MTM R8 V10 bi-turbo !

[Rosefors]

With all respect to everyone, but if they’re using the RS6TT or the 5.2 V10 engine really has very little or nothing to do with it. The fact of the matter is that if two engines develop a certain amount of power running on a specific type of fuel, they will most certainly develop similar amount of heat. The question is, how do they dissipate it?

So... there is really no point in believing MTM has managed doing something that the engineers on one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers couldn’t figure out until they put that thing on the ring doing at LEAST 5 subsequent 7.xx minute laps and it still doesn’t smoke.

[Mr Balsen]

MTM has spent more than 1000 hours of work solely on the engine/gearbox of this car....

[Rosefors]

Ya.. and.......... ?? That’s hardly any evidence of a job well done as long as we dont know exactly what is done or on what level of engineering. I mean.. lets assume they were 5 people working on this upgrade project. Thats no more than 5 weeks of development time, where at least 30% of that is administration, coffee drinking or some other kind of spill time. Hardly anything to brag about. And, I sure believe the engineers at MTM are good at what they do (being welding pipes and programming ECUs) but we're not talking about Lockheed Martin class of engineering here.

[The RS6]

Ya.. and.......... ?? That’s hardly any evidence of a job well done as long as we dont know exactly what is done or on what level of engineering. I mean.. lets assume they were 5 people working on this upgrade project. Thats no more than 5 weeks of development time, where at least 30% of that is administration, coffee drinking or some other kind of spill time. Hardly anything to brag about. And, I sure believe the engineers at MTM are good at what they do (being welding pipes and programming ECUs) but we're not talking about Lockheed Martin class of engineering here.

1000 Hours = 125 non-stop working days. That's 25 weeks, not 5

Half a year actually...

[Toto89]

Well, i think that the fact Audi gave up this project was not because they couldn't solve cooling if they really wanted. It's a completely different thing that the way of cooling this engine in this car is profitable or acceptable within a project of such a car manufacturer. Just think about the Veyron: it was possible to cool down a W16 Quad-turbo engine mounted in the middle sufficiently...the questions are about costs, with the R8, it didn't worth for them.

[kismetcapitan]

I'd wondered about this, and that is actually what I think is the answer. The R8, while being Audi's halo car, *has* to come in at a price point, as well as have less power than it could have. With a fully blown 5.2 TT FSI engine, it would be easy to offer a car with more power than the Gallardo, and the R8 has to marketed in a way that does not cannibalize Gallardo sales. Note that the R8 GT is offered only *after* the Superleggera was released, and the GT gives us an idea of what the R8 would have been had Audi simply transplanted the LP560-4 powerplant without modifications to detune it.

Other considerations on top of cost could have come into play. Say the solution they found required eliminating interior space - going against Audi's general code of comfortable and practical interiors. Or if it required cooling vents on top of the roof like the Veyron SS. This would compromise the styling of the car and it could have been vetoed right then and there (not the first time in the industry - when Nissan developed the legendary AWD Skyline drivetrain, it was meant to go into the 1990 300ZX. However, the straight six twin turbo won't fit without either giving up the front drive axles, or adding a bulge in the hood. The car's styling was absolutely non-negotiable: not one line on the design could be changed. So they found a different engine, went with RWD, and stuck their masterpiece engine/drivetrain into the homely Skyline two-door sedan).

No doubt VAG is capable of turning the R8 into a raging 700bhp monster. But then at that price and performance, it steps on Lamborghini's toes, and if the styling has to go the way of the Veyron to handle cooling...well, does VAG really want a "baby Veyron" in its lineup?