Interesting video clip of Audi EVP discussing a diesel r8

[randombloke]

6 minutes into this TheAutoChannel clip Johan de Nysschen discussed at reasonable length that the idea of a diesel r8 is very appealing and fitting but that the weight is something the engineers would have to work on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGctgxgBaQ4

that vid is part 2 of 3:

part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOI4CLtIHE0

part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyB6yBpvlsY

[N1JEE]

was just going to post the clips myself! yep very interesting about the R10 as well as Audi's plans to keep the car volumes very low and exclusive.

[Kreso]

Johan de Nysschen does not know that quattro AWD on R8 is not using 40/60 power distribution but, 30/70... R8 AWD is the almost the same one as on Gallardo and do not have anything common with Torsen based AWD in normal Audi's...

[996TT]

Just watched all 3 parts. I'm not sure when the interview was conducted, but I'll guess recently since he mentions 50 cars already delivered to the US. Some other interesting notes:
- 200 cars still to be shipped to US this year (2007).
- US gets only 10% of production () which works out to about 600 cars (and 6000 total cars per year). I've read more like 800/5000 cars per year.
- I've got news for Audi, 5 or 6 thousand cars per year is not that rare. I believe Porsche's 996 turbo and the old 928 models were produced at similar numbers, and they're NOT rare!
- I don't doubt there will be turbo diesels in the future that would be appropriate for the R8, but certainly NOT the current ones or the SUV's V12.

Again, they reference some sort of customer event by invitation only to prospective customers by dealers...the silence from my dealer is deafening!

[hmp10]

Johan de Nysschen does not know that quattro AWD on R8 is not using 40/60 power distribution . . . .

I noticed that, too. My understanding is that the R8 defaults to a 10/90 power split in normal driving and can never divert more than 35% of the power to the front wheels. Also, I have read that it is not the standard quattro system from the Audi sedans. It's a little scary when Audi's chief spokesman in the U.S. gets such facts wrong.

[N1JEE]

I noticed that, too. My understanding is that the R8 defaults to a 10/90 power split in normal driving and can never divert more than 35% of the power to the front wheels. Also, I have read that it is not the standard quattro system from the Audi sedans. It's a little scary when Audi's chief spokesman in the U.S. gets such facts wrong.

I think we should give the guy a break - afterall he was trying to drive at the same time

[hmp10]

I think we should give the guy a break - afterall he was trying to drive at the same time

Ouch. Given how much time many of us spend in our cars, that could mean a significant percentage of our utterances are questionable.