Audi R8 to return using Lambo’s PHEV powertrain

Lamborghini is once again providing motive power for the third generation of the Audi R8, this time a PHEV.

Audi will reprise the R8 as a plug-in hybrid supercar. It could well be Audi’s most powerful and fastest road-going model yet.

The project evidently has the green light and the end product is due out by 2028.

It will essentially use Temerario mechanicals, just as former R8s used Gallardo and Huracan bits. Audi has sold 44,418 R8s to date.

The German will again differentiate the R8 from its Lamborghini sibling by focusing on everyday utility. Both coupé and cabriolet body styles are likely.

The borrowed flat-plane-crank twin-turbo 4.0 V8 outputs 588kW and 730Nm. System power of 676kW is thanks to three axial-flux electric motors, drawing current from a 3.8kWh lithium-ion battery. EV range is a claimed 9.6km. Two motors drive the front axle while a third sits between the engine and the eight-speed twin-clutch transmission acting as a starter-generator.

A successor to the R8 Performance could mean an output close to 1000bhp (746kW) and a sprint time in the twos. It will also make it the quickest Audi yet, with a top speed of over 330km/h.

This new drivetrain is the first in an R8 that is not naturally aspirated. However, the high revving V8 engine will provide a similar sound to the powerplants of its predecessors.

Meantime, the adoption of PHEV technology will also allow the R8 to act as a showcase for Audi’s electrification efforts. To this end, the R8 e-tron name is being considered.

The new aluminium spaceframe is a big step forward, with far fewer components and welds, and a 25 per cent rise in rigidity.

The joint decision by VW Group and Audi to revive the R8 was evidently made in part to foster an all-electric future for the brand. Despite that, some ICE models get a new lease of life, while more plug-in hybrids are also being offered.

Audi also wants to develop FIA-homologated iterations of the new R8 so it can go endurance racing.

The third-generation R8 will likely undergo manufacture at the same site as its forebears.