Leaked: Audi To Present R8 V12 TDi Study In Detroit

[ahpadt]

Our second consecutive scan of the day after the Mazda RX-8 facelift (click here) comes from Auto Motor und Sport. The Germans sent out their February issue of the magazine and it didn’t take long for subscribers to scan the article concerning the Audi R8 V12 TDi Study that will make its debut in Detroit.

Unfortunately, our German isn’t good enough for us to translate the whole article but what really counts is that the R8 study is equipped with Audi’s V12 turbocharged diesel engine that produces 500 HP and most importantly, a mind blowing 1,000 Nm or 738 lbs/ft of torque. Design wise, the R8 V12 TDi features a slightly modified front grille and a subtle bodykit.

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/01...tdi-study.html

From Autoblog:

Audi has already publicly revealed it will be showing two vehicles at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. One it called a "stunning" concept car and the other is a new production car making its world debut. One of the two cars will reportedly be an Audi R8 powered by the brand's V12 TDI diesel engine, this according to German mag Auto Motor und Sport. While the R8 TDI is likely destined for production, it's probably not the production car that Audi will debut in Detroit. If it's the "stunning" concept, consider us stunned. The car is projected to have around 500bhp/738 ft-lbs of torque, accelerate to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds and return 28 mpg, presumably on the highway. That's truly outstanding fuel economy for a supercar, though Corvettes are known to get above 30 mpg while lazily cruising this nation's highways, as well. That said, the equally as powerful 2008 Corvette Z06 is rated by the EPA as 15 city/25 highway mpg. Back to the R8 TDI, Auto Express also reports that since the V12 TDI is much larger than the standard car's 4.2L V8, it will gobble up all available luggage space just to fit. The R8 TDI's appearance in Detroit certainly isn't confirmed by Audi yet, so we'll have to wait until January 13th to see exactly what the German automaker brought to town. We think, however, that it is a safe bet.

That's a fcking lot of torque!

[cdbob]

I am very glad to see Audi finally put a diesel engine into their R8, I wonder how well it will work for sporting driving though.

[Buktu]

It will be quite heavy, so the handling will probably suffer.. The straight line performance with all that horsepower and torque though.. That will be quite interesting..

[FATMOUSE]

<Clarkson>
Its got more torque than God!
</Clarkson>

[Lilleput]

If it dosent sound like a tractor im sold

[Hercules286]

Actually with that engine, the R8 might suddenly start to make sense.

BTW, modern diesel engines sound pretty sweet under load and are very soft and quiet at idle, especially Audis. It will sound nothing like a tractor.

[Aiolos]

Originally Posted by FATMOUSE

<Clarkson>
Its got more torque than God!
</Clarkson>

x2

I love his metaphors

[marcos_eirik]

Oh, dear... That cast iron lump of a V12 probably weighs like 500 kg, isn't the R8 heavy enough as it is?

Anyway, I can't see the point of fitting a diesel engine into a sportscar. Firstly it's very large and extremely heavy, as diesel engines still uses cast iron blocks. Secondly where is the fun in having an engine that in a sportscar that acts like a tractor, delivers all its power in a huge lump low down and then dies at about 4k revs? Then there is the unbearable tractor noise, and from what I have experienced, VAG-diesels are pretty much the worst. The alternative is better though, they'll probably make it not sound at all, to hide this...

[Necx0]

I like the idea of it. They should make the all aloy diesel like in the Le Mans car to keep the weight down.

[Forstrocker]

the r8 v12 tdi is surely going to be one of the most exciting cars made in this decade!
i love audi for presenting this car:

in my opinion it would be the greatest if audi would install the new (bi-turbo) diesel v12 engine (which they initially designed for the q7) in the r8. this would be a revolution for production-supercars!

look at post nr. #26
and i bet it won't look like this rubbish-photoshop-pictures!

[Devon]

Not a bad idea, this should be interesting...

[ahpadt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/10/d...-video-leaked/



What a beast!!!

[Forstrocker]

what a stunning car! i love it!

[NAIDANAC A]

But only 4.2 seconds to 60? Seriously? All-wheel drive and 730hp and it takes that long?

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by marcos_eirik

Anyway, I can't see the point of fitting a diesel engine into a sportscar.

I don´t either, because I feel that sportscars should be about fun more than anything else, but if anyone can pull it off, it´ll be Audi...

A modern diesel engine in a racecar makes perfect sense, especially for endurance racing like lemans because you save time refuelling, and nowadays diesels can deliver the necessary power as well. Seat is now giving sprint racing with diesel engines a go in the WTCC, and they seem to work better than anyone expected. If you know how to use it, all that torque at low revs can help quite a lot, but I still wouldn´t want a diesel for driving on the track...

[marcos_eirik]

Originally Posted by NAIDANAC A

But only 4.2 seconds to 60? Seriously? All-wheel drive and 730hp and it takes that long?

Yes it's the same as the old 996 Turbo... So Well, it might be a bit, say... Heavy with it's cast iron V12 diesel engine... It has probably developed it's own gravity field...

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

A modern diesel engine in a racecar makes perfect sense, especially for endurance racing like lemans because you save time refuelling, and nowadays diesels can deliver the necessary power as well. Seat is now giving sprint racing with diesel engines a go in the WTCC, and they seem to work better than anyone expected. If you know how to use it, all that torque at low revs can help quite a lot, but I still wouldn´t want a diesel for driving on the track...

The thing is that a petrol engine can do that as well, the problem is the ridiculous restrictions that FIA have forced upon turbocharged petrol engines, this is pretty much what killed off Porsche's all conquering twin turbo flat-six.

[Peter3hg]

Originally Posted by NAIDANAC A

But only 4.2 seconds to 60? Seriously? All-wheel drive and 730hp and it takes that long?

It's got 500hp not 730. I think thats the torque figure you're thinking of.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by marcos_eirik

The thing is that a petrol engine can do that as well, the problem is the ridiculous restrictions that FIA have forced upon turbocharged petrol engines, this is pretty much what killed off Porsche's all conquering twin turbo flat-six.

when different concepts are competing in the same class, it´s ALWAYS a matter of how the rules are constructed...

The main factor in the LMP-1 class that tipped the scale in favor of the tdis for le Mans, was an increase in the size of the fuel tank allowed on the diesel cars. Their tanks are still not as big as those of the petrol cars, but big enough to give them an advantage in the pits.

And don´t even get me started on the WTCC, their rules are so fucking complicated that I can´t be bothered to keep up with them anymore. They have their special way of weighing out all the advantages and disadvantages of the different concepts, to allow for diesel, petrol, FWD, RWD, etc. to all compete against each other with more or less equal chances... I remember some big argument going on about Chevrolet being allowed to make their cars lighter due to the high center of gravity of their engine, and the BMWs getting extra weight to compensate for the traction advantages of their rear-wheel driven cars, you get the idea...

[thedguy]

^^^^^^^^
Whatever happened to letting the better designed car win?

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by thedguy

^^^^^^^^
Whatever happened to letting the better designed car win?

if you want that, you´ve got Formula 1, but there you can argue that it´s generally the teams that throw lots of money at their designs that win the races. In other series it´s wishful thinking... imagine if the same regulations would apply to all LMP-1 cars, the diesels wouldn´t just win, they would completely annihilate everyone. And in WTCC it wouldn´t work either, because the idea is that only "slightly" modified road cars get to participate, in which case the RWD cars would be in a league of their own. So adjustments like this are necessary, but obviously always very debateable...