Audi: R20 news
12-20-2012, 11:16 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Audi: R20 news
Deep Dive: Audi’s 2017 R20 Supercar Plans Revealed
December 20, 2012 / By Georg Kacher / Illustration by Scott Olsen
3 Photos View full gallery
Bugatti has the Veyron. Bentley recently unveiled the Continental GT3. Lamborghini is laying the finishing touches on the Aventador Superveloce. Porsche will soon release the 918 Spyder. And what does Audi have? It was supposed to have the R8 e-tron, but that car is either half-dead or barely alive, depending on your source. An ailing halo car is not what the new R&D chief Wolfgang Dürheimer expected when he recently moved over from Bentley. Instead, the ex-BMW and Porsche top manager is pushing for a new, even more ambitious sports car project known as R20.
While the chairman of the board Rupert Stadler has not yet abandoned the zero-emissions R8 e-tron, Wolfgang Dürheimer seems to favor a street-legal LeMans racer as the most suitable means to burnish the marque’s reputation. At a glance, this approach may appear overly ambitious, but then the gestation of such a car is not rocket science. What helps is that all current LeMans contenders are in essence two-seaters with the passenger seat removed, so the packaging is already there. Although one could easily fuse the hardcore engineering concept with a relatively conventional supercar body style, Audi’s high-performance squad decided to model the road car after the racecar.
The trouble is that, for obvious reasons, all LeMans entries look more or less the same. To break the mold, Audi plans to equip the R20 with the trademark full-length tailfin of an R18 LeMans racer. Other design features are said to include a downsized, singleframe grille; stacked LED headlights; ventilated front and rear wings; an adjustable tail spoiler (which may double as an air brake); and a relatively narrow canopy-style cockpit accessed through gullwing doors. An important engineering element is the active aerodynamics system, which can distribute the downforce between the front and rear axles for optimum stability in the critical 100-200 mph range. The proportions are those of a pure racecar: long, wide, low, and very butch. This is to be a wild animal, a driving machine conceived by experts for real pros.
The interior of the R20 is as extreme and purposeful as the exterior. Expect a dynamic mode selector, a multi-functional black panel center display instead of conventional instruments, active-contour seats with integrated four-point belts, a multi-segment high-intensity windshield wiper and a camera-based surround-view package that renders door mirrors superfluous.
Insiders expect Audi to opt for the diesel-hybrid powertrain, with the proven twin-turbo V-6. The power output of the road car engine should be in the area of 550 hp. Add to this the lightweight body and the two 75 hp motors than drive the front wheels (Audi’s e-quattro), and it’s easy to picture a compelling power-to-weight ratio as well as excellent performance figures. The e-quattro layout not only yields an extra 150 hp, it also adds torque vectoring, some zero-emissions capability, ultimate traction, an on-demand boost effect, and a beefed up torque curve. Furthermore, the hybrid technology makes provisions for staggered brake energy recuperation, high-speed coasting, and a broader start-stop application. At this point, there are no acceleration, top speed, or consumption figures available.
With Audi on target to reach its goal and sell 1.5 million vehicles by 2015, the R20 will likely be unveiled at the Pebble Beach event that year to celebrate the achievement. Production would commence in the spring of 2016. The output will be restricted, but it is at this point not clear to how many. It may be as few as 100 to 250 units.
True, the R20 is a costly enterprise, and it is not risk-free. But Audi is rich enough to reinvest into the brand. This is exactly what the new supercar does. After all, it embodies key values like lightweight architecture, superior efficiency, and outstanding dynamics. In a nutshell, it reconfirms the Vorsprung durch Technik commitment.
Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/new_and...#ixzz2FezWEHo4
December 20, 2012 / By Georg Kacher / Illustration by Scott Olsen
3 Photos View full gallery
Bugatti has the Veyron. Bentley recently unveiled the Continental GT3. Lamborghini is laying the finishing touches on the Aventador Superveloce. Porsche will soon release the 918 Spyder. And what does Audi have? It was supposed to have the R8 e-tron, but that car is either half-dead or barely alive, depending on your source. An ailing halo car is not what the new R&D chief Wolfgang Dürheimer expected when he recently moved over from Bentley. Instead, the ex-BMW and Porsche top manager is pushing for a new, even more ambitious sports car project known as R20.
While the chairman of the board Rupert Stadler has not yet abandoned the zero-emissions R8 e-tron, Wolfgang Dürheimer seems to favor a street-legal LeMans racer as the most suitable means to burnish the marque’s reputation. At a glance, this approach may appear overly ambitious, but then the gestation of such a car is not rocket science. What helps is that all current LeMans contenders are in essence two-seaters with the passenger seat removed, so the packaging is already there. Although one could easily fuse the hardcore engineering concept with a relatively conventional supercar body style, Audi’s high-performance squad decided to model the road car after the racecar.
The trouble is that, for obvious reasons, all LeMans entries look more or less the same. To break the mold, Audi plans to equip the R20 with the trademark full-length tailfin of an R18 LeMans racer. Other design features are said to include a downsized, singleframe grille; stacked LED headlights; ventilated front and rear wings; an adjustable tail spoiler (which may double as an air brake); and a relatively narrow canopy-style cockpit accessed through gullwing doors. An important engineering element is the active aerodynamics system, which can distribute the downforce between the front and rear axles for optimum stability in the critical 100-200 mph range. The proportions are those of a pure racecar: long, wide, low, and very butch. This is to be a wild animal, a driving machine conceived by experts for real pros.
