anyone with insider audi le mans info?

[RXBG]

someone has to know something regarding updated engine choices, price ranges, and updated time to production. if you're not sure, please state so....

from what i understand lots is going on right now and a few big decisions have already taken place.....

[Erik]

I suggest you buy the latest EVO (UK magazine)

They suggest it may be a 2+2 since its wheelbase is a bit longer than the Gallardo's.

[RXBG]

yeah, i look for evo every time i'm at a b&n or borders (i don't know if you're in the us or not)...

sounds interesting but i don't know.

[Benman]

Originally posted by RXBG
yeah, i look for evo every time i'm at a b&n or borders (i don't know if you're in the us or not)...

sounds interesting but i don't know.

Erik is not in the US, (try Sweden), but B&N does carry the EVO regularly. It's arrival is delayed a good month or so, so expect that specific issue next month.

Ben

[Inline Six]

Originally posted by Benman
Erik is not in the US, (try Sweden), but B&N does carry the EVO regularly. It's arrival is delayed a good month or so, so expect that specific issue next month.

Ben

Here in Houston I found a little shop specialize in foreign magazines, they receive these UK mags with just 1 or 2 days delay. Maybe you can subscribe to them

http://www.issuesmagazinestore.com/

[Iceman]

Originally posted by Erik
I suggest you buy the latest EVO (UK magazine)
They suggest it may be a 2+2 since its wheelbase is a bit longer than the Gallardo's.

That is nonsense a 2+2, there is a engine behind the front seats and no place for back seats maybe there will be room for a suitcase.
And the longer wheelbase is bogus it will be the same as the Gallardo otherwise Audi need te built a compleet new spaceframe for the Le Mans/R9.

wfg, Hans.

[clam]

It won't have the same chassis as the Gallardo. A chassis has the shape of the car (in case of a monocoque, like the ASF).

Platform sharing means suspension, subframes, drivetrain, various components,... etc
If it had the same chassis, it would be a rebadge.

I agree with the longer wheel base and 2+2 being bogus. Simply no room.

[Nordschleife]

The Aluminium Space Frame chassis which the Lamborghini Gallardo uses is easily lengthened. Its one of the benefits of this technology. So you see the long wheelbase A8, as well as the short wheelbase car on the same chassis, but slightly lengthened.

The Le Mans quattro can easily be turned into a 2+2, if Audi want to do it. It MAY be dependent upon the availability of a shorter gearbox than the Gallardo uses. As the car will be pitched against the C4, expect it to have similar configurations.

ASF is NOT monocoque, it is space frame. There is an expression 'as quiet as a clam', would that some people had heard of it.

R+C

[tailpipe]

I personally doubt whether the R9 will have a 2+2 configuration. Don't forget, this car is intended to be a halo model that summarises Audi's luxury performance car credentials. It has to be focused. It also mustn't overlap too much with other models. We've got the 4-seat A5 coupe coming along (that's the production version of the Nuvolari concept), so punters that want a more practical perfroamce car can opt for this.

More fundamentally, I think a four seat mid-engine supercar would, despite Nordschliefe's comments, be more difficult to engineer and package. It might end up looking bloated and ungainly, which could potentially make it less desirable. That's a risk I am sure Audi would wish to avoid.

(Yes, a Porsche 911 has four seats plus a rear-engine, but this is mounted behind the rear axle and the two extra seats are for infants only.)

We can certainly expect to see Bugatti Veyron's DSG box in the R9, if only to amortise the cost of its development across the VAG group. Financial logic apart, it should enable the R9 to accelerate like a race car.

In terms of look and feel, my bet is that the R9 will be pretty close in concept and layout to the Le Mans, but will have different styling. The one thing that I can say with certainty is that while both V8 and V10 engines have been tested in the R9, no final management decision has been taken about which model options will be offered. Again speculation, but I think we will get both engine options.


:king:

[Nordschleife]

Tailpipe

You are talking to the marketing people. Please stop doing this, they are mushrooms.

If you think four seater supercars are too difficult, you have never driven the 612.

It has never been Audi's intention to build a 'Supercar', only a 911 competitor. Talking to Audi UK is just a way of picking up secondhand gossip. Like a lavatory, they just process the shit poured into them.

So, in the real world, the Audi Quattro Le Mans is for rich hairdressers, because there are a lot more of them than there are customers for hardline drivers' cars. Sad, but true. I have spoken to Winterkorn and to Frowein about this car, they speak with forked-tongues, they promise a hard edged sports car but shape up for a trim and a perm.
R+C

[tailpipe]

Robin,

You are a mischievous leprechaun!

I am a marketing person! Please do not refer to me as a mushroom; I'm a fun guy, not a funghi. A big part of my job is advising people exactly what they should be building. And not just Audi. Contributing to this site requires a very delicate balance between fact and confidentiality. Whatever, I certainly haven't been talking with Audi UK. They know nothing.

What I will reliably say is that there is no way the Le Mans is going to be a full 4-seater. If it has any type of rear seating it will be a suggestion, rather than a usable space. Yes, the Ferrari 612 is a fantastic car, but it is front mid-engined. And have you seen how long it is? It's hell to drive around town. A four seat rear mid-engined car would be ugly and compromised, because it would be unlikely to have an optimal weight distribution. You know this.

Everyone is concerned that the R9 will be a hairdresser's car. And 4-seats will undermine the hard edge it needs to have.

[Julz RS4]

Here the famous Audi R9 article from EVO Magazine.

[Benman]

Originally posted by Julz RS4
Here the famous Audi R9 article from EVO Magazine.

Either way, when all is said and done, itshould be a SWEET ride!

Ben

[RXBG]

thank you julz RS4! hadn't had the time to go to the local store to look at EVO.

lots of food for thought in that article. it appears they WILL NOT change much of it after all. i doubt it will get a V6- in order to maintain its exclusivity status and because it would interfere with an RS version of the next TT.

i just hope that all versions get launched simultaneously because i want to TOP LINE baby...and i am chomping at the bit to get mine.

R9 would be such a sexy name. i hope it gets RSQ-style headlights is LEDs are not an option.

cheers and love to everyone

[RXBG]

Lexus LF-A (might be presented at tokyo show in a few months)-
V10, RWD, ~500 hp, 100K

Next NSX (in 3 years)-
V10

New nissan skyline (1-2 years)-
V8

i think the R9 will HAVE to have a V10 to be competitive status-wise and to be positioned at the top of the audi line, especially because it will be out in less than 2 years and by then the RS6 and S8 will both be runnning V10s.

i know this car will be smaller and lighter but the non-turbo FSI V8 doesn't cut it torque wise.

i'd hate to see audi outclassed by a lexus!

i am sure there will be updated info in frankfurt.