CarBrandLogos archive · Audi · 2006

AudiR8

Audi's first mid-engined road car, sharing its aluminium bones with a Lamborghini.

Photo: Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Audi history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Audi R8, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The name came from the R8 sports prototype that had been winning Le Mans repeatedly since 2000, which is a bold thing to put on a road car. Audi backed it up in 2006 by building something genuinely different from the rest of its range: a mid-engined two-seater on the aluminium space frame it already owned through Lamborghini, shared with the Gallardo, assembled semi-by-hand at Neckarsulm.

Audi Le Mans quattro, 2003 · L.Kenzel · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The launch car had a 4.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 behind the cabin, often specified with an open-gate six-speed manual whose exposed linkage became one of the model's signatures. A 5.2-litre V10 followed in 2009, along with a Spyder; the early single-clutch R-tronic gearbox was replaced by a much better seven-speed dual-clutch unit. Walter de Silva and Frank Lamberty's body used contrasting side blades behind the doors to break up the length, and the car was among the first offered with full LED headlamps.

Audi R8 Jul 2010 5204cc · Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

It gave Audi something it had never had, a halo car with real credibility, and a starring role in the first Iron Man film did no harm. The competition version turned out to matter as much: the R8 LMS became one of the most widely campaigned customer race cars in GT3 racing. The Type 42 ran to August 2015; the second-generation Type 4S carried on until 2024, when Audi ended the line.

Audi R8 GT · Dmitry Valberg · CC BY 2.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Engine

4.2&nbsp

Designer

Walter de Silva

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The R8, in detail.

Production: June 2006 – August 2015
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door coupé; 2-door convertible (spyder)
Engine: 4.2 L Gasoline direct injection; FSI DOHC Volkswagen-Audi V8 engine#Current production engines; V8 ; 5.2 L Gasoline direct injection; FSI DOHC Lamborghini V10; V10
Transmission: 6-speed Graziano Trasmissioni; Graziano Manual transmission; manual ; 6-speed Graziano Trasmissioni; Graziano Electrohydraulic manual transmission; R-Tronic single-clutch automated manual ; 7-speed Direct-shift gearbox;
Designer: Walter de Silva; Frank Lamberty (2004)
Assembly: Germany: Neckarsulm (2006–2015); Heilbronn (Audi Böllinger Höfe: 2014–2015)
Manufacturer: Audi Sport GmbH; (subsidiary of Audi AG)