Audi kills plans for a diesel R8

Posted: May 06, 2009
 Email 6 Comments

According to AutoExpress plans to produce a diesel version of the Audi R8 has been canned. After 12 months of debating and consideration Audi said it can’t justify a business case to throw a diesel engine in the R8 two-seater supercar.

Last year, Audi unveiled two concepts of a diesel R8 including the Audi R8 V12 TDI at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show and the Audi R8 V12 TDI Le Mans at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. Both concepts were powered by a 6.0L V12 TDI that makes 500-hp and a maximum torque of 738 lb-ft. 0 to 60 mph was said to come in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 186 mph.

Audi says that the cost involved with re-engineering the gasoline-powered R8 to accommodate the giant twin-turbocharged diesel engine is just too much.

Pretty sad news for us since we thought this was actually going to happen.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoExpress


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  • Ebirah

    Dang another diesel bites the dust.

  • Pat

    As much as this sucks..they are kind of right…it doesn't make sense to make this if they cant sell enough units..i mean who really would go out and buy an R8 diesel (and im talking about people that can afford a gasoline R8 cuz the diesel will most likely cost more)

  • Allen

    BOOO! So only make like a thousand of them stateside, the rest can go to the rest of the world!

    Now I'm thinking of just shoe-horning a TDI V12 in there for the fun and profit.

  • Ebirah

    Dang another diesel bites the dust.

  • Pat

    As much as this sucks..they are kind of right…it doesn't make sense to make this if they cant sell enough units..i mean who really would go out and buy an R8 diesel (and im talking about people that can afford a gasoline R8 cuz the diesel will most likely cost more)

  • Allen

    BOOO! So only make like a thousand of them stateside, the rest can go to the rest of the world!

    Now I'm thinking of just shoe-horning a TDI V12 in there for the fun and profit.