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The Audi R8 is a mid-engined sports car introduced by the German automaker Audi in 2007.

The first appearance of the car was in 2006, appearing at auto shows and events all over the world. The R8 is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform, as Audi has full ownership of subsidiary Lamborghini S.p.A.. Audi announced in 2005 that the name of the successful Audi R8 race car would be used for a new road car in 2007, the Audi R8, based on the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, which was based on the earlier Audi RSQ concept vehicle, appearing at the 2003 Geneva Auto Show and 2003 International Motor Show. The R8 was officially launched at the Paris Auto Show on 30 September 2006. There is some confusion with the name which the car shares with the Le Mans winning R8 LMP. Originally, many thought the car would be called the R9 (as there is a gap in numbering left when Audi announced the R8’s successor, the diesel-powered R10).

Manufacturer Audi
Parent company Volkswagen Group
Production 2007–
Assembly Neckarsulm, Germany
Predecessor Audi Le Mans quattro concept
Class Sports car
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
Layout MR layout
Engine(s) 4.2 L V8 FSI
6.0L V12
Transmission(s) 6-speed manual
6-speed single-clutch semi-automatic
Wheelbase 104.3 in (2649 mm)
Length 4431 mm (174.4 in)
Width 1904 mm (74.9 in)
Height 1249 mm (49.2 in)
Curb weight 1560 kg (3439 lb)

Technical details
The Audi R8 is equipped with a 4.2 L FSI V8 developing 420 PS (414 hp/309 kW), the same engine seen in the Audi RS4. The gearbox is either a manual gearbox with metal gate or a “R-tronic” gearbox (single-clutch robotic gearbox). These options are the same that are available on the Lamborghini Gallardo. A double clutch gearbox (DSG, S-tronic) is not currently (as of January 2008) available.

Pricing for the R8 model starts from €104,400 (extra taxes depending on country). The base price in the US is $109,000.[1] The R8 has a dry weight of 1560 kg (3439 lb). Its suspension utilizes magneto rheological dampers.[2]

As Audi AG owns Lamborghini, 15% of the R8 is shared with the Lamborghini Gallardo, including the transmission and chassis. The R8 is made further distinct by its exterior styling, cabin, engine and pricing.

The Audi R8 also features an optional Bang & Olufsen sound system

Performance
Specifications[4] Top speed 187 mph (301 km/h)
0-60 mph (96 km/h) 4.0 seconds
1/4 mile (~400 m) 12.5 seconds @ 113.2 mph (182.2 km/h)
Type V8
Displacement 4.2 L (4163 cc)
Power 414 bhp (309 kW) @ 7800 rpm
Lateral Acceleration
(200 feet (61 m) skidpad) 1.01 g
The 2-seat coupe is already available in Europe and will be made available to the USA in the summer of 2008. In addition, an open-top roadster, Porsche Carrera GT-like model will follow in 2009.

Many publications were hailing it as the first car to truly be able to beat Porsche - considered by many to be one of the best supercars ever made and the leader in its class. Initial comparison tests have proven quite positive in this respect; Evo Magazine in its comparison test between the R8, 911 Carrera 4S, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and BMW M6 have claimed that the Audi is a better supercar saying that “Audi humbles Porsche. A new dawn starts today.”[5] Other publications have also made similar reviews of the Audi beating the Porsche in comparison tests. [6][7]

Future development
A 6.0L, 500 hp (373 kW), 1,000 N·m (738 ft·lbf) V12TDI concept car was presented at the Detroit Auto Show on January 13th, 2008. [1][2] Due to the additional length of the V12 engine, the TDI variant no longer has stowage space behind the front seats. It also features modified suspension and brakes to cope with the additional power and weight of the engine. An in depth analysis of the Audi R8 V12 TDI is available here.

A V10 version is also planned for 2008. Audi already uses the V10 powerplant from the Lamborghini Gallardo in different configurations in three models, including the 5.2 liter twin-turbo version used by the 2008 RS6. It was thought that this version of the engine, which produces 580hp, was going to be fitted to the RS8. However, the twin-turbo system overheated, and one prototype was destroyed at the Nürburgring.[8] Instead, the production RS8 will have a new V10 engine developed from the V8 engine that powers the RS4 and the R8.[9]

Awards
The R8 was awarded Best Handling Car and Fastest Car In The World of 2007 by Autocar magazine.
It was awarded SportsCar of the year by German magazine Autobild.
Playboy Magazine awarded it Car of The Year for 2008.
The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) awarded the R8 Best Prestige Car and Most Coveted Car of 2008.
Top Gear Magazine named the Audi R8 the 2007 Car of the Year.
Automobile Magazine awarded the R8 the 2008 Automobile of the Year

Analysts expect annual hybrid sales to blow past 1 million by the end of the decade. Here we look at the latest models to hit

the market and examine why they’re quickly moving from the fringes to the mainstream.

Hybrids are still niche vehicles, but at their current rate of growth, they could dominate the roads in another five or 10

years.

U.S. hybrid sales jumped more than 34 percent to a total of 338,851 in 2007, according to CNW Marketing Research in Bandon,

Ore. The only other vehicle segment that grew faster than hybrids in 2007 was what CNW calls “budget cars.” Sales of these

small, inexpensive models, which include the Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris, grew at an astonishing rate of

nearly 48 percent.

With rising gas prices and higher fuel economy standards mandated by the federal government, analysts expect hybrid

technology to proliferate in the coming years. “You’re going to see wider availability of hybrid powertrains as options on

more and more vehicles,” says David Wurster, president of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based market research firm Vincentric.

