Way too ricey. The V8 version looks much better.

Detroit 2008: Audi unleashes its diesel monster, the R8 V12 TD
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Today Audi brought some more of its Le Mans-conquering technology to the street in the form of the new R8 V-12 TDI. The R8 V12 TDI is a concept that melds the 6.0L V-12 diesel from last years Q7 concept with the award winning R8 sports car. The concept engine shares a cylinder count with the race-winning R10, but it's actually a completely new engine with a 60-degree bank angle instead of the 90 degrees used on the race engine. While the 500 hp is only par for the course in its class, the 738 lb-ft of torque is enough to shred all four tires with ease. While the R8 V12 TDI storms to 62mph in 4.2 seconds and maxes out at 186mph, it also manages to get 23 MPG. The combination of a 29,000-psi direct-inject fuel injection system, particulate filters and urea injection allows this beast to pass 2014 EuroVI emissions standards, too.
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Audi R8 V12 TDI concept unveiled at Detroit Auto Show

i love the styling of this car, very aggressive in a futuristic way. i would love to see some production car with this trim but with a v10 in the back. did i mention that interior? audi has upped the game once again.

Some live shots:





















Oh yes...Audi has arrived.

M

Interior and engine bay are to die for...

Audi R8 V-12 TDI Concept - Auto Shows

You torquing to me? Are you…torquing to me?!

Torque, as we all know, is a twisting force. It’s what gives us Indian burns, sort-of-dry dishrags, and long black streaks on industrial-park streets late at night. It’s also a hoot and a half, particularly when presented in quantities on level with a Caterpillar D11T bulldozer.

Audi’s 5.9-liter V-12 diesel promises 738 pound-feet of torque, or a little more than Superman would have needed had he used a car and a lonely Nevada two-lane to stop the earth’s rotation and spin us back in time. Wedge the V-12 in Audi’s R8 supercar, and we’re going a little weak in the neck.

Neither car nor engine is new, and we’ve had the opportunity to sample both. The R8 prevailed over Porsche’s vaunted 911 Turbo in a 2007 comparison test for its playful, predictable behavior, despite being slower than the Porsche. And the V-12 TDI—inspired by the diesel in Audi’s back-to-back Le Mans–winning R10 race car—made its debut at the 2007 Detroit auto show under the hood of a Q7 sport-ute, which we later drove and labeled “just mental.” We meant that in a really, really good way.

Searching for the Outer Limits of Too Fast

Audi claims sticking the 493-hp diesel V-12 in the R8 will result in a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed well over the 187 mph it claims for R8s equipped with the 4.2-liter gas V-8. We say poppycock. We recorded a 0-to-60 blast of four seconds flat in our first outing with the R8, and that car was down 73 horsepower on the diesel V-12, never mind the torque deficit of 421 pound-feet. Actually, do mind it, because it’s an improvement of 133 percent. How do you say “yee-ha” in German?

All that, and Audi claims this engine meets Euro 6 emissions standards not set to go into effect until 2014.

External cues that something is amiss with this R8 include more gape to the side blades—Audi’s term for those mismatched vertical panels aft of the doors—a glass roof with a NACA duct to help feed air to the big diesel, and all-LED headlights to better replicate daytime on those long Cannonballing nights.

Originally, our sources reported that the R10 race car would not inspire Audi honchos to drop a 12-cylinder compression-ignition lump into the R8 supercar. Here’s hoping they were wrong and some serious arm-twisting has been going on at Audi.


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M

Thanks, Marcus.

It looks absolutely sick!!! The only thing I don't like on the car is the rear spoiler. They could have make it look more refined.

Oh yes the interior is one of the best going, simply exquisite.




Just noticed the model patterned into the seats. How the carbon fiber, aluminum and leather all come together is just
perfect. I hope Audi's interior designers are paid accordingly.

M