Audi R8 News

Audi's new second-generation R8 supercar has received an online unveiling ahead of the car's official debut at the Geneva motor show next month. The new model is lighter, faster and sharper than before and unlike the original R8 will only be available with a V10 engine from launch.Powering the new R8 is a mid-mounted, dry-sumped and naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 that is carried over from the outgoing model but boosted from 386kW/530Nm to 397kW/540Nm in standard form, resulting in a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds.The quicker V10 Plus model packs the same 449kW/560Nm unit as the Lamborghini Huracan, and also matches the Lambo's 3.2 second 0-100km/h time.The engine isn't the only part of the R8 shared with the new Huracan either. Its new multi-material spaceframe platform is also derived from the V10 Lamborghini.The R8's passanger cell is a hybrid structure made from a combination of lightweight aluminium and carbon fibre which weighs just 200kg, allowing for a bodyshell that's 15 per cent lighter than before.The B-pillar, transmission tunnel and rear bulkhead are all made from carbon fibre reinforced plastics, while the roof and structural framework are made from aluminium. The result is a body structure that is 40 per cent torsionally stronger than before - and the old R8 was hardly flimsy. Like the outgoing model, the new R8 uses an S-Tronic 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox and Quattro all-wheel drive system which can now send up to 100 per cent of the V10's grunt to either end.The new model is essentially the same size as the old model with the exception of width - it's now around 11mm wider.Its overall shape hasn't changed dramatically either, but sharper lines give it a significantly more muscular appearance.The first-generation R8 coupe's trademark contrasting 'sideblades' have been included but are now much smaller and only cover the side air intakes.The new model also features a more significant aerodynamic package with an aggressive rear diffuser, and fixed carbon fibre wing on V10 Plus models. As standard the new R8 rides on 19-inch alloys with 245/35 front and 295/35 rear tyres which hide unique weight-saving wave-shaped steel brake discs while carbon ceramic discs are fitted to the V10 Plus.The interior has also received a thorough makeover, featuring a new Audi TT-style wing-shaped dashboard and fully digital instrument display with integrated multimedia.There is also a new sports steering wheel with engine start/stop and drive mode select buttons. The V10 Plus model gets a further two buttons, one for controlling the sports exhaust system and another rotary dial for selecting dry, wet and snow programs for the stability control system. Like other Audi Quattro models, the R8 features four different driving modes which vary the throttle response, gear shift speed, steering weight and damper stiffness if adaptive suspension is specified.Modes include comfort, auto, dynamic and individual, which allows drivers to select their ideal combination.The new Audi R8 is tipped to arrive in Australia in 2016, following its debut in Geneva.

