Updated Audi R8 won’t have a V6 version after all

We
showed you the updated Audi R8 a few weeks ago, and
Audi was clear that it would be powered by a 5.2-liter, naturally aspirated V10 available in three trim levels. Now comes word via the R8’s project manager that suggests we can finally kill the persistent rumor of a twin-turbo V6 version of the supercar.

Car Throttle spoke with Bjorn Friedrich of Audi at the R8’s launch, who confirmed that the V10 will remain the car’s sole powertrain — for this generation, anyway. But don’t worry: There’s likely still plenty of speculation about the performance coupe’s future to give us all cognitive whiplash.

Rumors had the R8
borrowing the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 used in the
RS4 and
RS5, and the
Porsche Panamera, as soon as 2019. Audi has strongly suggested the R8
won’t be continued after the current second generation. Unless of course it is, as an
all-electric E-Tron version of the R8 around 2022 that could boast as much as 1,000 bhp and a 0-62 mph time of 2 seconds. If true, that would represent Audi’s third stab at developing a battery-electric halo car, and it could take some hints from
Audi’s PB18 concept shown this summer at Pebble Beach.

Anyway, what we know for sure about the updated R8 is that it boasts a redesigned fascia, mesh grille on the rear, some new exterior color options, new Dry, Wet and Snow driving modes, and three new trim names topped by the R8 V10 Performance, which reportedly does 611 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque. It hits U.S. dealers sometime next year.

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