Audi plots diesel hybrid supercar
Audi is thinking about creating a diesel-hybrid hypercar to sit above the R8 in the line-up, auto reveal has learned. It will contend with the Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren P1 as well as Ferrari Enzo replacement at the extremely top of the supercar segment, as well as will provide a direct transfer of innovation from the 2012 Audi R18 e-tron Le Mans-winning race car.
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“There is definitely space for a super sports cars and truck above the R8,” Audi’s new manager of technical development, Wolfgang Durheimer told us. “If we made this a diesel hybrid it might be a hot-seller. What always offers is performance – if it is quick, has low usage as well as looks cool, I’m sure it would be a success.”
You don’t have to look far to realise where Durheimer – who likewise heads up the strategic motorsport plan for the entire VW group – took his motivation for this radical new halo model. “This year I watched Audi win Le Mans for the 11th time, as well as asked myself exactly how do we leverage this diesel-hybrid innovation to the road,” he revealed. “This would provide that transfer from track to road that I’m always looking for.”
It’s an concept that’s still firmly in the theoretical stage at this time, however things might move fast. “With this new task I have much deeper pockets for R&D, in truth I have more concepts than time or engineers to implement them. later this week I have a planning satisfying where we will set out our top three advancement jobs in terms of priority,” Durheimer explained.
Details on the powertrain are yet to be finalised, however expect a integrated power output in the region of 700bhp as well as at least 1,000Nm of torque to contend with rivals. That would mean 0-62mph in around 3.0 seconds as well as a top speed of more than 200mph.
There are a number of chassis choices offered to Audi. A new MSB platform is currently being established for all mid as well as rear-engined designs in the VW group – including the next generation R8, Lamborghini Gallardo as well as Porsche 911. like the smaller MQB platform this will be extremely versatile in terms of the size of the chassis as well as the materials it’s built from.
Alternatively Lamborghini with the Aventador, as well as Porsche with the 918 Spyder, have proved that building a carbon-fibre tub specific to your needs can be done as well as is cost-effective at this highly-expensive end of the market.
No time scale has been laid out yet, however with the new R8 not routine to show up up until 2015, don’t expect this range-topper to hit the road up until 2017 at the earliest.