Salmon is a Sydney hotelier and online entrepreneur, while Baumgartner is best known as the crazy Austrian who parachuted from the edge of space.But both of them fit right in at the Bathurst 12-Hour, a race that takes Mount Panorama back to its showroom roots.It's not your everyday showroom, as exotics brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren dominate the entry list, but these are still cars that are far closer to the real world than any V8Supercar.Best of all, they all look and sound different. And, since they have different strengths and weaknesses, there is constant track action as they swap places around Mount Panorama. And that's without worrying about the tail-end tiddlers in cars such as the 1-Series BMWs who contribute to the healthiest starting grid since the 1980s."Why do I race? I caught the bug and I cannot get it out of my system," Salmon tells CarsGuide."I'm a gentleman driver, not a professional, but I can still compete here with some of the best blokes in the world.The 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers"I'm 55 next week, so I have a few things to tick off the Bucket List. This is one."Salmon owns his Audi R8 racer but Baumgartner, a world- class and world-renowned thrill seeker, is at Bathurst as a guest of Audi. He's in an R8 to satisfy his need for speed."This is fun. Just great," he says.The driver lineup for the 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers, and former V8Supercar runners John Bowe, Warren Luff and Greg Crick, but the current stars have been banned from the action by a clashing touring car test at Sydney Motorsport Park.No-one is remotely surprised that Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly would prefer to be spending the weekend at Bathurst, or that the 12-Hour telecast comprehensively trumps the broadcast numbers for the rival event in Sydney.The 12-Hour is a wacky race, from the drivers to the cars, and the Mercedes-Benz pacecar is called out a record 20 times after some sort of on-track incident.But the cars are fast and spectacular and it's easy to tell them apart. Especially when you see a brutal Benz SLS going head-to-head with an exotic Ferrari 458 and a giant-but-gentlemanly Bentley Continental.There is a respectable crowd at the 12-Hour and the carpark is full of old Bristols and MG sports cars, shiny new McLarens and even a 50-car cavalcade of Mercedes-Benzes, dominated by the brand's hot AMG models.As always, Mount Panorama stars — from the spectacle of a start in darkness through to the final fight to the flag.The 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fastIn the end, it's a Nissan GT-R that gets home first — as Godzilla conquers the Mountain for the first time since Mark Skaife and Jim Richards — with a blanket finish for the minor places.But the 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fast. There are seven factory-backed teams in 2015 and this will grow again for 2016, with Audi, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz already committed to next year's race."This race and this place is something special. It's not only the track, it's the atmosphere and the racing and all the rest," says Romolo Liebchen, head of Audi's giant Customer Racing Division.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad"Australia has a relatively small car market, but it is very important for performance cars and also as a place to compete with our customers. It is clear this race will continue to grow."A Bentley at Bathurst is so wrong that it’s right.I feel as if I’ve been invited into the sitting room of Le Mans winner Guy Smith’s home in Britain as I slide into his Continental GT3-R for a relatively quiet lap of Mount Panorama.This is the roadgoing version of the car Smith is racing in the 12-hour, with everything I expect from an ultra-luxury Bentley coupe. There are sumptuous leather seats and all the luxury fruit. Then Smith opens the taps on Mountain Straight and we’re aa-www-aaaay.It’s not remotely what I expect from a car that weighs nearly two tonnes and costs more than $600,000.Bentley has done a serious job on this car. It has 427kW and 700Nm in the engine room, which — with special gearing and a bunch of other changes — means it can slingshot to 100km/h in just 3.8 secs. That’s exactly what Smith does, calmly giving his first impression of the circuit. “It’s a tricky place, isn’t it? It takes a bit of learning,” he says.On Sunday afternoon, long after this memorable run down the mountain, he and his team should have been podium finishers. A cruel punt on the final corner drops them to fourth at the flag. Bentley is committed to come back in 2016 and I’m looking forward to another visit to Smith’s sitting room.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad. A total of 13 car brands now have official programs in the global category, following a decision by Cadillac this year to join the track action with its CTS-V coupe, and they are spending big as bait for buyers.Cadillac will be joining everyone from Aston Martin and Audi to Lamborghini, Ferrari, and even Mercedes-Benz at the sharp end of GT racing.It's a crazy category because the cars look so outrageous. The purchase price, from about $600,000, makes them relatively affordable.In comparison, a homegrown V8Supercar can easily top $500,000 as a turnkey racer.The big difference between Australia and the rest of the world is the scale, with carmakers doing big numbers and making serious dollars from their motorsport divisions.Mercedes-Benz still has 20 cars to build before it switches from its current SLS to the GT3 version of the new coupe. Bentley has built 18 Continental GTs for racing.Audi tops the pile, having built 136 track versions of its R8, with 126 currently still in action including the car that took pole position for the Bathurst 12-Hour.

New video highlights Audi's trio of 24 hour endurance race wins in 2014. Audi's win at the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium on the weekend marked the German brand's third 24-hour race win in six weeks, after the R18 e-tron quattro won outright at Le Mans last month and the R8 LMS ultra took out the Nurburgring 24-hour the week after. Clearly the brand's motorsport arm is doing something right, as the Le Mans win was Audi's 13th in 16 years, the second in three years at the Nurburgring, and the third in four years at Spa. On local soil, Audi have also taken out the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2011 and 2012 with the R8 LMS, in addition to Super Touring Championships in 1996 and 1998 with Audi A4 Super Tourers.

