There are some things that should always be considered when building a supercar: a reactive, responsive suspension, a beautiful but intimidating body and of course, many, many turbochargers. This is my recipe, but Audi seems to wholly agree, especially when the next iteration of the Audi R8 is concerned.
The company, if rumours are to be believed, will play its environment-is-important card shoving a twin-turbo V6 into the next R8, which will be based on the Lamborghini Huracan.
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While this news might be extremely annoying for enthusiasts who enjoy the thought of many cylinders chugging around under their vehicles’ bonnets, it’s good news for fuel efficiency and pure enjoyment for those who can’t afford the regular multi-cylinder models.
There will be the customary choice of two V10 engines for the disgruntled, ranging between 540 and 600 horsepower, and the smaller engine which Roland Schala, the R8’s lead designer, notes might peak above the 400 horsepower threshold. This was recently revealed in a chat with Top Gear.
The engine’s use in the R8 could also spark more interesting rumours about the vehicles lower down in Audi’s pecking order too. Will the R8 twin-turbo V6 be shared with an RS3 or RS4 further down the line? Is the age of the naturally aspirated engine slowly coming to an end?
Although Formula 1 and LMP1 cars rely heavily on small engines boosted by forced induction, this isn’t quite the end of the V8 or V10 for road cars. At least that’s what we hope.
