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[Kleegamefan]

Do you remember this car that was shown first at the 2003 Frankfurt auto show?

Well Audi just announced the production version of the Le Mans will arrive as a 2007 model:


http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_1793.shtml

INGOLSTADT, Germany - It is now official: the new Audi sports car will be called the Audi R8. Presented as the “Le Mans quattro” concept study two years ago at the Frankfurt IAA Motor Show, Audi has now taken the decision to build its new sports car. Everything is already being prepared for the series production of the R8 at Audi’s plant in Neckarsulm, due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2006. The market launch is scheduled for the second quarter of 2007.

28 million euros are being invested in the R8 production line. The Audi subsidiary quattro GmbH will be responsible for production. Development and test construction at quattro GmbH and technical development at AUDI AG are currently in full swing. 250 employees will work on the production of the R8.

“Through the R8 we are looking to build on our successes in motorsport and carry them over to series production. This model represents Audi’s very own interpretation of sportiness,” says Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of AUDI AG, about the new member of the Audi model range.

Audi is relying on intelligent lightweight design for its R8, a core area of expertise in Neckarsulm. The Audi A2, A6 and A8 were all developed at the Aluminium Centre there using lightweight design technology.

But there is more to this story......Evo Magazine in the UK ran a 4-page cover story on the production Le Mans (back then it was called the "R9") for their July 2005 ish.....you can see the 4 pages here:

http://img291.echo.cx/my.php?image=evo81audir9011nu.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/my.php?image=evo81audir9045rx.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/my.php?image=evo81audir9056mj.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/my.php?image=evo81audir9063cl.jpg


According to Evo Magazine, the production version is a near clone of the Le Mans concept in exterior styling and, will get this here engine in the base R8:

http://www.fourtitude.com/gallery/albums//Audi/A4-S4-RS4 (B5, B6 and B7)/RS4 (B7)/Technical/002.jpg

It is a 4.2L FSI V8 that powers the B7 Audi RS4....it has ~420HP and has a 8250 RPM redline...so its a screamer....

It seems the R8 will be based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform but will be downmarket in power (RS4 FSI V8) and price from the baby Lambo as to not crowd its image...

How much cheaper than the Gallardo will the R8 be???


According to the EVO article, Audi wants the R8 to undercut a base Porsche 997!!!


A 2WD 997 goes for 60,000 Pounds in the UK and is $69K in the United states.....the Evo article says the R8 should be around 3000 Pounds cheaper than a 997 at 57,000 Pounds....

If the R8 also undercuts a 997 in the US, that would give it a base price of ~$65K, which is Z06 money.....

Audi also plans to have a V10 option on a more expensive version of the R8 but even the base R8, with a curb weight of 1550Kg and 420HP would have a power/weight ratio better than a 996 twin turbo!!!

This car will be pretty damn fast no matter how you cut it.....

I also found it intresting the EVO article noted how concerned Audi brass was with the Porsche Cayman coupe, which has 90% of the performance of a 997 for 20K less.....this to me says Audi actually *do* want to undercut the 997 price tag, because if the R8 was a 100K+ sports car, the Cayman would pose no real threat to an R8, right?



Furthermore, the EVO article states; "Audi will easily be able to crank up production numbers well beyond the initial targe of 3000-5000 cars a year;it could even challange the 30,000 sales Porsche currently enjoys with the 911....

For comparisons sake, Ferrari only builds 4000 cars total and Chevy only builds ~40,000 C6s per year, 8000 of which are Z06s......

If Audi wants to sell more R8s than Ferrari sells cars, they must price it accordingly to reach these numbers....this gives even more substance to EVOs price quotes...

I also posted this in the Car and driver forums :


http://www.caranddriver.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=66772&forumID=5&catID=1&search=1&searchstring=

It talks about why I think the R8 could be the spirtual successor to the original 1991 Honda/Acura NSX

 

[BlueTsunami]

The dashboard is SEXY

 

[Red Blaster]

Totally 2005. Now only if it could fly.

 

[BlueTsunami]

Its a nice looking car. It gets my "Unzip and start humping the place where you put gasoline" award.

 

[Desperado]

oh my goodness that interior is sex.

 

[EternalDarko]

Well, I will be looking for a new car around that timeframe. Thanks for the heads up i guess.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Actually, I think there will only be one engine offered for this monster. It WILL be the 8-large 4.2L, but twin-turbo. Estimates are looking at a BHP of 600+, right now. Very exciting.

 

[Kleegamefan]

No...according to both VWvortex.com and the EVO article, which interviewed the people who are actually making the car, the R8 will get one of two engines...

