Audi: the R8 V12 TDI will remain shelved, but a smaller diesel is on its way

posted: Monday 24 March 2008 by Alison in: Audi Coupe Future Cars

We had already reported the rumours regarding doubts about the production of the Audi R8 V12 TDI seen at Detroit and then in Geneva as “Le Mans”. And it appears that there was a basis to the doubts as for the moment the R8 turbodiesel will remain a concept car. Underneath there were some who, believing it blasphemous to put a diesel engine on Ingolstadt’s sports car, hoped that this development would perhaps never occur.

But whoever is breathing a sigh of relief will have to tone down the joy as the interest raised at both shows means Audi has decided to go ahead with an R8 diesel. It’s a painful thing for the purists as while a 6.0 V12 was seen as out-of-character, what can be said about the adoption of a 4.2 V8 TDI of “only” 326hp for the company’s sports model? What is the “vulgar” Q7’s engine doing on this car?

It’s of little comfort to know that we’re getting close to the roadster version, as revealed by production manager Michael Dick. At this point we’re really curious to know what effect will be had by a R8 Roadster 4.2 V8 TDI…