It arrived as an affordable Audi version of the Lamborghini Gallardo in 2006 and is about to be totally overhauled for 2015.There are rumours of a mid-munted twin-turbo V8 for the two-seater supercar, which gets an all-new body.The best pointer to development of the R8 is the new Lamborghini Huracan, the Gallardo successor that’s also providing the basic mechanical package for the new Audi hero car. Here early next year - and much cheaper than a Huracan.

You don't get much idea of the storyline from the teaser footage -- despite it being a long-ish 2.5 minutes -- but there's enough of a taste to let you know what's in store when the film is released in June.The action kicks off with Optimus Prime in a very sorry semi-truck state being hauled to a barn, where a probe into the vehicle's materials, and some jolts of power, reawaken the transformer mode. At that stage, he looks in severe need of a wash and wax as well.However, a bit of barn-busting action when the men in sunglasses turn up to take him proves he's been restored to ...erm, prime condition.Other cars appear in the trailer, including the black and orange Chevrolet Camaro SS (Bumblebee) transforming in a museum and later out and about but in four-wheeled form. And there are also some fuzzy cameos from a green Corvette Stingray we think will be the autobot Crosshairs, what looks to be an Audi R8, and another SS -- concept matt black with orange trim that seems to be a later incarnation of Bumblebee. This fourth in the Transformers franchise stars Mark Wahlberg as struggling inventor -- and autobot reviver -- Cade Yeager, and the continuing voice of Peter Cullen, the original and still only tones for Optimus Prime from the 1980s TV series through all four movies.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincottWatch the car bot action of the new trailer on our desktop site. 

It’s no secret that Australians buy a higher proportion of high-performance models like BMW’s M, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG and Chrysler and Jeep’s SRT models than most markets, and Audi is taking full advantage of this with its Audi Sport range of models. With an unprecedented seven RS models now available, the R8 supercar and S-badged versions of almost all of its models, the German brand saw a 172.2 per cent increase in local Audi Sport model sales during the 2013 financial year. This resulted in a total of 1121 units, and a shift from 3 to 7 percent of Audi’s record total local volume of 16,009 units.During this same period, BMW’s M models dropped 1 percent, and Mercedes’ AMG rose 34.3 per cent, and the total Audi Sport volume sits between BMW M’s 623 units and Mercedes AMG’s 1650 units.With the subsequent additions of the RS6 Avant, RS5 Cabriolet, S3 Sportback, RSQ3, RS7 Sportback and the upcoming S3 Sedan and S1 hatch, Audi could be a serious threat to AMG’s top-fiddle status.“We have a renewed focus on Audi Sport, and the central theme of this comes from the 30 years of quattro GmbH last year”  Audi’s Australian boss Andrew Doyle says.In addition to the new quattro GmbH-developed Audi Sport models and the brand’s ongoing motorsport activities, Australia has become the second market after the UK to adopt the ‘Audi Sport Sales Concept’, which will see dedicated Audi Sport-themed areas established in several Australian dealerships. These ‘shops within a showroom’ will feature décor based around the Audi Sport red rhombus motif, and showcase a range of merchandise, wheels and accessories.To ensure buyers of RS models appreciate the full breadth of their vehicle’s performance, each will now be invited to participate – free of charge - in the Audi Driver Experience program with driver trainer and ex-Top Gear Australia host Steve Pizzati.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

