Audi R8: TDI Available in 2009?

How do you improve a car already receiving unbelievable marks from sports car enthusiasts and the media alike? Apparently, you plan to adjust it with your award winning line of TDI (Turbo-Direct-Injection) engines that have helped you dominate the Le Mans circuit. Apparently, this is exactly what Audi is looking to do.



In the meantime, we can just wait in the rumored Lamborghini Gallardo source V-10 for the R8-RS due out sometime next year.

Here are a few excerpts:

Sources say Audi has a diesel-powered R8 in the works, and we’d like to think they’re right. As far as cutting-edge diesel technology goes, Audi’s one of the best in the biz. Its latest demonstration of spark-plugless prowess came in the form of the R10 TDI race car, winning its very first race at the 12 Hours of Sebring as well as the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans. So who better to make a diesel exotic.....

.....All three powerplants can be found in the Audi Q7 SUV. First, the good: the 4.2 TDI V-8 which makes a solid 326 horsepower backed by 561 pound-feet of torque. Next, the bad: the 3.0 TDI V-6 that puts down a very sub-exotic 233 horsepower, although it makes its fair share of torque at 369 pound-feet. Last, and certainly not least as far as sheer power goes, is the ridiculously impractical 5.9 TDI V-12 influenced by our aforementioned friend, the R10 race car. This beast lays out a mind-numbing 493 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque......

.....The 4.2 TDI propels the Audi Q7 from 0-to-62 mph in a claimed 6.4 seconds—and that’s an SUV. Factor in better gearing, less weight, and more grip and you start to get a feel for what the R8 4.2 TDI would be capable of. In addition, the diesel engine weighs less than 600 pounds, which isn’t too bad for a car on a diet.

[Source: Car and Driver]

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