But what about the Audi R8 supercar? “The future will be fully electric,” said Hoffman. “We intend to come up with some surprises again and we are working on sports car concepts that will probably be fully electric. All I can say is we will surprise and thrill you.” Even though this is hardly a confirmation, there is very little doubt that Audi will not plan a fun and electric supercar. It’s certainly not out of the question, as Audi has the means to do it, thanks to its new PPE architecture, 800-volt platform, and high-performance electric motors.

Audi’s current electric design language, seen on the Audi e-tron GT and A6 e-tron Concept, would make for an absolutely stunning electric sports car. If Audi were to make something reminiscent of the PB18 e-tron Concept from Pebble Beach a few years back, the automotive market would be taken by surprise.

Audi Sport’s next project is to “transform the R segment, and the R segment is going to be fully electric. This is our job for the next decade,” Audi Sport’s head of product marketing Linda told CNET’s Roadshow last year.

As of right now, there doesn’t seem to be an official timeline as to when the current R8 will die off and when successor will emerge. This current R8 should last about another year, with its naturally-aspirated V10 engine, but don’t expect it to last much longer than that.

[Source: QuattroDaily]

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To be honest, it’s easy to guess which two of the aforementioned Audis will be quickest. While all of them are fast, the Audi R8 and Audi RS e-tron GT stand out among them all. For starters, they both have over 600 horsepower; 620 horsepower for the R8 V10 Performance and 637 horsepower from the RS e-tron GT, but they’re also sportier cars like the likes of the other big-horsepower cars; the RS6 and RS Q8. Both can nail 60 mph in under three seconds; 2.8 for the R8 and 2.9 for the RS e-tron GT. So it’s interesting to see which is quickest in a straight line.

But it’s also interesting to see how the Audi RS3 stacks up against the RS6 and RS Q8. The new RS3, with its 401 horsepower turbo-five, is quick but can it really take on two V8 bruisers with 591 horsepower?

To find out, Carwow’s team put all six cars through a standing quarter-mile drag race, a rolling half-mile race, and a braking test. The results are interesting, as some of the cars are faster in certain races but not in others, despite having the same engines and power figures. Additionally, the R8 struggled with launch control, which affected its results. However, there’s one car that’s consistently quick throughout all tests. Watch below to find out.

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There have been concerns the Ingolstadt-based company would nix the R8 altogether after the current model runs its course, but don’t fret as the Four Rings announced today there will be an all-new R8 after all. In an interview with CNET’s Roadshow, Audi Sport head of product marketing Linda Kurz confirmed the flagship sports car with the Four Rings will live to see a third generation.

An all-electric R8 is seen as the “next challenge” for the performance division and the engineers have been tasked to “transform the R segment, and the R segment is going to be fully electric. This is our job for the next decade.” It’s too soon to say whether it will retain the “R8” moniker or it will be called something else to distance itself from the mid-engined setup used by the first two iterations of the naturally aspirated machine. Linda Kurz’s disclosure strongly hints it will retain the letter “R” in its designation.

Before an electric successor to today’s R8 arrives, Audi Sport has pledged to electrify 80% of its RS portfolio in one way or another by 2026. Plug-in hybrids are coming, and so are more purely electric vehicles to follow up on the RS E-Tron GT. In the meantime, the current R8 will soldier on for a while with its 5.2-liter V10 engine offered in both rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations. As a side note, the first-gen was also available with a smaller 4.2-liter V8 and a gated manual gearbox.

Audi has been talking about giving the TT baby sports car a similar EV treatment, but a decision hasn’t been made yet. It could very well happen seeing as how the Porsche Boxster and Cayman replacements are highly likely to lose their gasoline engines by the middle of the decade. The VW Group could decide to spread out the development costs by jointly developing these cars, but it’s only speculation on our part.

Source: Roadshow

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A third generation is allegedly on the way, but without the iconic 5.2-liter V10 naturally aspirated engine shared with the Lamborghini Huracan. Speaking of the Italian brand from Sant’Agata Bolognese, it is believed the revamped R8 will use the same engine as the Urus, specifically a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8. The high-performance SUV has been confirmed to get a hybrid version, and Auto Bild claims the R8 could use an adaptation of the same electrified V8.

The Urus already offers a healthy 650 horsepower from its combustion engine, but that number is expected to grow once an electric motor will be added to the powertrain. According to the latest report, the overhauled R8 could offer as much as 700 hp, which would represent an increase of nearly 100 hp compared to the current top-spec R8 V10 Performance model. Adding a pair of turbos and an e-motor should greatly improve torque, which currently stands at 406 lb-ft (550 Nm).

Auto Bild speculates Audi could opt for an entirely different powertrain by dropping the gasoline engine altogether. In other words, the new R8 could be sold as an all-electric supercar, which wouldn’t be the first time as there was a zero-emissions E-Tron version a few years ago. The R8 EV had a short life as fewer than 100 units were sold due to an exorbitant asking price of over $1 million.

According to the same report, Audi aims to launch the new R8 in 2023, which would make sense considering the hybrid Urus is slated to come out at some point next year.

Source: Auto Bild

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