Autoblog

Click above to view more high-res shots of the R8 under construction

This week Audi invited a group of American journalists to Europe to sample the newest A4 Avant, and since we hate to miss an opportunity to drive new cars, we hopped on a plane. Upon our arrival, Audi offered us the chance to visit the birthplace of the mighty R8 in Neckarsulm, which is home to one Audi's two main German manufacturing sites, the other being at its headquarters in Ingolstadt. The Neckarsulm complex is only about half the size of the Ingolstadt campus, but along with manufacturing the A4, A6 and A8, it is also home to Quattro GmbH.

Quattro GmbH is Audi's in-house tuning group, roughly equivalent to AMG at Mercedes-Benz and the M-Division at BMW. That means all S and RS models are developed here and the RS4 and RS6 are built here in addition to the R8. The R8 is built in a dedicated building by a team of 240 specially selected assemblers working on two shifts. Right now, the R8 team is turning out about 27 to 28 cars per day, but Audi's manufacturing engineers are refining the process to try up that to 30 cars per day. Read on to learn more about how and where the R8 is created.

Click above for high-res gallery of the R8 V12 TDI Le Mans

When we heard that there was a 50/50 chance Audi would be offering a production version of its R8 V12 TDI LeMans concept, our interest was piqued. The thought of 737 pound-feet of torque rippling the pavement behind the mid-engined R8 supercar will, unfortunately, remain but a fleeting fantasy in our power-hungry dreams. According to Michael Dick, Audi's head of production, the V12 TDI is not slated for production. That's the bad news... the good news, though, is that there is a coming diesel engine option in the form of Audi's 90 degree 4.2-liter TDI V8. In the Q7 SUV, that engine produces 326 horsepower with torque registering in at 550 pound-feet. While it's no V12, we'll happily take whatever oil burner Audi wants to throw our way. Thanks for the tip, Christian!

[Source: GT Spirit via German Car Blog]