Either the 418 HP FSI V8 from the RS4 (base $65K car)

OR

An upmarket R8 (RS8?) with the 5.2L FSI V10 which is used in the next-gen S8, which was just shown at the Tokyo Auto Show(probably around $85K+)


In either case, the horsepower will be less(for political and marketing reasons) than the R8s brother, the Lamborghini Gallardo....which currently has a 500 HP 5L V10, but is due for a bump up to ~550HP and 5.2L after the Merci gets *its* bump to 6.4L V12 and 625HP...

The Le Mans show car had a 610HP twin-turbo V10...perhaps this is what you are thinking about??

At any rate, a 600+HP motor would just turn it into yet another 150K+ supercar....

Audi group already have THREE $150K products (Continental GT, Contenental Flying Spur, Lambo Gallardo)....no need for yet another.....especially one that steals Gallardo sales...

 

[AlphaSnake]

The Le Mans show car had a 610HP twin-turbo V10...perhaps this is what you are thinking about??

Indeed I am. Hrmm...~400HP may not be enough for this car to really move as fast as it looks. I'm hoping the 10 is the standard engine on it.

 

[Kleegamefan]

Believe it or not, this car should FLY with even the 418HP 4.2L FSI V8...

Consider this:


In the RS4, the FSI V8 makes 418 BHP @ 7800 RPM and has 317lb-ft of torque @ 5500 RPM (90 percent of which is generated between 2250-7600RPM)....like the VTEC V6 in the original NSX, the Audi FSI V8 is an absolute screamer with an 8250RPM redline and like the Honda/Acura race inspired V6, it also has a high horsepower-per-litre ratio (nearly 100 hp/lt.with the FSI V8 vs around 90 for the original NSX)

These powerplants would be mated to either a 6-speed manual or the DSG dual-clutch semi-automatic F1 shifter, a modified version of which is also being prepared for the new RS4s V8 powerplant with which the R8 will share..


Audi says the R8 will have all-alloy construction and will weigh around 1550Kg (3,417 lbs)

With the 418 BHP V8, an R8 would have a better power to weight ratio than a Porsche 996 Twin Turbo:

http://content2.us.porsche.com/prod/911/turbo.nsf/usaenglish/technical_specifications

At 415 BHP and 3,505 lbs, the manual 996 Twin Turbo has a power/weight ratio of 8.44lb/hp.....the 418 BHP, 3417lbs R8 would have a power/weight ratio of 8.17lb/hp...the 996 Twin Turbo has a base price of $118,400 USD...the R8....probably about half that...


Also keep in mind the R8 will have Quattro AWD so the 4WD 996 TT probably wont have a large traction advantage either...

The EVO article states:"expect a mid-four second sprint to 60MPH and 125MPH should arrive in around 15 sec"

http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=evo81audir9063cl.jpg


If you ask me, those numbers are a bit conservative...the 3800lb+ RS4 is rated 0-62MPH at 4.8 sec....

The R8 will be ~400lb lighter and will have more weight on the rear wheel (aiding launch) because it has a mid engine design...

I am thinking that even the 418HP R8 will be about as quick as a 996 TT....probably around 4.3 sec 0-60

 

[Shinobi]

It's a shame it doesn't look more like the R8 Le Mans sports car, which has been one of the most dominant racing cars of all time.

But that's not to say this car doesn't look sweet either. Hope it does well.

Here's a few more pics of the prototype version here at this link.

http://www.allcarwallpapers.com/audi/audi-r8-le-mans-quattro-concept/wallpapers.htm

 

[Kleegamefan]

Yeah.....I'm still a bit puzzled as to why the named the car R8 (they already have a race car named that) and not R9 (as was originally the plan) or even RSR???

 

[AlphaSnake]

4-second 0-60 is practically Pontiac GTO territory. I sure hope this thing is a sub-4 second machine.

 

[Kleegamefan]

A GTO has less HP (400 vs 418) and weighs 200lbs more (3725) not to mention the R8 has Quattro 4WD...

http://www.pontiac.com/gto/specs_viewall.jsp


The R8 will run rings around a GTO....

 

[Vinzer Deling]

4-second 0-60 is practically Pontiac GTO territory. I sure hope this thing is a sub-4 second machine.

Yeah dude because you *only* race from 0-60. :lol

 

[Chony]

A GTO has less HP (400 vs 418) and weighs 200lbs more (3725) not to mention the R8 has Quattro 4WD...

http://www.pontiac.com/gto/specs_viewall.jsp


The R8 will run rings around a GTO....

Also the GTO is ugly and has a crappy interior compared to the Le Mans.

 

[golem]

wonder how much my salesman wants for a deposit...