Rumours about the Audi R8 can now finally be put to rest, with Audi revealing the car at the Paris Motor Show 2006 along with official specifications.
While originally there was talk about a variation of Lamborghini’s 5.0 litre V10 being used in the car, now we know the Audi R8 will come with a single engine option – a 4.2 litre normally aspirated V8 similiar to the unit in the Audi RS4, and two transmission options – a 6-speed manual and an R-tronic sequential shift. 0-100km/h takes 4.6 seconds, and the car has a top speed of 300km/h.
The 1,560kg Audi Space Frame aluminium-body Audi R8 is a mid-engined, all-wheel drive coupe, powered by a 4.2 litre V8 producing 420PS at 7,800rpm, revving all the way up to a 8,250rpm redline.
Torque peaks at 430Nm constant between 4,500rpm and 6,000rpm. The all-wheel drive system is of course Audi’s acclaimed quattro system, and the car has a pretty good weight balance of 44:56, not a perfect 50:50 but close. Wheels are either 5 or 6-spoke 19 inch wheels fitted with 235/50/R19 tyres at front and wider 295/50/R19 at the rear.
The Audi R8 has a rather busy exterior look, there are no blank areas of sheet metal here – the opposite of Skoda’s design cues I would say. A little too busy for me though, it looses some of it’s sleekness. There’s no flow of lines. I love Audis, but sad to say I don’t like the R8’s exterior design.
The front headlamps are the first in the world in a production car to use LEDs – the LEDs provide four functions – dipped beam, main beam, daytime running lights and turn indicators. The headlamps are inspired by the Sydney Opera house. While the first few batches of Audi R8 cars will only be available with conventional bulb lights, the LED headlamps will be available from end-2007 onwards.
You will be able to order the new Audi R8 by the end of this year. The 6-speed manual is expected to go for £77,000, while the R tronic sequential-shift gearbox is estimated to go for £82,000. The car is available in 4 colours – Jet Blue Metallic, Ice Silver Metallic, Daytona Grey Pearl, and Phantom Black Pearl. The sideblade area is available in different colours according to which body colour you pick.
More photos and an engine torque/power graph after the jump. Enlarged versions are available by just clicking the image.
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Excellent work but why that big slab of (carbon?) on the side??
Holy Cow! This car is super sexy… *Drooool*
Damn… look gorgeous.. I am speechless.. look like a space car….
If the car looks a little fussy in silver to your eyes, then check out the car in black. Stunning.
http://forums.audiworld.com/other/msgs/6044419.ph…
Psssssssst ! What's the fuel cosumption for this kind of cars anyway ????
I know.. its FC is more than a 1.5L car…. btw, anyone who wishes to own this car, wouldn't care about its FC.. sure they can pump petrol as much as they want! It's a big boy's toy…
ps: Im a small boy only…
Nice car, but I think the side profile is too long and the piece of black thingy looks weird, whatever it is.
black thing is coolest, dude. i love this car!!!!! (mitsubishi evo 9 too)
Gordblimey. I'm blown away. I don't care what you guys think but I think it's one good looking son-of-a-bitch…
Aiks? No DSG?
Looks cool… unfortunately, i cant appreciate the design of this car.
I've seen better looking Audi's than this (eg. A6, A8). Somehow this R8 doesnt seem to carry the design philosophy of Audi that well. It kinda fails in the design department.
Other than that, it will make a great car. Not exactly light, but still loads of fun to drive (pressumably) due to it's engine specs and its Quattro system.
BTW, who's door is this car gonna knock on?? if u get whut i mean…
=P
(Oi… where's the NSX replacement…)
wwoooww… they even use trumpets for the intake manifold… Enzo Ferrari style!!! just slowly waiting for the sound of this thing!!!
the "basic" engine from the rs4 looks like variable length system…
probably that explains the rather weak torque band compared to the RS4 unit.
quote for the RS4. "The torque curve plateaus at 5500 rpm, where 428Nm are on tap, but it is worth knowing that 90 percent of the twist action is available between 2250 and 7600 rpm."
nice car… but they definitely could make the "engine" cover more tastily designed than that.
da front is too low for da car.
if da front higher a bit shud look nicer.
err.. the long front overhangs looked kinda…. ugly. haha ~ like wat i said, one of the least cool cars, must be better than TT, must be lousier than Gallardo. sucks.
in a mid engine car, you want the overhang to be that length. unlike front engine cars where they have to push the tyres max in front of the engine. and its not in the name of looks. more to balance the layout and give the driver better feel.
it also gives a boot space and a bigger impact distribution zone/area. also maybe air flow and cooling properties.
yea the car in black looks better to mask the side piece.
jiun 88…no nsx replacement…honda stop d production of nsx…
btw…4 me…dis car looks gorgeous…will make the porsche looks really ugly shit…huahuahuahua….very nice la dis car in black…dis car still cannot beat f430 in term of top speed and acceleration…
it doesnt need to beat an F430 because i doubt thats the primary target. probably the primary target will be the 911S , M6,AM vantage, CLK55? and jag XKR, those businessman-golf-CEO cars.
this looks sooo much cooler than all the above mentioned cars. dashboard kinda reminds me of the Supra… hhmm…
Then again, how is it going to sell… under the Audi brand? You pitch an Audi against Porsches, Lambos and Ferraris… brand-wise, for a supercar… it's going to be tough (I'm not talking about performance – rather, marketability). DIfference is, they produce ordinary family saloons as well, unlike Porsche and such.
Quattro *is* the way to go.
dis will b a very rare species…
Although this car looks good, I still thnk it's 4.2 engine needs to be pushed higher to be in the ranks of Lanbo or Ferrari
Audi is positioning the R8 as a competitor to the Porsche 911 at around the Carrera 4S level. Audi has to be careful not to encroach into Lambo's territory and hence the reason why the R8 does not get a more powerful V10. I think the R8 is to not so much as to challenge the likes of Ferrari, but to solidify it's position among the premium car manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes. Audi plans to make only 3500 R8's a year, as compared with Porsche's 20,000 to 30,000 911's.
Remember car driven by Will Smith in iRobot?