“I don’t think they’re going to be the ‘unique’ vehicles for much longer because it’s going to become commonplace

technology.”

With new models entering the market and their popularity expected to rise, CNW predicts that 1.1 million hybrids will be sold

annually by 2010.

Though their numbers continue to swell, hybrids still carry a premium for the added hardware, usually electric motors and a

battery pack, estimated on average to be $3,000 over the cost of their conventionally powered equivalents. But unless this

figure drops dramatically or gas prices take another large leap, some feel the price differential will continue to be a

barrier to hybrids’ widespread acceptance. “It comes down to the old adage that there’s no free lunch,” says John

Wolkonowicz, a senior market analyst with Global Insight in Detroit. “You can build vehicles that get better fuel economy and

with reduced emissions, but there’s a cost connected to all that.”

To help soften the financial blow and spur sales, the federal government provides an income tax credit for buyers of hybrid

vehicles. This credit can be as much as $3,000 on a vehicle like the Ford Escape Hybrid or Mercury Mariner Hybrid. However,

these credits are phased out once an automaker sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles.

The tax credits have already expired for Toyota and Lexus models and are in the process of being phased out for the Honda

Civic Hybrid. The Civic Hybrid’s credit was cut in half to $1,050 on January 1, and will be reduced to $525 after July 1.

Hybrid vehicles from automakers that haven’t met the sales quota will continue to qualify for a full tax credit through 2008.

Currently, this includes the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid.

Mercury Mariner Hybrid

The lack of tax incentives doesn’t seem to have hurt the Toyota Prius’ popularity, however, with 181,221 units sold in 2007

for an increase of nearly 70 percent over 2006, according to CNW. The Prius remains the most popular hybrid in the U.S. by an

astronomical margin. The second most sold hybrid in 2007 was another Toyota, the Camry hybrid, at 54,492 units.

This year, hybrid powertrains are being fitted into some of the most unlikely vehicles: full-size SUVs. The Chevrolet Tahoe

Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid are now available, and hybrid versions of the Cadillac Escalade, Chrysler Aspen, and Dodge

Durango go on sale late in 2008 as 2009 models.

“This is probably one of the toughest market segments to break through with a hybrid,” says Lonnie Miller, director of

industry analysis at market research firm R.L. Polk and Company in Southfield, Mich. “We don’t understand what’s driving GM’s

decision to build them, but it’s a very good litmus test for the broad-based acceptance of hybrids if the pickup buyers

really take to it.”

General Motors, which produces the Escalade, Tahoe, and Yukon hybrids, is also launching hybrid versions of its full-size

pickup trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, in the fall. Both were sold in “mild-hybrid” versions in 2005 and

2006. They’re called “mild hybrids” because they didn’t include an electric motor to help with propulsion and simply used a

revised starter system to shut down the gasoline engine when idling. This saved an average of just one mpg.

The new hybrid SUVs and pickups will use a complex “two-mode” hybrid system that was co-developed by General Motors, BMW, and

the former DaimlerChrysler. GM expects a 25 percent boost in combined city/highway fuel economy over the gasoline-powered

versions, which amounts to about a 4-mpg improvement.

Cadillac Escalade

A short test drive of the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid left us intrigued. The burly truck basically drives like a Prius around

town, using only its electric motor at low speeds, but it can still haul and tow heavy loads thanks to its potent V8 gasoline

engine.

The same two-mode hybrid technology used in the Tahoe and Yukon hybrids will be mated with a smaller engine (a V6 instead of

a V8) in a smaller vehicle, the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line. A Vue Green Line is already on sale, but includes a mild hybrid

system with an electric motor and battery pack that gives limited assistance to a four-cylinder gasoline engine. The same

powertrain is used on the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and Saturn Aura Green Line.

Other new hybrids on the horizon include versions of the midsize Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans, the compact Hyundai

Accent and Kia Rio, and even two new Honda hybrids. Also look for the flagship Mercedes- Benz S-Class sedan, the diminutive

Smart, and the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, and Volkswagen Touareg SUVs to get the hybrid treatment by the end of the decade.

Porsche also has announced a hybrid version of its new high-performance sedan, slated to go on sale in a few years.

GM hopes to start selling the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid by 2010, as either the Saturn Vue Green Line with plug-in

capability, or the futuristically styled Chevrolet Volt. The Volt, in particular, has the potential to achieve triple-digit

fuel economy as it will run solely on electricity and use a small gasoline engine as a generator of sorts to recharge the

battery on the fly. GM anticaptes a 40-mile range on electricity alone and says that its batteries can be recharged by

plugging them into a regular household electric outlet.

The only catch is that the Volt requires advanced lithium-ion batteries (like those in cell phones and laptop computers, only

much larger) that have yet to be fully developed for automotive use. The biggest issue is that they can overheat and cause a

meltdown.

Still, if Chevrolet can deliver on its promises and sell the Volt for less than $30,000, there’s little doubt it will be a

true breakthrough. “If the technology is there, the Chevy Volt could be the next big thing,” Wurster says.

 

Lexus has announced a recall of the 2006 editions of the GS 300, IS 250 and the IS 350, in regards to a problem with the fuel pipe design.

Over time, a crack may form in fuel pipes located in the engine compartment, the company said today in a statement.

The problem is blamed on high-stress areas that may have been created during the manufacturing process that when combined with corrosive agents, such as fuel, can form a crack, leading to fuel leakage.

There’s only been one case reported, and no accidents have occurred. Affected owners should get get a notice in the mail early next month.