# Audi R8 Facelift Image Update: Matrix Beam Light Concept by Audi Designer Christoph Haussinger



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

After publishing our image of what looked to be a facelift R8 nose found in the * Audi Encounter Technology Magazine (p.93 if you download it) *, eagle eyed reader and forum member "R5T" posted an update and a clue as to how to interpret the photo. As it turns out, this appears to be a design buck made at some point to further the Matrix Beam Light Concept by designer Christoph Haussinger from the Technische Universitat Dresden.

Here's the original press release (Google translated to English, official photo above) from the project. Additional photos (below and in press release) were found on the internet and posted by R5T :



> *TU Dresden on the AMI: Headlight who already know what you are thinking the same*
> 
> 09.04.2010 10:14
> 
> ...


In Europe, students also work on their thesis projects with companies and from the sounds of it, Haussinger worked with Audi on this. Read past press releases and concepts like the first e-tron Concept and Geneva's A3 concept used similar matrix beam prototype setups. This press release and the photos began to make rounds via PR channels nearly a year ago, a figure that surprised us given how closely we and thousands of other automotive sits and blogs cover the industry. That this would pop up and not draw more attention so long ago wasn't expected.









The images in this story are all CGI and were part of the project. The image from the Encounter Technology magazine are from Audi and a photograph of an actual buck. So what does all this mean? It's possible this is still the facelifted R8 design as _that design_ would have been locked in over a year ago, but we'll hold off on making that statement. That CGIs of Haussinger's Matrix Light Beam Concept were released in 2010 makes us suspect otherwise... but you never know. Clearly Audi put the thing into real form at some point and further Googling of Haussinger suggests he worked for Audi (and may still work for Audi) from 2007 through the time he graduated. We're checking to see if he's still there.

Other intel we published in the story was unrelated to the photo. We threw together intel we'd been collecting on the R8 until we had more of a story or something like this picture to make it enough to piece together an intel report. Since this story published, we've been able to confirm that the Audi S6, S7 and S8 should all be at the Frankfurt IAA alongside the already confirmed urban concept cars. That would make a VERY crowded stage indeed if the R8 is there as well, though our intel suggesting S-tronic production begins soon is still a puzzler.


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