Hardcore Audi R8 GT supercar

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Only things I prefer about manual transmissions is their weight and the ease or rebuilding them.
 
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Terronium-12
Um, what?
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The only things that I like about manual transmissions over automatic transmissions, is that they weigh less and are much easier to work on, and the drivetrain power losses are less but that's becoming less of a concern.
 
Terronium-12
You know who - Lamborghini. :p

It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I get that it's cheaper (and more productive in the long run) to continually evolve an architecture that's already in production as opposed to penciling an entirely new one. It does get to the point where you've tapped the entire potential of the car so you end up changing one dynamic to benefit another. I'm not implying Lambo does any of that, but they were the primary reference to wringing a performance vehicle for everything it's worth.
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With the Gallardo, it was a way to drive up sales even more due to the shock that the 5.0 was actually turning a profit.

With the LP560-4, they're pooling their money into the Murcie. successor & trying to help keep the Gallardo line fresh with the Superleggera b/c a Gallardo successor may not come at all.
 
dave_sz
The only things that I like about manual transmissions over automatic transmissions, is that they weigh less and are much easier to work on, and the drivetrain power losses are less but that's becoming less of a concern.
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That makes more sense. :p

McLaren
With the Gallardo, it was a way to drive up sales even more due to the shock that the 5.0 was actually turning a profit.

With the LP560-4, they're pooling their money into the Murcie. successor & trying to help keep the Gallardo line fresh with the Superleggera b/c a Gallardo successor may not come at all.
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T'would be a shame if one didn't come along, because the Gallardo is (and still remains) one of the best-looking Lambo's I've ever seen. The V10 that thing has sounds like no other, and not to mention the entire car can fit in anyone's pocket. :lol:
 
It would, and Audi's not helping Lamborghini right now as they continue to develop the R8, not that I don't blame them. It is their halo car. But, it ultimately forces Lamborghini to develop the Gallardo so a price gap can be had.

As of now, Lamborghini is in a tight spot. Their dealers screwed themselves over. Vik gave away cars, & dealers falsely ordered in new vehicles, and this has taken a toll on the company's sales tremendously. This, in combination with Audi, means Lamborghini need to develop something soon to help keep them going as the economy recovers.

And the only solution I can think of is to produce the Estoque. Porsche's sales are dominated by their new 4-door over the 911, so a sub-$200K 4-door Lamborghini should be exactly what they need.
 
McLaren
It would, and Audi's not helping Lamborghini right now as they continue to develop the R8, not that I don't blame them. It is their halo car. But, it ultimately forces Lamborghini to develop the Gallardo so a price gap can be had.

As of now, Lamborghini is in a tight spot. Their dealers screwed themselves over. Vik gave away cars, & dealers falsely ordered in new vehicles, and this has taken a toll on the company's sales tremendously. This, in combination with Audi, means Lamborghini need to develop something soon to help keep them going as the economy recovers.

And the only solution I can think of is to produce the Estoque. Porsche's sales are dominated by their new 4-door over the 911, so a sub-$200K 4-door Lamborghini should be exactly what they need.
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I'd love to see the Estoque make a production run, it's far better-looking then the Panamera.

*shivers*

I wonder why they haven't considered a limited run of the Miura, I'm certain all examples would be spoken for the second an official announcement is made.
 
Terronium-12
I'd love to see the Estoque make a production run, it's far better-looking then the Panamera.

*shivers*

I wonder why they haven't considered a limited run of the Miura, I'm certain all examples would be spoken for the second an official announcement is made.
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The Miura Concept was merely to commemorate the car's 40th anniversary. The car looked like it was set for production til' CEO Winkelmann confirmed that Lamborghini has no interest in producing retro models, that they are about the future, and not reliving their past. Cocky, but he meant that the Miura should be remembered for what it was, not what it could become.
 
McLaren
The Miura Concept was merely to commemorate the car's 40th anniversary. The car looked like it was set for production til' CEO Winkelmann confirmed that Lamborghini has no interest in producing retro models, that they are about the future, and not reliving their past. Cocky, but he meant that the Miura should be remembered for what it was, not what it could become.
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Yeah, I know all too well of that statement. I side with him, and all I'll say as to why I side with him is Dodge Charger....'nuff said.

However, retro or no retro, the Miura would get them out of the tight spot they're in. Even moreso considering the entire design is already on hand - I know it won't happen, but I mean hell, they could even change the name and a design cue or two.
 
Terronium-12
Yeah, I know all too well of that statement. I side with him, and all I'll say as to why I side with him is Dodge Charger....'nuff said.

However, retro or no retro, the Miura would get them out of the tight spot they're in. Even moreso considering the entire design is already on hand - I know it won't happen, but I mean hell, they could even change the name and a design cue or two.
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True, but then you'd get people whining that it's a re-bodied Gallardo just like they did with the Reventon & I imagine it would end up being in the $300,000 range as well.
 
