TooMuchBoost
Comp Diesel Sponsor
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2006
- Messages
- 2,072
Introduced on Sunday: Audi R8 V-12 TDI Diesel Concept
Is it real? While it was billed as a concept, everything about the R8 V-12 TDI from the exterior design to the big bucket seats says "If we build this, they will come."
What they said: Audi AG's Michael Dick, board member for technical development, drove the car onto the bright white stage, got out, and uttered two seemingly contradictory numbers: 185 miles per hour and 24 miles per gallon, thus putting in a nutshell the twin attractions of a diesel-powered sports car.
What they didn't say: Audi has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning its R10 diesel racecar events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the past two seasons, utterly trouncing the competition. Now, it's time to put a high-performance diesel engine in a real production sports car and sell it, to try to get some of those millions back. If they hurry, it will be the world's first modern diesel sports car.
What makes it tick? Under the see-through engine cover at the rear of the lovely R8 Diesel Concept's body is a 6-liter twin-turbocharged, twin-intercooled V-12 direct-injection diesel engine that makes 500 horsepower and 737 foot-pounds of torque. The company said the Quattro all-wheel-drive system will apportion power in such way that the extra rear-end weight won't affect the sports coupe's handling.
How much, how soon? The production R8 Quattro with a 4.2-liter V-8 engine already nudges $120,000, so another $10,000 for the world's fastest diesel sports car doesn't sound unreasonable. Expect to see a production version in showrooms in about 18 months.
How's it look? The R8 is already one of the sexiest cars on the planet, and the diesel concept's glass roof panel, roof-mounted air intake and see-through engine cover over that massive diesel engine put it right over the top.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/a...em&ex=1200459600&en=42c6bbe917819b0c&ei=5087
Is it real? While it was billed as a concept, everything about the R8 V-12 TDI from the exterior design to the big bucket seats says "If we build this, they will come."
What they said: Audi AG's Michael Dick, board member for technical development, drove the car onto the bright white stage, got out, and uttered two seemingly contradictory numbers: 185 miles per hour and 24 miles per gallon, thus putting in a nutshell the twin attractions of a diesel-powered sports car.
What they didn't say: Audi has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning its R10 diesel racecar events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the past two seasons, utterly trouncing the competition. Now, it's time to put a high-performance diesel engine in a real production sports car and sell it, to try to get some of those millions back. If they hurry, it will be the world's first modern diesel sports car.
What makes it tick? Under the see-through engine cover at the rear of the lovely R8 Diesel Concept's body is a 6-liter twin-turbocharged, twin-intercooled V-12 direct-injection diesel engine that makes 500 horsepower and 737 foot-pounds of torque. The company said the Quattro all-wheel-drive system will apportion power in such way that the extra rear-end weight won't affect the sports coupe's handling.
How much, how soon? The production R8 Quattro with a 4.2-liter V-8 engine already nudges $120,000, so another $10,000 for the world's fastest diesel sports car doesn't sound unreasonable. Expect to see a production version in showrooms in about 18 months.
How's it look? The R8 is already one of the sexiest cars on the planet, and the diesel concept's glass roof panel, roof-mounted air intake and see-through engine cover over that massive diesel engine put it right over the top.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/a...em&ex=1200459600&en=42c6bbe917819b0c&ei=5087
