Hello everyone, I'm a chestnut.
There have been rumors that this generation of Audi R8 will be the last model, and the future R code car will be driven by pure electric power. Recently things seem to have turned around again, it is said that the third generation of Audi R8 will usher in the next generation of models together with the Lamborghini Huracan, still using the internal combustion engine powertrain, and the performance is violent. This is exciting news for fans and performance car players, the internal combustion engine is not dead!
Although the Audi R8 is a road sports car that pays great attention to mobility friendliness, the symbol "R8" has a deep racing gene!
In the 1990s, Audi made an important decision to build a prototype car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Until 2016, when Audi announced its withdrawal from the WEC World Endurance Championship, 18 Le Mans races, Audi team won 13 championships, becoming one of the most successful brands in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 1999, the prototype, code-named R8 R, represented Audi for the first time. During the 7 years of service in the R8 series, Audi won five championship titles in the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 seasons. In 2006, Audi equipped the car with a TDI diesel engine. In the same year, Audi unveiled the first supercar in the history of the brand based on the mid-platform at the Paris Motor Show, named the Audi R8, which is a perfect inheritance of the track gene to the road!
The birth of the original Audi R8, in addition to having a brilliant racing gene, also benefited from the blessing of another supercar brand, that is, Lamborghini. In 1980, Lamborghini declared bankruptcy, changed hands several times, and in 1998 was acquired by the German Volkswagen Group and handed over to Audi. Subsequently, the new flagship Murcielago equipped with V12 engines was launched, and the Gallardo equipped with V10 engines was introduced, which is what everyone calls the big cow and calf. The original Audi R8, launched in 2006, is gallardo's sibling model.
But the original R8 model, like the Lamborghini Gallardo at that time, had a stubborn personality. The sequential gearbox has a strong sense of dragging, which can still be understood as a "sense of excitement" in track driving, and when it comes to daily transportation, it is simply a nightmare. For Audi's performance cars and supercars, daily transportation is not friendly, which seems to go against the original intention of Audi Sport.
In 2015, Audi brought the second generation of the R8 model at the Geneva Motor Show, which is what I call the "most driver-friendly, the most suitable for daily comfort" mid-range supercar, which is today's protagonist.
In fact, in the 15 years since the Audi R8 road sports car came out, the R8's racing DNA has never been missing. Audi Sport launched the R8 LMS GT3, GT4 and GT2 cars, all rear-wheel drive, suitable for different sizes of the event, excellent performance, has become a regular podium in major events.
Gradually, in addition to Audi's die-hard fans, the Audi R8 seems to have been less often mentioned by fans. The V10 self-priming engine does have both emotion and performance, but in the face of the grumpy power of the twin-turbo engine, we have to shout out the word "true fragrance". At the same time, with the advancement of science and technology and the common development vision of road sports cars, daily transportation comfort has become a compulsory course for every new car.
Looking at the second-generation Audi R8 with the current mainstream aesthetic, it is inevitable that there is a sense of hero twilight. Let's look to the future together, it is said that the third generation of R8 will come again with a high-profile and violent posture, which is a good news for fans and Audi fans.
Was the Audi R8 ever your Dreamcar? Feel free to chat in the comments section!
New Year's Wish: In the new year, I wish high-speed riders can take away an R8~