In a new interview, Porsche's head of the e-fuel department says that Audi developed a five-cylinder R8 with turbo and rear-wheel drive. However, the Germans scrapped it all again.
The Audi R8 no longer exists. The last car left the factory this year. And there are many indications that it will not come again.
But a lot could also have been different if only things had gone a little differently. For now, it turns out that Audi developed a five-cylinder R8 with both turbo and rear-wheel drive.
This is what Porsche's eFuels Project Manager Marcos Marques tells us in an interview with British motoring journalist Steve Sutcliffe.
According to Marques, the Audi people got so far with the idea that they had developed a version of the brand's five-cylinder in-line engine that, at least in terms of torque, surpassed the V10 engine of 5.2 liters. By comparison, the fifth row is a mere 2.5-litre affair.
To make matters worse, Audi had plans to pair the five-cylinder engine and the R8 with a manual transmission. Something that was actually done. Almost then. For the smaller Audi TT, there is actually exactly that combination in a rear-wheel drive version.
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Against The Drive, Audi is not much to confirm or deny the story. A spokesman calls it 'just' a rumour. However, the person stated that in that case – if there is anything to be said – it is/was a question of development work on the first generation of R8.
It is not the first time that a project has been dropped along the way. Not even in the car industry. Or perhaps we should say especially in the automotive industry. More than 20 years ago, BMW developed an E46 M3 Touring.
However, the engineers were told by the management to drop the idea, as their work will be too expensive to put into series production. However, BMW is somewhat more outspoken than Read more about that car here .
