Spy Shots: Audi preparing lightweight, track-focused R8 V10?
by Noah Joseph on Aug 11th 2009 at 10:27AM 
First came the R8. Then came the race-spec R8 LMS. Then the V10-powered R8 5.2 FSI, with the roadster version waiting in the wings. The diesel version may have been canceled, but now Audi is said to be working on a light-weight, track-focused version of its flagship supercar.Test mules for what is believed to be the so-called R8 Sport have been seen lapping the Nürburgring (where else?) with some subtle visual cues to its orientation. With a fixed rear wing and mildly revised ground effects, the lion's share of the modifications would be made under the skin where Audi is tipped to have removed luxuries like the stereo and air-con. A modified exhaust could add a few extra horses while the bulk of improvements to the car's power-to-weight ratio would be borne from the weight reduction.
Although Audi could draw inspiration from the new LP550 Valentino Balboni and jettison the all-wheel-drive system to save weight, following the previous Gallardo Superleggera's formula by keeping it in place would seem more in character for the automaker that staked its claim on Quattro.
[Source: Autocar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
andre1038 10:42AM (8/11/2009)
So basically this new R8 can be called R8-S lol awesome
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Heimbachae 10:47AM (8/11/2009)
correction: R8RS
Zlimness 11:16AM (8/11/2009)
RS8
Redline 12:42PM (8/11/2009)
RSR8?
4ringfan 6:01PM (8/11/2009)
The word is out. R8 GT will be the name, 560hp (+35 on top of the "regular" 5.2 V10)
Danimal 10:41AM (8/11/2009)
If only there was some way for Audi to rape Lamborghini any more?
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zamafir 11:21AM (8/11/2009)
Rape? Audi owns, designs, and builds lamborghini. If it wasn't for Quattro GmbH we wouldn't have any of lamborghini's current products. Audi can do whatever the hell they want, Lamborghini's just a brand in their portfolio like Bugatti and Bentley.
Danimal 11:26AM (8/11/2009)
zamafir: I know they own them. My point is how current Lamborghini's are getting too Audi and now this R8 is getting too Lamborghini.
audi_arena 11:59AM (8/11/2009)
The Lamborghini Buyer is not an Audi buyer. Regardless of how simmilar these cars are in performance, the image is totally different.
... I have been clammering for a more raw R8 for a while, and I think this is a great idea if Audi can make this thing seriously fast...
Danimal 12:12PM (8/11/2009)
audi_arena: "The Lamborghini Buyer is not an Audi buyer." Maybe not yet, but if you extrapolate steps like these they will be eventually.
And I would argue that a Lamborghini buyer is could be an R8 buyer. Someone considering a Lamborghini Gallardo would definitely look at the V10 R8.
zamafir 1:04PM (8/11/2009)
@Danimal - this is coming from your experience driving the cars? or reading blogs? I've only spent time in the R8 V8 and the gallardo (will be amending that with the R8 V10 I'll be picking up from audi HQ in two weeks) but the two have a very different sense of character.
If it wasn't for audi, lamborghini would be dead. Audi helped them reach Ferruccio's dream, a more reliable and easier to enjoy car than what ferrari produced. The murcielago lp 670-4 sv feels nothing like audi produces. In the end it doesn’t matter. Just as a different sort of customer purchases an 8C vs a California, so too do we find different customers buying R8s and Gallardos.
One of the reasons I’m confident in spending some time with the R8 V10 on the back roads in Germany IS because it’s so refined, the interior so adroitly laid out, the suspension so comfortable. As EVO noted anyone who’s driven an A3 can drive and enjoy the R8 V10 (though the acceleration is, apparently, quite alarming). I don’t believe the same can be said for the LP 560-4 and that’s the point. Similar engines, completely different looks, interior refinement, suspension biases and skill sets required.
Audi will never, ever, produce a car as visceral as Lamborghini, and the Lamborghini equivalent will never be as refined, tame, and ‘set to 7 out of 10’ (as evo put it, if the Gallardo was a 10/10) as the Audi.
Go drive both, or talk to people who have, they R8 V8, from my experience, is firmly in the audi character, and the Gallardo is firmly in the Lamborghini.
Mike7 10:49AM (8/11/2009)
I highly doubt they will ditch the quattro four wheel drive for this R8. While Lamborghini carries a unique appeal, Audi doesn't need to further encroach into their territory by competing with the 550-2 and possible future rear-drive Superleggera.
I'm sorry, though, I don't see the point of this car. Is VW trying to kill Porsche? They do know that they own them now, right? Part of the R8's appeal was that it was comfortable and luxurious for a supercar. I don't think it's necessary for Audi to make a stripped version to go after the 911 GT3/GT2.
Perhaps my negativity results from them ditching the air-con and reading today's heat index for my area is 107 degrees.
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mark.wellsfargo 10:51AM (8/11/2009)
Let me see a show of hands of those that actually think this car will have a range of 1,380 miles! The volt will have a 6-7 gallon tank. 230MPG X 6 gallons = 1,380 Miles!!! This kind of BS marketing hype is the same crap that got them in Bankruptcy!!! This is Government Motors at its Best!!!!
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Avinash machado 10:54AM (8/11/2009)
This is not the Volt thread. Has being a GM hater made you comment without checking the thread.
Danimal 10:57AM (8/11/2009)
Wow... I'm not sure if stupidity could be anymore blatant.
Parkerman 11:16AM (8/11/2009)
Hell yea this track oriented Audi R8 will get about 1,400 miles on a single tank... No doubt about it....
zamafir 11:18AM (8/11/2009)
Awesome. Just this morning I was reading EVO's review of the R8 V10 and noticed they echoed what others have said, that the V8's a better choice because it's lighter, and I got to thinking, why not drop the 400+hp 3.0T from the Q5 concept in there and lighten it up, it'd be almost as quick to sixty as the V10 and a lot quicker around a track.
Then we see this. brilliant.
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:25AM (8/11/2009)
This doesn't make sense. There's no real market for a $150,000 with no air conditioning. And a track special? You can't even run in ALMS without A/C now!
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nagmashot 11:38AM (8/11/2009)
and Porsche/Renault teach you wrong all day....
There is a huge market for trackday specials from payable FWD lightweight hardcore track cars like the R26.R to Porsche GT3 RS with Clubsport package...
My firend was at the northloop last sunday with his bike... the car model in biggest number at the track... Porsche 997 GT3 RS ... audi would be stupid not trying to sell this sort of drivers some high priced track day specials
why not the LS2LS7? 9:37PM (8/11/2009)
You have a really strange idea of what huge means.