Audi officials have disclosed plans to launch a turbocharged R8 in the years to come. Right now, the second generation of the supercar is available exclusively with the familiar V10 5.2-liter naturally aspirated engine as Audi has decided not to offer the V8 4.2-liter motor which in the first model acted as the entry-level version. There will be a new base model for the second-gen R8 and rather than sticking with a NA engine, Audi will be offered with a turbocharged motor.
This is more than just a rumor as Audi Technical Development boss Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg told Australian magazine Motoring the R8 will eventually embrace turbocharging at some point during the second-gen’s life cycle. A similar statement was made by quattro GmbH Managing Director Heinz Peter Hollerweger who announced the aforementioned V8 4.2-liter normally aspirated engine will be replaced by a turbocharged unit.
It’s not known at this point what sort of engine Audi plans to offer on the turbocharged R8 but previous reports have indicated it will get a newly developed twin-turbo V6 or the company’s reputable turbocharged 5-cylinder 2.5-liter unit.
As a final note, it is important to mention the overhauled R8 was never developed to work with the old V8 4.2-liter engine or with the twin-turbo V8 4.0-liter from the RS6 and RS7 models.
