OPINION: The new Audi R8 could be even better than the original
When Audi initially told us it would build a supercar to take on the Porsche 911 we all laughed. Audi, a company better known for making fast four-wheel drive estates with crazy understeer, creating a rival to the best sportscar on Earth? No chance.
But it did. The R8 mixed mid-engine handling with a rear-biased four-wheel drive system and your choice of V8 or V10 powertrains. The sceptics were right, the Audi wasn’t as good as a Porsche 911 – it was better.
With its cab-forward design, the R8 looked like a genuine supercar and even basic models offered performance to make a same-price Porsche weep, backed up by a soundtrack that left an entry-level flat-six seeming a little too ordinary. But Audi’s masterstroke was a four-wheel drive system that let the R8 behave like a rear-wheel-drive right up until the back wheels lost adhesion when it sent power to the front, dragging the car out its slide.
Audi had tapped into the same mixture that makes the 911 great. The R8 was a bonafide supercar but it was as usable as any other of the company’s cars, with trademark hewn-from-granite interior, mainstream reliability that made hand-built supercars look fragile and relatively affordable running costs.
So, it brought me great cheer to learn that the design of a third-generation model is already well underway, based (loosely) on the styling of the pb18 e-tron concept. Like the original R8, which shared many of its parts with the Gallardo, and the gen-2 car based on the Huracán, the new R8 takes its underpinnings from the Italian’s latest junior supercar, the Temerario.
As a result, the new R8 will be a plug-in hybrid twin-turbocharged V8 that, based on the Lamborghini, will deliver around 800PS (588kW) at a screaming 9,000rpm on its way to a 10,000rpm red line, with a maximum torque 729Nm (538lb ft) available from 4,000rpm.
Instead of fuel-saving efficiency, the hybrid system exists to extract more performance. The R8 will feature three electric motors – one in the gearbox and one on each of the front wheels – to mask turbo lag and make the new R8 highly drivable. Torque vectoring makes it easy to initiate and hold the car in a slide, all while feeling totally natural. Sounds about perfect for the most-accessible supercar on the planet.
The total system output should boost more than 900PS (662kW) for a top speed of over 210mph and 0-62mph in well under 3 seconds. The new R8 will also have a pure electric range of more than 5 miles between charges.
Downforce will be another target for the new R8. Expect it to have a functional diffuser and a S duct that increases downforce on the front axle, both feature on the Temerario, which boasts 118 per cent more downforce than the old Huracán EVO.
With close to double the horsepower of the original torque vectoring from the new electrified powertrain and functional downforce, this new model could cause even more impact than the original R8. Now that would be a car to savour.
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