The awesome Audi Quattro concept is getting closer to becoming a reality. The car powered by a 700 horsepower V8 hybrid system is nearing approval to go into production after it received overwhelming support at last year’s Frankfurt motor show.Audi spokesman Christian Bangemann said the complex V8 and hybrid system is not a flight of fancy and has been designed to be built off the same underpinnings as the next generation A6 luxury sedan. “The reactions (to the show car) are quite good, so it’s not so far away,”  Mr Bangemann told Australian media at the annual Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. In the car world, that means “two to three years”.“All the technology inside, our engineers have invented. It is based on the modular … next generation platform, and we bring this first in the A6 and (then) this (Quattro concept) could be on the road. It would be not very complicated.” Mr Bangemann said the business case for the Quattro was yet to be formally approved by Audi but the early signs were good.The Quattro concept made its second appearance globally in Las Vegas, in a slightly revised form, to gauge more public reaction. Europe and North America will likely be the biggest markets for the car, given the cult status of the original Quattro. The Quattro concept car was unveiled in the 30th anniversary year of the 1983 model, and Audi hinted at the time it may build the new one as a “limited edition”.The all-wheel-drive coupe has a claimed 0 to 100km/h time of 3.7 seconds. This would make the Quattro even faster than Audi’s current flagship, the Audi R8 V10 supercar, powered by the same engine as a Lamborghini. Driving Audi’s red rocket is 515kW of power and 800Nm from the twin turbo 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine and electric motor channeled through an eight-speed automatic transmission.The electric motor alone contributes 110kW and 400Nm to the equation, although the power overlaps with the V8 so the two figures cannot be added. An on-board battery pack means the car can be charged by electricity overnight and provide 50km of petrol-free driving -- on the way to a claimed top speed of 305km/h. The only catch will be the price. Early estimates put the cost of the Quattro at close to $250,000 if and when it eventually goes on sale.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

When news first broke about the surprise Audi nanuk quattro concept at this week’s Frankfurt Auto Show, some fingers may have been pointed for just a moment—at the close likeness of the nanuk to another concept car from earlier this year: the Giugiaro Parcour. The Parcour was one of the favourite concepts of this year’s Geneva show; and later we learned that the Parcour was essentially a high-riding Lamborghini Gallardo underneath. Now it all computes: Audi has claimed the Parcour and made this curvaceous, stocky supercar its own. And it might even build it. The project started before Geneva with Italdesign, said Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, the new Audi AG board of management member in charge of technical development, in a roundtable interview session at the show. Then after the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the concept, Audi laid claim on the design. “And so the idea came about, let’s try to make such a concept under the eyes of Audi, so with Audi core competences and Audi core values,” explained Hackenberg. The nanuk is built on VW Group’s mid-engine platform - what’s used by the R8 sports car and Lamborghini Gallardo. Because of that, it’s easier to make a business case for such a car, because much is carried over - although the lifted suspension and special V-10 turbo-diesel engine (406kW and 999Nm in the concept) would require a separate development path than the R8. Those who could afford an R8 but might not consider one because of poor road conditions (such as those in developing countries) might be interested in a car like the nanuk, Hackenberg hinted. “Even in countries where the infrastructure is great, it’s just fun to have such a car,” Hackenberg added. “There are some customers in the USA as well who will look at it and say that’s something new, that’s crazy, I want to have it.” www.motorauthority.com  

Hugh Jackman risked being upstaged when showed up to the London premiere of his new movie The Wolverine in an Audi R8 V10 Spyder.What does the stunning Audi sports car have to do with Jackman and his latest movie? Well, in The Wolverine, Jackman’s character is driven by Yukio, played by Rila Fukushima, in the very same car. Wolverine doesn't take the wheel himself it seems -- and it would admittedly be difficult to steer with those adamantine claws.Jackman also happens to be an ambassador for the brand with the four rings, which means he takes an active role in raising the profile of Audi and its products during social events like the movie premiere.The R8 wasn’t the only Audi in the new movie. Also starring on the silver screen were an Audi A8 L and a Ducati Diavel (the Ducati brand is now owned by Audi).The latest version of the R8 is now available with a smooth-shifting dual-clutch transmission in addition to the standard manual. The range starts at $287,000 for the standard R8 Coupe, but if you want the R8 V10 Spyder Jackman used you will need to front up at least $395,800. Or you could upstage him in the Audi R8 V10 Plus Coupe at $408,200.See our reviews of the latest 2014 Audi R8 range.www.motorauthority.com