The Liason of Audi's R8 supercar with any diesel engine seems as ludicrous as an Obama/Clinton presidential ticket - until you know the backstory. Two years before Oldsmobile poisoned the diesel well, Audi and Volkswagen began studying how to properly build such engines. After thirteen years of effort, TDI (turbocharged direct injection) diesels were ready for sale. And following two decades of success with TDI diesels in Europe, Audi is finally ready to join its corporate sibling, Volkswagen, by offering TDI engines in the United States.
To give Audi's TDI the U.S. initiation party it deserves, one mid-engine R8 was spruced up with a few custom touches and loaded with a truly awesome turbo-diesel engine. Audi won Le Mans in 2006 and 2007 with a 650-hp, 5.5-liter racing V-12, but the R8 TDI concept car unveiled at this year's Detroit auto show is powered by the next installment in the line of diesels that began with a 2.5-liter V-6 in 1997. On the heels of an outstanding 4.1-liter V-8 diesel launched in 2005, this 6.0-liter V-12 is armed with two of everything: injection pumps, variable-geometry turbos developing 38 psi of boost, intercoolers, and exhaust pipes loaded with the latest catalysts, particulate filters, and urea-injection sanitizers. It produces 493 hp, a hefty 738 lb-ft of torque, and not a hint of smoke, soot, or rattle.
We caught up with Audi's Trojan horsepower project at Sebring after it dazzled Geneva-show visitors with its fresh, brilliant red paint. Decked out in a milled-aluminum miniskirt, assertive side blades, a NACA-ducted transparent roof, a rear wing, and honeycomb grilles, this one-off advances the R8's beauty another notch up the to-die-for scale.... Read full article