# Audi Sportscar silly season: R18 rumors, the future of the Audi R15, and driver futures.



## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

First off, there are a litany of rumors of the Audi R18: will it be a coupe like the Peugeot 908, what engine will it have, et al.

First off, the Audi R18 will have a smaller engine, as the ACO's rules for 2011 favor smaller power plants. The Audi R18 will be revealed to the public in the first half of December, and has almost certinaly began testing recently, if not earlier. The possible choices for engines have been narrowed down to a 3.7 liter TDI V6, a 3.7 liter TDI V8, or, remotely in the relms of possiblilty, a 2.0 TFSI straight four. 

In an interview in the Italian automotive magazine Automobilismo, Dindo Capello has reportledly revealed that the R18 probably won't have KERS in it's initial version, will likely be a coupe with a diesel engine, and as Marshall Pruett revealed on Speed.com, will likely have equal-width tires on all four corners.

As for the Audi R15, in the issue or Racer Magazine I got in the mail today re-affirms the statements of Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich about Audi's 2011 ALMS plans as being unlikely to come off due to indecision over funding (the cause of which isn't known, but I'll bet that it may have something to do with IMSA's lack of a formal TV schedule announcement, and rumors about that). However, the Audi R15 doing some racing next year, namely at the 12 Hours of Sebring, seems to be a pretty set in stone fact, and the R15 will feature revised front body work (wider wheel clearance bulges, a more agressive front diffuser) to allow the use of wider front tires, like what is though to be in development for the Audi R18.

As for the driver lineups, Audi has said that they want to use the same lineups at Le Mans and preparation races as in 2010. That being said, in the same interview, Dindo states that 2011 might be his last full season as an Audi LMP driver. And with the ILMC again not having an offical drivers' championship, it will be interesting to see what Audi does with shuffling drivers about, and that Peugeot will be faced with the same prospect.

That's all for now, but we'll likely find out most details come early December when the R18 is launched to the public.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

One of the drivers suggested to me at Le Mans that a coupe was likely. I won't say which one because he was cool enough to speak frankly. 

ALMS is a tough one. I have a personal theory not based in any intel on my end that the whole GTC class being Porsche only (closed to R8) and R15 being off the table is up in the air. It seems like the teams being considered for the Audi Sport NA role in the ALMS are now out of discussion and the later you wait the harder it would be to be up and running by the beginning of the season. Still, could Audi come later in the season if the TV issue gets ironed out? I know AoA marketing people want mass exposure and lack of viewership would certainly be an issue (AoA would fund it at least in part).

I have my fingers crossed. I'd also love to see a few privateers... and maybe that's the thought with the R15 TDI. I actually asked Ullrich this at Petit and he said he saw more potential for "privateers" more as teams operated and managed by Audi importers like Audi of America and that Kolles was a bit of an exception to that rule.

Still, can you imagine if Red Bull did ALMS with one car and some new drivers (at least one American please), and maybe added a second car at Le Mans with Vettel and Webber paired with Mattias Ekstrom. I'm not sure how geared Vettel and Webber would be for endurance racing (sort of a learning curve as Peugeot's F1-rich team proved) and I've heard Ekstrom may not be the best at long distance either but you the amount of PR such a trio running at Le Mans would bring to the ACO, Audi and Red Bull would be fantastic.

I think most of us see one of the most classic eras of Le Mans racing as the Porsche 917 era. Of course the modern Audi era will likely be as legendary but years of a mix of independent 917s or even independent R8s make for much more interesting racing. I'd love to see Team Goh (repping Audi Japan), Audi Sport UK and even Team Oreca (repping Audi France) as all have done in the past, but also Red Bull. R15s would look pretty fantastic sporting those blue red and white stripes.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

I think the issue over the TV deal is the rumor that Speed might not cover but a few races next year. Rumor has it that Versus will get a majority of the races, and the rest may be divied up between ABC/ESPN in a butchered "documentary" format and that Speed might get a couple of the Endurance races--maybe Sebring and Petit. Of course, the ACO with the ILMC trying to get a TV package for North America going (possibly on Speed due to their agreement over LM24 coverage) has confused issues, and the fact that PLM has moved back to the first weekend in October (it was originally scheduled for Mid-Oct.) has complicated the ILMC schedule itself, though many say that PLM might be back on when the round in China is sorted.

