500+ HP V8 Audi R8 Due Late 2008

should be nice.

What a beautiful machine.

Audi #1

I agree the R8 with 500 horsepower, Naturally Aspirated V10 will be one amazing machine.

The R8 curently with a 420 horsepower V8 is already defeating Porsche's left and right. The R8 has defeated the Porsche 911, including 911 Turbo, in 9 comparison tests.

The R8 has taken Autocar's Best Driver's Car of 2007, Autocar's Car of the Year and a host of other awards.

Not to mention its track capabilitites....

The R8 with its completely Audi developed V10 will be one performance monster.

Please show a link to those 9 tests because there's a few which show taht the current R8 can't even beat a 997S much less the 997tt .

The V10 ought to be very interesting but so will Porsche's 997 facelift and future redesign.

I wonder why the V10 wasn't released in the first place if Audi really wanted a perch itself above the pack at the launch of this car.

From what I can tell you from having driven the V8 version of the R8.... sitting on top of a V10 in that car is going to make for one sweeeeet drive.

What's this thing going to do in a straight line? (For that matter, what did the V8 do?)

V8 is 0-60 in about 4 sec flat.

This should do 3.5 with no sweat.

0-100 should be well below 10s

Nice, I see people are against accleration times (hence my deboost).

It will be interesting to see if this one can beat the GTR off the line.

LOVE it. Sweet exhausts. And, over 8000RPM! Incredible!

the vw group has alot of product overlap...

That's all you can think to say?

Sad, really.

i agree the vw group is sad.....talk about horrible product planning use the one chassis to create 2 similar priced, similar performing vehicles to compete head to head with each other under the same corporate umbrella....now your right thats sad

Please, explain to me how the Gallardo and R8 compete with each other.

The Gallardo is not only already a ten-cylinder vehicle... but it's about $80K more than the R8, and it will be upgraded with a more powerful V10 soon (rumored to be 520-550hp). That leaves a nice amount of room for a less-expensive ($140K?) ten-cylinder R8.

so your argument still makes no sense, undercut the lamborghini while delivering the same performance, or better......thats even worse than them being the same price. ive seen r8's priced as high as 185,000 why anyone would pay that much is rediculous......why buy the lamborghini at all if its slower, more expensive, and has an even less exclusive engine since its engine is all used in 3 of audis cars. There is no prestige in that, we are talking lamborghini here, the vw group insists on sharing and competing with themselves its rediculous.

Isn't the new 135i getting the same turbo'd 3.0L as the 335i? Same concept. Less money for better/equal performance in the same lineup. If you can't afford the 335i - buy the 135i. Same as if you can't afford a Gallardo - buy the R8.

he's speechless...

Its something called exclusivity. When you buy an Audi, you are buying an AUDI. When you are buying a Lamborghini, you are buying a... you guessed it, a LAMBORGHINI.

You think that its cannabalizing? how about a this comparison...

Gallardo msrp: 180K
R8 V-10 msrp: ~140k
Thats a 28% price mark up margin.

750i msrp: 75k
550 msrp: 59k
Thats a 27% price mark up margin.

Comparable size, differences are several inches in dimensions at most, and the cheaper of both comparison are better performers. So why would you get a Gallardo or a 750i?

"ive seen r8's priced as high as 185,000 why anyone would pay that much is rediculous.."

No, not at all. The R8 is an AMAZING car, regardless of the price. I would pay $80K for a 335i. It's that good. Would you?

Do you catch my drift? I don't think about cars based on MSRP. I think of them based pure excellence. Whether they excel in their classes, on the road, on the track. I don't care if it's not as fast as a Gallardo--I would still buy an R8 4.2 over it, even if the Audi was more expensive. That's because, IMO, it's a much better car.

That's just me, though. I would take any R8 over any Lamborghini currently in production, even a Revénton. There's something about the R8 that just draws me in. It actually may have better performance than the Gallardo V10, or at least comparable (the R8 4.2). It looks incredible. It's easy to drive every day and a blast to drive at the track. It has a luxurious interior. It's über-desirable. It is completely unexpected. I didn't even think Audi would ever come out with something THIS good. For that, I would pay anything.

The fastest 0-60 mph time for the V8 R8 has been 3.9 seconds achieved by Motortrend.

Most times are in the 4.0 - 4.4 second range.

Audi officially lists the R8's 0-62 mph time as 4.6 seconds.

I think the V10 will be 0-62 officially in 4.2 seconds with most times coming in at 3.3-3.8 seconds.

i doubt it...most times will just get high 3s to low 4s..i highly doubt low to mid 3s...I dont think that audi should make the V10 version...V8 is enough.

The V10 version is a given, Lemantech. It will be the undisputed flagship of the range. It will give true supercars a run for their money. And I'm sure it won't be ridiculously heavy, leaving room for its incredible handling and excellent acceleration times.

How would you expect it to get from 0-60mph in the low fours when that's what the R8 4.2 gets? Mid-3s are fairly obvious, IMO. It will have similar weight to the 911 Turbo but more power. That makes for similar--if not better--acceleration figures.

I won't be surprised if this engine ends up in the RS4/RS5.

Chances are this engine would weigh about the same/less than the current RS4's engine.

Interesting times ahead... ...looks like I'd be building an Audi fleet.

RS4? Do you want to try to shove it in?

S4cab... I would certainly not be attempting that. Seems like you have a lot of info. that you do not want to let us know. E.g. based on your question it appears that you already know the dimension of the V10 and it would be tight fit in the RS4, but it would work the RS5 and RS8. Did I read into this incorrectly? Would you like to elaborate?

What else do you know about the up coming vehicles that we should know that you are not divulging?

