A prototype of the
upcoming Audi R8 facelift has been spied testing at the Nurburgring with two
company engineers in the cockpit. Numerous facelifted R8 prototypes have been
snapped testing in recent months but this appears to be the first time
development of the supercar has reached ‘Green Hell.’
At the front, we
can see that this R8 features angular headlights and aggressive air intakes
that will provide the car with even greater road presence than the current
model. Audi recently unveiled the updated R8 LMS race car at the Paris Auto
Show and it adopts three small air ducts directly in front of the hood. The new
A1 also features these small ducts and it is possible that the road-going R8
facelift will sport them as well. With that being said, they aren’t visible
under the camouflage of this prototype.
Looking beyond the
vehicle’s front fascia, we can see camouflage over the side skirts and rear
wheel arches. The car includes a fixed rear wing, a prominent diffuser and
huge, oval-shaped tailpipes. It’s difficult to know what exact R8 variant we
are looking at but it’s obviously powered by a naturally-aspirated V10 and
could very well be a new R8 GT, as evidenced by the exhaust tips. If this is
the case, the car can be expected to feature an uprated variant of the V10
engine, perhaps delivering the same 630 hp as the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.
Elsewhere in the
facelifted R8 range, the supercar will be sold in other V10 guises and like the
current car, a V10 will probably be the only engine option. This comes despite
the fact that the first-gen R8 was also sold with a V8 and shoots down the
possibility of an entry-level V6-powered R8 being produced.
The facelifted Audi
R8 should premiere towards the end of the year or in early 2019.