It's also interesting that if Audi pulls off an 11th hour deal for the ALMS, who would run the car. It might end up at first being an AoA factory program, which is probably not what AoA wants but it would be for the short term--at most for the '11 season. Ullrich saying that Audi favors semi-factory importer backed privateer teams, like Champion Racing was, might help the ALMS get Audi back, but as time marches on, it gets even more unlikely, though Audi waited until Sebring race week to announce a full ALMS program in '08.

As for the R18, I know that you and other sources have stated that the R18 is likely to test in late Nov/early Dec. However, others have said that Audi was to defninely test the R18 starting sometime in Nov. It's my thought, just based on speculation, that Audi may've been waiting for the 90X photos to surface before they did any serious on track testing. Audi probably knew about the 90X and it's testing regime, and merely waited for spy photos to show up, and in the mean time did more dyno and rig testing on the R18. The reason for this is that they have the car mechanically sorted to an extent without on-track test time, and means that they can focus more on making the car fast within a limited time frame, as well as tweaking the R18's areo before publically showing the car in December. 

This leads me to believe that Audi is on a similar test schedule as with the R10, but with the additon of testing the facelifted R15 and the R18 in both Europe and the US--Audi's testing programs has tended to progress very quickly since the introduction of the R8. That car had it's first major on track test on December 23, 1999, and we all know what it did in it's first year!

I also think that the 908's reliablity issues--some self inflicted, like Le Mans, and some intrinsic to the car's rushed design--have lead Peugeot to test early, but even then, they've only had four shakedown tests. One at their own test track, one at Barcelona, one at Monza (where the Autosport photos surfaced), and one in Spain, where the car was trashed in a major accident, and that was the only working 90X prototype, and it's now either being repaired or scrapped. So Audi may not be that far behind, but still, the sooner they get the R18 on track, the better, though I also like the game that Audi has played being ultra secretive on the R18.

As I wrote, we'll find out in mid-December what Audi has in store with the R18 and modifications to the R15. Just curious, could the R18's launch coincide with that of the new A6? It seems that both will be shown to the public in December.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

In the past Audi has made some announcements at the Essen Motor Show which is next week. A6 won't be there.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

That there should be a hint on the R18's introduction. Given what Audi has said--though they've surprised in the past--Essen would be too early for the R18 public launch. Close, but no cigar. I'd bet on a mid-Dec launch, possibly later given limited intel. And I'd expect the A6--which is a strong seller in Europe with diesel engines onboard--to be launced at around the same time. It's rumored to be in production as we speak to get ready for the launch, similar to what Audi did with the A7. Audi didn't just have a few A7s, but quite a number of them, though not mass-production amounts by any real stretch.

Back on the R18, I'd still expect that it and the A6 will be launched at roughly the same time for whatever reason, probably marketing, espeically if the R18 is a diesel. And I think that Essen may be early to expect the R18 to break cover, given what little Audi has said about it aside from an unveiling sometime in December, though many speculate that it should be in a time frame between after Essen and before mid-Dec.


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## lappies (Apr 10, 2006)

With the R16 being the R8 LMS and the R18 being the 18 R number, what about the R17? I assume it is the new generation Audi DTM car?


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

It's probably the next-gen A4 DTM car--we may know at Essen about the DTM for 2011, but I doubt that we'll get any major announcements about the R18, or even revisions to the R15.

Could this be why Audi is looking a importer backed semi-works privateer teams for the ALMS and LMS, and possibly the ILMC, for 2012, like in the late days of the R8? Copy and pasted from a post I made in the VW motorsport forum:

"Fox Sports and Motor Trend are reporting that VW officals will meet with NASCAR brass in January. Whether or not anything comes out of this meeting is yet to be clear. Perhaps that's why Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullirch says that for the ALMS and LMS that Audi's Sportscar program will focus on importer backed semi-factory privateer teams like late in the R8's life."

