The Audi R8 Supercar

I would love to squeeze into one of these for a test drive. What a total badass looking Audi.

Continuing to add spice to the lineup, Audi is now poised to offer a two-seat, mid-engine sports car, dubbed the R8. This Bavarian offering is believed by some to be on the road sans camouflage because of press deadlines for publications about a certain infamous French event in June, the Le Mans. Initially, the R8 was briefed as a Le Mans concept car at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show. Estimates to launch the R8 are for the Paris Auto show in September 2006, with first deliveries to North America sometime in 2007. Pricing is expecting to have the R8 slightly above the $100K mark, in base form. Sharing the same aluminum frame and all wheel drive components as the Lamborghini Gallardo, the R8 is a model that has Audi pushing forward with more diversity in its offerings. There is much more to come as well, as confirmed by Chairman Martin Winterkorn. "By 2015 we plan to expand from 22 models to nearly 40, with volumes almost double from today’s level." The magician behind the curtain in the R8s design is the distinguished Walter de Silva. He ensured the R8 received a design unique to its lineage, not one merely inherited from the relatives in the competition. "We created an Audi package, not one suited to Lamborghini. The additional length should provide the new Audi with greater cabin space and a more upright driving position in keeping with the claim made at the Le Mans unveiling that it is an "everyday supercar."

Read more