The RS5 has a larger engine bay than the RS4. Notice how it's an MLP platform. That means that, while the RS4's engine (or at least the current model's) sits over the front axle. That leaves barely enough room for the V8--they had to make it smaller than the one used in the A6 and A8 for it to fit. A V10 would be ridiculous.

And also, who needs a V10 in a compact sedan? Just make it weigh less and give it the V8. That equals better performance every time.

Granted, the B8 RS4 will be on the MLP platform. But the V10's fitting is still doubtful. I'm not even sure if it would fit in the RS5, but the RS5 is still fairly long. Two inches longer than the E92 3 Series (coupe).

Wow, this is really exciting I can't wait to it test spec. The current Audi R8 alreday have outstanding performance, and now this?

Since Audi coming out with a 500+ hp Audi R8, I think they will eventually sales of the Lambo brand. Honestly I think it will hurt the Lambo Gallardo sales figure but that just me.

Can the R8 get any better?

Lemantech, please explain to me how a car with a 500 horsepower V10, high-revving will get the same 0-60 time as almost an identical smaller engine of itself featuring a high-revving 4.2 liter V8 and 420 horsepower? The V8 has already been clocked at 0-60 in 3.9 seconds by Motortrend. I'm willing to bet that the R8 with V10 can shave at least .3 seconds of of that time which places the 0-60 for the V10 at 3.6 seconds.

That is mid 3s right there.

Remember high torque available at a low RPM level is the name of the game when it comes to straight-line acceleration.

Not only will the R8 with V10 have 80-90 more horsepower than the V8, but it will have a lot more torque and the V10 will also rev past 8,250 rpm just like the V8 does.

As far as those 9 comparison tests do a check for these magazines and you will find all 9 results I mentioned:

1. Motortrend

2. & 3.Car and Driver (do this one twice for the two tests)

4.Autozeitung

5.Fifth Gear

6.Autocar (Where the R8 took Best Driver's Car)

7.Popular Mechanics

8.Autobild

9.Evo

I understand the Porsche 911 Turbo's fastest 0-62 time is 3.2 seconds, the R8 with V10 will most likely not be that fast, but it is the R8's grace, poise, stability, ease of daily driving, head-turning looks, and exclusiveness that make it better than the Porsche 911, including 911 Turbo for the many reviewers.

You have to admit the 911 is a time-tested and proven car. However, you must also admit that change in any segment is good.

The R8 brings a strikingly different design coupled with many of the same characteristics that enthusiast love about the Porsche 911.

If Audi can improve the feedback and feel of the R8 when they release the V10, I don't see the Porsche 911 Turbo winning any comparison tests against this car.

The only thing the R8 was criticized for was its lack of driver feedback.

GermanNut-
It takes more than just a 0- 62 time to establish a car as a benchmark but it also takes more than a high powered fresh face to name acar "Car of the Year" . The R8 is only on the street a few months and has yet to face the issues of reliability and resale yet the journalists do praise . Are their words valid or is it a profit induced propganda ? Is their praise and the R8 exclusivity simply an effort to create a high level price bubble ? Will that V10 cost 140K or more and then when Porsche goes out and answers the call to compete that Audi resale goes Timberrrrrrrrr.....

Also woth mentioning are some of the other cars like the GTR and ZR1 or the M3 all of which cost thousands less and may sell to a different customer base demographic yet get noticed as well .

I like the freshness of the R8 and I am also glad that someone designed and engineeered a car in this league but comparing a V10 (future car) with a current 997tt does not consider that Porsche also can and will evolve . I also feel that it will be very interesting to see how resale on those R8 cars with the current engine hold up when all the 09 and 10 cars are in dealership showrooms .

The R8 may be car du jour but only time will determine if that novelty will last or erode . I only hope that 30 years from now that the R8 receives the same praise that the Porsche 911 gets in it's 30+ year run.

You are so stupid. It's pretty funny.

So where do you think all their engines came from?

Engines Audi has developed (recently)...

1. 2.0TFSI I4
2. 3.2FSI V6
3. 4.2FSI V8
4. 5.2FSI V10
5. 6.0 W12
6. 3.0TDI V6
7. 4.2TDI V8
8. 6.0TDI V12

Is that enough?

BTW, I believe all of them have garnered several awards, with the exception of the 6.0TDI V12 because it has yet to be officially released.

Audi will develop a brand new V10 engine completely separate from Lamborghini's V10 in the Gallardo.

You shut up, amazinBimmer.

Why don't you raise your income so you can afford an Audi.

After all, it is no secret that Audi owners have a higher average income than BMW owners.

Well the Audi will rev past 8,250 rpm so for all practical purposes it will rev just as high as the LFA.

Remember though that the Audi R8 with V10 is based on the current R8 with V8 engine. The current R8 has already received absolutely amazing reviews in every test and has defeated the iconic Porsche 911, including 911 Turbo, in 9 comparison tests.

The R8 has won driver's car of the year by Autocar, Supercar of the year by Autozeitung, and many other amazing awards against world class competition which includes the Porsche 911 GT3, Lamborghini Murcielago, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lotus etc.....

I'm sure the LF-A will be a great car, but it is impossible to say that it will achieve the same level of greatness as a car that has been tested at least 12 times will all excellent reviews, when the LF-A is not out yet.

The R8 has become quite an instant icon. It has taken the sports car category by storm.

I am a diehard 911 fan, and even purchased one at quite a hugh expense, but I must say that if I had the option to purchase a 911 C4S or a R8 (V8), it would be a tough decision. I purchesed a porsche because its more iconic, proven, and a status/performance symbol, more so than the R8, which is only starting to build up its reputation for greatness.

XeroKOOL... why even mention the LF-A?

I think if you pulled up to a club in the R8... people would know it was a status/performance symbol, regardless of the badge. Just look at it!