The interior of the R20 is as extreme and purposeful as the exterior. Expect a dynamic mode selector, a multi-functional black panel center display instead of conventional instruments, active-contour seats with integrated four-point belts, a multi-segment high-intensity windshield wiper and a camera-based surround-view package that renders door mirrors superfluous.
Insiders expect Audi to opt for the diesel-hybrid powertrain, with the proven twin-turbo V-6. The power output of the road car engine should be in the area of 550 hp. Add to this the lightweight body and the two 75 hp motors than drive the front wheels (Audi’s e-quattro), and it’s easy to picture a compelling power-to-weight ratio as well as excellent performance figures. The e-quattro layout not only yields an extra 150 hp, it also adds torque vectoring, some zero-emissions capability, ultimate traction, an on-demand boost effect, and a beefed up torque curve. Furthermore, the hybrid technology makes provisions for staggered brake energy recuperation, high-speed coasting, and a broader start-stop application. At this point, there are no acceleration, top speed, or consumption figures available.
With Audi on target to reach its goal and sell 1.5 million vehicles by 2015, the R20 will likely be unveiled at the Pebble Beach event that year to celebrate the achievement. Production would commence in the spring of 2016. The output will be restricted, but it is at this point not clear to how many. It may be as few as 100 to 250 units.
True, the R20 is a costly enterprise, and it is not risk-free. But Audi is rich enough to reinvest into the brand. This is exactly what the new supercar does. After all, it embodies key values like lightweight architecture, superior efficiency, and outstanding dynamics. In a nutshell, it reconfirms the Vorsprung durch Technik commitment.
Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/new_and...#ixzz2FezWEHo4
12-20-2012, 11:32 PM
#2
Senior Moderator
From here: http://motoroids.com/news/audis-2017...upercar-plans/
The diminishing quantity of fossil fuels hasn’t been a deterring factor for a few automobiles manufacturers. Where some are trying to extract that extra rotation of the crank with every drop of fuel, others are simply trying to flaunt their engineering prowess rolling out mammoth fuel guzzling road missiles. Cars like the Lamborghini Aventador Super Veloce rumoured to be 100 bhp over the current model and Bugatti pushing the bhp envelope to the orbit planning a 1600 bhp (phew!) version of the Veyron- are just a couple to quote on the insanity factor. Thankfully something like a Porsche 918 Spyder grants a certain degree of relief when it comes to drinking habits by running a hybrid setup.
Now Audi doesn’t wish to stick to the rear view mirrors of such cars and are planning to come out with their own supercar. The R8 has been around for some time and Audi’s earlier plans to carry forward the R8 with a zero emission R8 e-tron seems to have lost the plot at the moment. However the Ingolstadt based German manufacturer plans to ready a street legal LeMans based supercar by the year 2017. Codenamed as the R20 project, it’s rumoured to be propelled by a twin turbo V6 hybrid-diesel powertrain pumping out close to 550 horsepower with an addition of another 150 bhp generated by the 2 electric motors at the front wheels (e-Quattro). Utilization of future grade lightweight materials should give this combined 700 bhp car some serious power to weight ratio.
While we’d be driving our fuel efficient small cars by then and restricted to mere spectators to these hot eye-candies, it’ll still be an exhilarating show to see these colossal road going rockets floor the pedal to metal.
Now Audi doesn’t wish to stick to the rear view mirrors of such cars and are planning to come out with their own supercar. The R8 has been around for some time and Audi’s earlier plans to carry forward the R8 with a zero emission R8 e-tron seems to have lost the plot at the moment. However the Ingolstadt based German manufacturer plans to ready a street legal LeMans based supercar by the year 2017. Codenamed as the R20 project, it’s rumoured to be propelled by a twin turbo V6 hybrid-diesel powertrain pumping out close to 550 horsepower with an addition of another 150 bhp generated by the 2 electric motors at the front wheels (e-Quattro). Utilization of future grade lightweight materials should give this combined 700 bhp car some serious power to weight ratio.
While we’d be driving our fuel efficient small cars by then and restricted to mere spectators to these hot eye-candies, it’ll still be an exhilarating show to see these colossal road going rockets floor the pedal to metal.
12-21-2012, 10:04 AM
#7
Senior Moderator
Trending Topics
12-21-2012, 11:17 AM
#8
Senior Moderator
Just a rendering...But, I'm excited. 
12-21-2012, 12:27 PM
#9
Safety Car
very strange rendering. looks like it was done by two people. one pro, that put together the majority of layering, and another amatuer that slapped on some headlights/hood and added some random gradients here and there for what resembles vents.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 12-21-2012 at 12:35 PM.
12-21-2012, 12:35 PM
#10
Senior Moderator
Thread Starter
yeah, the renderings are just that.
headlights are taken from here:
headlights are taken from here:
12-21-2012, 02:26 PM
#11
The sizzle in the Steak
I bet it looks quite a bit different.
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