvijil 2:35PM (5/30/2008)
yea i know i thought of that after i posted it....whats another 7k on a 110k car haha
mk 2:27PM (5/30/2008)
but still, what 7% of the car's purchase price?
for a 100k car, to have bragging rights of the only FULL LED headlights on the road...
Not only that, but are they DOT approved, will the US market even see them?
One wonders if there are other ways to add yellow light to blue, to create nearly white... Perhaps prismatic optics combining a yellow and a near-white blue, rather than a heat-susceptible phosphor coating...
For 7k, there is probably more than wholesale LEDs in that array, and more than just a few of them.
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Cary 3:29PM (5/31/2008)
I assume you're rounding up..
6.51%
Still, an option that however "awesome," will probably get very little love on the showroom floor. Unless Audi does what they always do on a limited availability/"special" vehicles, they order the options that they think you'll want most and the ones they think you're least likely to want. Then at that point, it's a "Well, sir, we can order one in to your specifications, but it will take 12 to 16 weeks to get in from the plant. Or, we have this one here that has your selections on it, plus a few other freatures that I think you'll like. Let's take a look."
That's what stopped me from buying the RS4 when it first launched. And once again, I was put off from buying the A8L W12. I want the RS5, but wont get it, because of this typical practice for the Audi dealers in my area.
icu812ru469 2:27PM (5/30/2008)
$7100? Just strap a Suzuki to your roof and use it's headlights also... I'm sure four lights would be brighter than one two LEDs... :p ha ha. But then again, the weight and aerodynamics loss would counteract the "savings..."
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Phil 2:29PM (5/30/2008)
Um, am i missing something. Was it not the ls600h that boasted the first, fully LED headlamps, hence the 3 large projectors in the headlamp housing? If someone is a little more knowledgable in this area, i would appreciate if it were cleared up...
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epilonious 2:31PM (5/30/2008)
I also thought that Escalades were able to get LED headlamps... maybe it's just LED indicators or low power lights ... or maybe they are not out yet.
Hruh.