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Unveiled in Frankfurt: the Audi Le Mans Quattro
1.90 metres wide but only 4.37 metres long and 1.25 metres high: this clearly reflects the proportions of a pure sports car. A wheelbase of 2.65 metres accommodates a surprisingly spacious cockpit and the longitudinally installed V10 ‘biturbo’ engine with FSI direct fuel injection behind it. To the rear of the doors, between the sill and the roof, there is a large outward-curving intake that supplies the V10 engine, the brakes, the oil cooler and the charge-air intercooler with sufficient air.
An aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF) forms the central structure of this concept study. The outer skin and add-on parts use a weight-saving mixed aluminium and carbon-fibre concept - thus satisfying the demand for utmost rigidity at a simultaneously low weight of 1530 kg, and providing a foundation for top road dynamics.
This mid-engined two-seater is powered by a five-litre V10 ‘biturbo’ engine with FSI direct fuel injection, developing 449 kW (610 bhp) at 6,800 rpm.
Outstandingly free revving and considerable ‘bite’ are typical features of this engine, with its seemingly inexhaustible power reserves even at very low engine speeds.
The maximum torque of 750 Nm is available at an engine speed as low as 1,750 rpm and remains constant over a broad engine speed range up to 5,800 rpm. A sequential-shift six-speed sports gearbox enables the driver to use this powerful torque in the appropriate doses.
As a matter of course, any Audi as powerful as this will have quattro permanent four-wheel drive, which distributes the power variably - based on a 40:60 ratio - to the front and rear axles and thus gives this mid-engined sports car its optimum road dynamics. The Audi Le Mans quattro accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds and to 200 km/h in 10.8 seconds.
Power-to-weight ratio is only 2.5 kg/bhp…