Terronium-12
T'would be a shame if one didn't come along, because the Gallardo is (and still remains) one of the best-looking Lambo's I've ever seen. The V10 that thing has sounds like no other, and not to mention the entire car can fit in anyone's pocket.
:lol:
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It sounds like an Audi R8 to me :sly:
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And I hope they never make anything like the Estoque, a four door car isn't what Lamborghini should be doing. I went off them as I think the last proper Lambo was the LP640, all others since having been trying to hard, and are the the wrong side of vulgar.
 
Duffers917K
It sounds like an Audi R8 to me :sly:
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And I hope they never make anything like the Estoque, a four door car isn't what Lamborghini should be doing. I went off them as I think the last proper Lambo was the LP640, all others since having been trying to hard, and are the the wrong side of vulgar.
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Like I said, it wasn't what Porsche should have been doing either, but sales say otherwise & I'm betting Lamborghini would have similar results with it. The die-hards like me would be put off, but if the car sales, the other models will profit, & that's an important key right now in their success.
 
Terronium-12
I'd love to see the Estoque make a production run, it's far better-looking then the Panamera.
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Agree, nobody's complaining about the Maserati Quattroporte perhaps because Maserati has made 4-door saloon cars since the sixties and it's part of their history.
History is made by both Porsche and Lamborghini in the same way Maserati did when it first introduced the Quattroporte ( which probably also raised some eyebrows at the time ).
In another twenty years it probably won't even be discussed anymore, and although I didn't mind Porsche creating both an SUV and a saloon ( I actually applaud this fact as I think history should be made, not repeated ) I really dislike both the Cayenne as the Panamera not for their concept but for the way they are styled ( although a personal taste, but widely shared apparantly ).
A Lamborghini SUV is already part of their history ( LM002 ) and the 4-door Estoque is not only welcomed by me for its original concept but i also really love the way it looks.
I'm not a conservative or a purist when it comes to what a car company should be and I like the odd concepts challenging preconceptions as long as they are well executed and will then in time be part of the brand history.:)
 
analog
Agree, nobody's complaining about the Maserati Quattroporte perhaps because Maserati has made 4-door saloon cars since the sixties and it's part of their history.
History is made by both Porsche and Lamborghini in the same way Maserati did when it first introduced the Quattroporte ( which probably also raised some eyebrows at the time ).
In another twenty years it probably won't even be discussed anymore, and although I didn't mind Porsche creating both an SUV and a saloon ( I actually applaud this fact as I think history should be made, not repeated ) I really dislike both the Cayenne as the Panamera not for their concept but for the way they are styled ( although a personal taste, but widely shared apparantly ).
A Lamborghini SUV is already part of their history ( LM002 ) and the 4-door Estoque is not only welcomed by me for its original concept but i also really love the way it looks.
I'm not a conservative or a purist when it comes to what a car company should be and I like the odd concepts challenging preconceptions as long as they are well executed and will then in time be part of the brand history.:)
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One thing I've always been very fond of when looking at particular manufacturers is expansion, in the sense of what would x and y look like if this company did it as opposed to another. We've seen what an Italian version of a Mustang and Corvette look like - and they have the stylistic cues native to their ethics. The point of this being that unless it's really, really ugly I can look into just about anything, so long as it has a definite purpose. The Estoque would not only be going up against the Panamera, but it would also be going up against the Rapide; between the three the Rapide is the best-looking, with the Estoque coming in second....and the Panamera well in third. If I'm to be perfectly honest I would suspect Lamborghini would have more to worry about when looking at Aston Martin as opposed to Porsche.

Why?

Aston covers their line-up very, very well...ranging from the V12 Vantage (or V8 if you want to include both "babies") to the One-77 (although all 77 are probably spoken for now but nonetheless...), they have just about every sensation of luxury and comfort covered.

Back to Audi though, I'm curious if the R8 will be succeeded at some point or another. I can easily see an R12 or R15 rolling in around, perhaps, 2012 or 2014.
 
Considering that the R8 is their crown vehicle, one that is meant to share its blood & driving pedigree with that of their highly successful LMP race cars, I can't imagine Audi not continuing its halo model as car that will share racing pedigree with the R15 or whatever comes next.

The question there is, will Lamborghini still be within VAG, & will the Gallardo successor still be seen as the R8's Lamborghini equivalent.
 
Terronium-12
If I'm to be perfectly honest I would suspect Lamborghini would have more to worry about when looking at Aston Martin as opposed to Porsche.

Aston covers their line-up very, very well...ranging from the V12 Vantage (or V8 if you want to include both "babies") to the One-77 (although all 77 are probably spoken for now but nonetheless...), they have just about every sensation of luxury and comfort covered.
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The Rapide probably falls somewhere between Panamera in Estoque in price range and although Aston and Lambo have competing models, Aston is also gunning for Porsche customers ( Aston CEO Ulrich Bez was formerly employed by Porsche ) at the higher end ( and their LeMans entries are Gulf-sponsored now...just like the legendary 917 ).
I do worry the Estoque doesn't make it though, partly because Lambo is heavily hit by the Financial Crisis ( which limits resources and requires a new strategy ) and partly because Porsche is now part of the same group ( VAG ).

