The Audi R8 started with the R8 Le Mans endurance racer and the V10-powered Lamborghini Gallardo — plus a contact of “Iron Man”! — and it ends with Vegas Yellow, surprising demand, and 17 years of affect on the tremendous sports activities automotive world. Audi warned us in October 2022 that the 2023 mannequin 12 months can be the R8’s final, promising simply 2,000 manufacturing items for the 12 months, amongst them 333 examples of the celebratory 2023 R8 V10 GT RWD. However one thing occurred on the best way to the tip of the road at Bollinger Hofe, the manufacturing facility the place Audi builds the R8: Demand for the automotive jumped, so Audi prolonged manufacturing for a couple of months. Now, with all the latecomers happy, the man who’s been standing by the sunshine change can lastly flip it off. High Gear watched the last word R8, a V10 Efficiency Quattro Version Coupe, drive out of the power final week, the Vegas Yellow paint hiding a 621-horsepower V10 with an 8,700-rpm redline and a cabin designed for all-day consolation.
Talking of which, the R8 is headed for a lifetime of consolation as a part of the Audi’s non-public assortment. High Gear says the automotive goes to Audi Custom, which is usually known as a museum however is extra just like the producer’s non-public assortment of pristine examples of Audi historical past. Audi Custom is not open to the general public, however overseers in that division fly automobiles world wide to attend occasions and, sometimes, run them laborious. This 12 months, Audi Custom’s attending greater than a dozen occasions; it confirmed as much as Amelia Automotive Week earlier this month, and can take one thing(s) loud to the Goodwood Competition of Velocity. There may be an Audi museum as properly, one which welcomes anybody who buys a ticket. Audi Custom additionally has an app with rolling digital displays and information on the general public and the non-public stuff.
We all know no extra about what’s coming to switch the R8 — if something — than we did 18 months in the past. The consensus has been there’s one thing electrical headed for the highest spot, and we nonetheless consider that is the sensible cash. Autocar cited “Audi insiders” on the time for intel that “the supercar has not but been formally signed off however could be very a lot underway,” and that it will not be referred to as R8 nor appear like the R8. Automotive and Driver adopted up with a report that the automotive is codenamed Rnext and has been pushed again to 2029. Nevertheless, it is anybody’s guess how shifting rules right here and in Europe, fluctuating demand, and the ensuing pullback on electrical powertrains has affected the possibilities, the powertrain, and the timeline of an R8 successor.