The Volkswagen Group to NASCAR rumor won't die, obviously. Right now, though, the only cars that VAG have that can run in NASCAR as far as a mid-size sedan is the Audi A4. I don't know if the new VW to be built in Tennesse will be based on the VAG B platform (pretty much properitary to Audi right now, as VW's "B" platform under the Passat/CC is based on a stretched Golf/Jetta), but if so, maybe that's an excuse for Audi and VW to make a rear-wheel drive/AWD performance coupe or sedan with a large V8 engine, but the steel block, carburatted OHV V8 (though NASCAR is supposed to switch to throttle body/port injection sometime in 2011) would need an overhaul (aluminum block, FSI, possibly DOHC heads).

However, in the future, to compete with BMW and certianly Mercedes-Benz, Audi will possibly need a larger capacity, oversquare V8, even if only in a limited production run RS-model car, though the 4.0T V8 (developed from the old 4.2, using what Audi has learned from the C5 RS6) should have BMW's 4.4T V8 covered, though I don't think that M-B will kill of the 6.2 V8 that they built to compete with the GM LS3 engine. Maybe a new 5.0 oversquare V8 can compete against the Ford 5.0 Coyote Mod engine from the Mustang.


Now that I've derailed the thread by going into an engine discussion not related to the R18, if VW enters NASCAR, will that do anything to Audi and their sportscar program, due to Audi, VW and Porsche's racing programs cross-polinating?


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

Important Update: Michelin's Le Mans Live site is reporting that the Audi R18 has been testing recently and will be publically launched on Friday, Dec. 10. So look for Spy Shots though out the week to possibly show up.


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## lappies (Apr 10, 2006)

Is the tenth confirmed? It has not come up on any of the big sports car racing websites yet... I am pretty excited and hoping that it is true..


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

At Ten-tenths.com, there was a discussion about it in their Audi R18 thread, and the guy who posted says that the Michelin LM Live report has definite merrit and substance.


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## lappies (Apr 10, 2006)

Ive seen it now on a few other fourums too, so we can assume it legit I think. Interesting that at the Michilen Live site they mention that the car is closed roof...despite no ifficial word from Audi on the Open vs closed roof question...


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## lappies (Apr 10, 2006)

http://www.lemanslive.com/24h-mans/2010/12/04/cent-jours/?lang=en


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

I've not heard anything of this nature beyond this but will ask around.


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## lappies (Apr 10, 2006)

Its is now official http://www.lemans.org/fr/actualites/L-Audi-R18-arrive_2499.html


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Thanks Lappies. Here's the google translation.



> Friday night at Ingolstadt, Dr. Ullrich will unveil
> the new R18. Meanwhile, Audi Sport boss confirms its
> satisfaction of participating in the rise of ILMC.
> 
> ...


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

Ten-Tenths.com says that the Press Release and photos should be released at 7:00 PM UK time. 

That means about 1:00 PM eastern time in the US, and Marshall Pruett from Speed has already been given a preview and has written his own apprasal of the R18. From his Twitter, he says that is definently deviates from the R15, and that, especially under the skin, it as a lot of R8-inspired concepts as far as it's chassis, and that it's a closed car. 

Mulsannescorner.come has been reporting that the car will have a 3.7 liter TDI V6 or V8 diesel.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

McNish's Facebook fan page confirmed it too. I'm working to see if I can get some embargo pics that we can pre-produce. No luck yet. Thanks for the tip on the timing.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

Mulsanne's corner is reporting that the only changes expected to the R15 for Sebring is changes made to equalize it's performance to the new generation cars.

That's what a story on Mike's site says, but he's forgetting the exemptions for cars that have had an application for a waiver submitted on/before Oct. 31st.

The "Sebring spec" R15 saga it seems is far from over...


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Thanks for the update.


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