Pole-dancing? Audi’s next lightweight supermodel might be a bit more of a stripper.
The Audi R8 is great. But as evidenced by the R8 V-12 TDI (nee R8 TDI Le Mans) concept car on display at this year’s Detroit and Geneva auto shows, Audi is clearly thinking about proliferating the R8 lineup.
The next R8 to roll down the spotless Neckarsulm, Germany, assembly line may be a lightweight stripper version rather than a more powerful oil-burner. So hints Stafan Reil, the head of development for Quattro, GmbH, which assembles the R8 and almost every Audi that starts with “S” and “RS.”
Lighter, more intensified cars make sense for Audi’s sport cars, Reil tells Car and Driver, much like Lamborghini’s success with the lightened Gallardo Superleggera.
“This is a direction you can go and make business,” Reil says, stressing that Audi won’t build anything that won’t make the company money. “It makes sense for the TT, and maybe in the future in an R8.”
A stripped-down-and-juiced-up R8, likely to be called the R8 Sport or R8 Quattro Sport, would adhere to the same ethos as the 2005 TT Quattro Sport, 1000 of which were made in 2005, although none made it to the U.S. The TT Quattro Sport had a more powerful version of the TT’s turbocharged four-cylinder engine, with a stiffer suspension, fewer interior comfort features, and no rear seats or spare tire. Freed from the additional weight, the Sport was able to lop half a second off the 0-to-60 mph sprint. Styling was unique, as was the paint job: all had a black roof over a contrasting body color.
This philosophy would translate well to the R8. Horsepower would rise from 420 to somewhere around 500, we think, with racing seats, fewer speakers, and more carbon fiber throughout the body and chassis. We also expect to see carbon-ceramic brakes and slightly racier bodywork/paintwork. Such a car might be able to hit 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds, given that the “base” R8 does the dash in four flat.