Terronium-12
Back to Audi though, I'm curious if the R8 will be succeeded at some point or another. I can easily see an R12 or R15 rolling in around, perhaps, 2012 or 2014.
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I wonder if they're going to build that concept-Diesel version of the R8 they showed a couple of years ago ( V12 turbodiesel ) to capitalise on the Le Mans victories they've achieved with the Diesel-powered R10/R15.
Might be controversial or even pointless to most ( how many supercar consumers worry about fuel consumption? ).
But I would admire their bravery if they did it, and given their succes at introducing Diesel-powered Le Mans racers it would make more sense for them to introduce a Diesel-supercar than any other supercar manufacturer.
 
McLaren
Considering that the R8 is their crown vehicle, one that is meant to share its blood & driving pedigree with that of their highly successful LMP race cars, I can't imagine Audi not continuing its halo model as car that will share racing pedigree with the R15 or whatever comes next.
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I might be wrong on this, but other than the name the R8 shares nothing but it's name with the R8 LMP from the early 2000's, I wouldn't have said that gives it the same driving pedigree... although I'm not sure what that would mean anyway. If Audi wanted to pay tribute to their sucessful racing cars and carry some of their character across to road cars, they be better of making RWD versions, as the R8R, R8C, R10, R15 and R??? DTM cars are all Rear Wheel Drive.

analog
I wonder if they're going to build that concept-Diesel version of the R8 they showed a couple of years ago ( V12 turbodiesel ) to capitalise on the Le Mans victories they've achieved with the Diesel-powered R10/R15
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Again, I might be wrong but the R15 is yet to win at Le Mans.. and again, call me cynical, but I doubt again it would actually share anything but it's name with a road car. I'll confess I don't know how much of the R10 TDi's engines is shared with the road going version.

At the end of the day, we are talking about Prototype racing, not 'close to production' racing. If anyone's going to make links between the LMP's and the Road cars it will be the marketing men, not the engineers! IMO, the R8 road car will write its own chapter in Motorsport via the R8 GT / LMS programme.. rather than rely on tenuous links to previous race cars. The popularity of the R8 is already evident when you look at the entry lists for GT races (or last weekends N24 race).
 
MatskiMonk
Again, I might be wrong but the R15 is yet to win at Le Mans.. and again, call me cynical, but I doubt again it would actually share anything but it's name with a road car. I'll confess I don't know how much of the R10 TDi's engines is shared with the road going version.

At the end of the day, we are talking about Prototype racing, not 'close to production' racing. If anyone's going to make links between the LMP's and the Road cars it will be the marketing men, not the engineers! IMO, the R8 road car will write its own chapter in Motorsport via the R8 GT / LMS programme.. rather than rely on tenuous links to previous race cars. The popularity of the R8 is already evident when you look at the entry lists for GT races (or last weekends N24 race).
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Yes, the R15 hasn't actually won yet but it is a further development of the succesful R10 and last years winner, the Peugeot 908 was also Diesel-powered, which Audi pioneered and proved to be succesful.
Ofcourse those engines bear no resemblence to the production cars, and neither does the rest of the car.
In the same way those marketing-men in the past persisted the Porsche 917 should be air-cooled to show a relation to the production cars, the same could be achieved the other way around.
And ofcourse it will be a cynical marketing exercise, as I've pointed out before, a Diesel-powered supercar probably makes no sense to most.
But at least it would produce an interesting oddity, cynical marketing or not.:)
 
i dont like this car because
audi think if they make a new and better exteriour then the car will be much better lol
this is the 3th version of the r8 and look at the accelegration/top speed/...OMG
example:the sls amg is the "first" version of the sls and the car goes from 0-100 in 3.8s and the top speed is at 317
the first version of the sls is nearly same fast as the 3th version of the r8...

some people see the exteriour and say wow good car but it isnt good enough for the 3th version of the r8
 
contspell
how the heck can they make such a beautifull car not rear wheel drive
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Does it matter if it isn't? Obviously, the AWD system is a key to its success & is already heavily RWD-biased to begin with. Seems to me Audi found just the right amount for this car.
 
McLaren
Does it matter if it isn't? Obviously, the AWD system is a key to its success & is already heavily RWD-biased to begin with. Seems to me Audi found just the right amount for this car.
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Yup agree, and besides, who said a 4wd car can't be beautiful?
 
McLaren
It would, and Audi's not helping Lamborghini right now as they continue to develop the R8, not that I don't blame them. It is their halo car. But, it ultimately forces Lamborghini to develop the Gallardo so a price gap can be had.

As of now, Lamborghini is in a tight spot. Their dealers screwed themselves over. Vik gave away cars, & dealers falsely ordered in new vehicles, and this has taken a toll on the company's sales tremendously. This, in combination with Audi, means Lamborghini need to develop something soon to help keep them going as the economy recovers.

And the only solution I can think of is to produce the Estoque. Porsche's sales are dominated by their new 4-door over the 911, so a sub-$200K 4-door Lamborghini should be exactly what they need.
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Yes indeed very true. Aston also plans it 4 door ...

For the Audi r8GT


Grrrrrrrrr. gorgeous. if only i (probably we) had the money easy on the hand for that one....

Who knows .... (R4 would do also a great job ;))

To the angelina jolie analogie from 1 page, i probably would still plow her in 5 years
 

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