Audi R8

The Audi R8[3] (Typ 42) is a sports car with a longitudinally mounted mid-engine, and uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German automaker Audi AG in 2006.

The car was exclusively designed, developed, and manufactured by Audi AG's high performance private subsidiary company, quattro GmbH, and is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform. The fundamental construction of the R8 is based on the Audi Space Frame, and uses an aluminium monocoque which is built around space frame principles. The car is built by quattro GmbH in a newly renovated factory at Audi's 'aluminium site' at Neckarsulm in Germany.

In 2005, Audi announced that the name of the successful Audi R8 race car would be used for a new road car in 2007, the Audi R8, based on the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, appearing at the 2003 International Geneva Motor Show, and 2003 Frankfurt International Motor Show. The R8 road car was officially launched at the Paris Auto Show on 30 September 2006. There was some confusion with the name, which the car shares with the 24 Hours of Le Mans winning R8 Le Mans Prototype (LMP). 6-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx described the R8 as "the best handling road car today".

The Audi R8 is used as a safety car in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and British Superbike Championship racing series.

To produce the R8 at quattro GmbH, seventy workers fit 5,000 unique parts by hand. The factory at Neckarsulm, redeveloped at a cost of €28 million, usually produces between eight and fifteen cars a day, up to a maximum daily output of 29 cars.[3] Ninety-five lasers inspect the entire car in five seconds to ensure that over 220 measurements are within 0.1 millimetres of the programmed plans.

The two-seat coupé is currently available in Bahrain, Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa.[11] The R8 Spyder, an open-top roadster model, followed in 2009. In Latin America, the R8 became available at the end of 2008 at dealers in Mexico City, Bogota, Medellin, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lima, Santiago and Santo Domingo. Customers bought every unit available for 2008 within a week[12] after the R8 premiered at the Bogota International Auto Show and Auto Expo of Medellin.

In Asia, the R8 is available in Bahrain, India , Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong and Vietnam, and has been available in China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Indonesia since 2008.

The Audi R8 was initially equipped with a 4.2 litre V8 engine. Specifically, it is an all-aluminium alloy 32-valve (four valves per cylinder) petrol engine,[3] utilising Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI),[3] and has a displacement of 4,163 cubic centimetres (254.0 cu in).[3] It develops a motive power output of 420 metric horsepower (309 kW; 414 bhp) (Directive 80/1269/EEC),[3] and generates 430 newton metres (317 ft·lbf) of torque,[3] on 98 RON 'Super Unleaded' petrol. It is basically the same engine used in the Audi B7 RS4, but is modified to use dry sump lubrication system. This V8 is a highly reworked, high-revving variant of the existing 4.2 litre V8, but includes cylinder-direct fuel injection (Fuel Stratified Injection), and four valves per cylinder, instead of five (as used on the previous non-FSI variants). It also uses two chain-driven double overhead camshafts (DOHC) per cylinder bank, and utilises variable valve timing for both inlet and exhaust camshafts.

The transmission options are either a Lamborghini sourced six-speed manual gearbox with metal gate for the shift lever, or an Audi-developed R tronic gearbox - which is a semi-automatic, without a traditional clutch pedal with automatic gears shifting mode. These options are the same as those available on the Lamborghini Gallardo. A double clutch Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG), now badged by Audi as S tronic, is not available (as of April 2010[update]).

AUDI AG unveiled the Audi R8 V10 on 9 December 2008. It uses a 5.2 litre FSI engine, based on the unit in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (which in turn was based on the 5.2 FSI V10 as used in the Audi C6 S6 and Audi D3 S8), but is re-tuned to produce a power output of 525 metric horsepower (386 kW; 518 bhp), and generate 530 newton metres (391 ft·lbf) of torque. Compared to the V8 variant, the R8 V10's performance numbers are enhanced. Audi states the new 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 62.1 mph) time as only 3.9 seconds, 60 to 124 miles per hour (97 to 200 km/h) in 8.1 seconds, and a top speed of 317 kilometres per hour (197.0 mph). Other changes to the V10 version of the R8 include some aesthetic differences: such as all-LED headlights (a world-first), interior enhancements such as Bang & Olufsen 465 watt sound system, and a more aggressive body styling,[14] larger rear brakes and unique roadwheels. It was initially thought that this version of the R8 was going to have the same engine as the C6 Audi RS6, a 5.0 litre V10 TFSI twin-turbo engine, which produces 580 metric horsepower (427 kW; 572 bhp). However, some components of the twin-turbo system overheated, and one prototype was destroyed by fire at the Nürburgring. This model was shown at the 2009 North American International Auto Show.

Many publications were hailing it as the first car to truly be able to beat the Porsche 997 — considered by many to be one of the best sports cars ever made, and a leader in its class.[27] Initial comparison tests have proven quite positive in this respect; Evo Magazine listed it as a "supercar",[28] compared the R8 to the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and BMW M6 and after praising the R8's "amazing stability, traction and grip, unparalleled steering accuracy and bite, (and) its uncannily flat and disturbance-free ride", claimed that as a result of "the sublime effortlessness of it all", the Audi is a better sports car. The article concluded that "Audi humbles Porsche. A new dawn starts today".[29]

Other publications have also written similar reviews of the Audi beating the Porsche in comparison tests.[7][30] In a half mile drag race conducted by Battle of the Supercars between the R8 and a 997 Carrera S, the Porsche won, crossing the line just a half metre before the R8. However, the R8 easily beat the Porsche around Top Gear's test track.

The television show Top Gear compared the Nissan GT-R to the R8 V8, and remarked that the R8 was "simultaneously less impressive and yet somehow more involving". On the R8 they wrote that "it rewards driver input", calling it "fantastic in a way that will appeal more to true car enthusiasts", but also remarked that it (the V8 model) was "much slower", and the GT-R was cheaper.[31] On their test track, the car performed better than a Lamborghini Gallardo and an Aston Martin DB9.

On Bedford Autodrome, tested by Evo Magazine, the R8 was faster than the Lamborghini Gallardo.[citation needed]


The R8 is due to be replaced with a brand new model in calendar year 2014.[citation needed] The highest output version of Audi's new 4.0 liter V8 twin-turbocharged engine is expected to power the new car. This engine is scheduled to be previewed as a detuned version in the 2012 Audi S8- with 518 hp (386 kW) on tap.[citation needed] In the R8 application it is expected to produce about 600 hp.[citation needed] Combined with an approximate 200 lb (91 kg) weight loss, the new R8 is expected to compete well with the new Porsche 991 twin turbo model and will likely perform significantly better than the current R8 GT with a 0-60 mph time in 3.2 seconds and a quarter mile in less than 11 seconds. A dual clutch automated gearbox will be offered for the first time.