Audi Le Mans road racer to challenge McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari: report

Destined to sit above the V8- and V10-powered Audi R8, the new Audi supercar will take the same diesel-hybrid technology found in the Audi R18 e-tron Le Mans race cars and meld them into a high-performance road car.

UK publication Auto Express reports that the new car will squarely be aimed at the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari Enzo replacement, and McLaren P1 at the upper echelon of the supercar world, with Audi’s new head of research and development, Wolfgang Durheimer, saying there is definitely room for a super sports car above the Audi R8.

“If we made this a diesel hybrid it could be a hot seller. What always sells is performance – if it is quick, has low consumption and looks cool, I’m sure it would be a success,” Durheimer said.

“This year I watched Audi win Le Mans for the 11th time, and asked myself how do we leverage this diesel-hybrid technology to the road. This would deliver that transfer from track to road that I’m always looking for.”

The R18 e-tron’s electric quattro system incorporates a V6 TDI engine that drives the rear axle, while the front axle is powered by recuperated braking energy via a flywheel energy storage system that returns this power to the front wheels under acceleration.

While still only early days, the report suggests the new car could see a power figure in the vicinity of 515kW with at least 1000Nm of torque, enough motivation to reach 100km/h from rest in around 3.0 seconds and onto a top speed of over 320km/h.

The extensive use of lightweight materials such as carbonfibre is also assured, including possibly for the car’s chassis.

With the new Audi R8 due in 2015, the new hybrid performer isn’t expected before 2017.