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Feann Torr17 Feb 2017
NEWS

Audi R8 won't get a sibling

But Audi's next-gen R8 will come with an electrified powertrain

The days of big sports cars powered by monstrous petrol engines won't last forever, but that doesn't mean Audi is about to produce a smaller four-cylinder sibling for its R8, like the Porsche Cayman is to the 911.

According to Audi Sport CEO Stephan Winkelmann, the man who presides over all things Audi RS and R8, the next generation of high-performance Audis will make paradigm shifts in how they make power, but there will only ever be one R car.

"At Audi Sport we have two types of cars," said the former Lamborghini chief.

"We have RS models -- the upscale [versions] of [Audi cars] that already exist -- and one opportunity for ourselves to do something completely different.

"Today this is the R8, and there will not be more than one [flagship sports car], so we have to decide [where to go with it]."

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While Winkelmann put the kybosh on the chances of another supercar to sit alongside the R8 – either larger or smaller, as has been rumoured in the past -- he signalled that the decisions he must make about the next R8 will be some of the most challenging Audi's hot shop has ever faced.

The switch to electrification is happening and the current R8's big 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated V10 will likely be deemed too polluting by the time the new R8 emerges in around seven years.

The Audi Sport boss says the current V10 is safe for today's R8, but its future is far from certain in its replacement, the development of which is currently being discussed by Audi Sport tech-heads.

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In fact, Winkelmann says things are about to change -- in a big way – as strict new CO2 regulations force electrification on sports cars.

"I want to keep it [the V10]," he said. "[But] There are the legislators which are maybe [moving] faster than we want. The social acceptance [of EVs] is another thing, so we have to adapt to this and we have to think that what people want today is what they are going wish for in future.

"So we have to think in advance, and when we wake up we are thinking about what is happening six, seven, eight years from now and it's a tricky time because the technology might not be the right one for sports cars."

One of these technologies will be electric turbocharging -- or electrically powered compression (EPC) in Audi-speak – which is already available on the $150K Audi SQ7.

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The revolutionary new technology is likely to be just one of many developments for the next Audi R8's powertrain, potentially matched with a plug-in hybrid set-up.

"Everything is a step to getting better at turbocharging, and let's say closing the gap of kickdown [lag] at the beginning. What we're working on is to have always the best possible technology which has to be consistent with the DNA, and the DNA is motorsport," said Winkelmann.

"We might have a window of eight years of normal combustion engines -- high revs -- and we have to do the utmost to get the most out of it, but we also have to start thinking now thinking about what is coming next.

"And not just a bridge technology to be competitive," he said, hinting at something ground-breaking to come.

As we've reported, Audi's third-generation R8 is likely to share at least its frontal structure with Porsche's next-generation '992' series 911 to reduce development and production costs for both Volkswagen Group brands.

Due by 2020, the latter will still be rear-engined and powered by a new range of turbocharged flat-six engines, which won't be shared by the mid-engined R8.

Before then — by early next year — the current R8 V10 line-up will be joined by a cheaper, entry-level six-cylinder variant powered by Porsche's new 2.9-litre turbo V6, but there will be no V8 R8 this time round.

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