Super Sport Car Evolution

AUDI R4:

Audi is preparing to give the R8 a smaller brother. The Audi e-tron concept from the North American International Auto Show is a whole lot more than a one-off electric sports car. The body is designed as a compact gasoline-powered, turbocharged mid-engine two-seat four-cylinder sports coupe. If confirmed -- and the ever-expansionist Audi board appears to be well disposed towards it -- it would go on sale about 2013.

Overall length is shorter than a Mazda MX-5. It's no coincidence that it's about the same size as 2008's super-sweet VW Bluesport roadster concept. The existence of each of those German concepts makes the production viability of the other more likely -- the two brands can share some of the development costs. Suspensions, powertrains, brakes, electronics and so on would be shared.
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They wouldn't be badge-engineered clones, because they look completely different and the Audi will have a hybrid-material body incorporating a lot of aluminum -- like the TT. And the VW is a soft-top.

Audi boss Rupert Stadler says that the concept e-tron is a vision of how a smaller relative to the R8 might be styled. The concept's designer is Wolfgang Egger, who also penned the concept Audi A1. Egger told us a mid-engined car below the R8 is a more exciting prospect than the R8 itself, because more people can have one and it's not such an intimidating and serious thing. 'It's the realization of a dream for me.'

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In terms of design, little needs to change for a production car, as the air management and packaging are fully worked. Egger says the all-LED lighting is pretty much what Audi would aim for. "We aim to be a leader in high-tech lighting and you will see it in our other cars, too."

The R4 will not be a TT successor, as the front/AWD TT will continue. Egger says a production R4 would sell for more money engine-for-engine than the TT because it's more premium and special. We understand that there won't be any V-6 version of the R4. For Audi the four-cylinder engines go well above 260 horsepower. In a car so small and light, with an S-Tronic transmission, that ought to deliver more than enough performance.

As for the Detroit e-tron concept, it's smaller than the e-tron at Frankfurt, which Audi promises to put into limited production by the end of 2012. The baby brother is RWD rather than the bigger one's quattro. The Detroit e-tron uses carbon panels on its aluminum spaceframe, and with the simplification and size reduction, is less than 3000 pounds including its 45-killowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack, so the range is 155 miles and the 0-60 time well under 6 seconds.


Audi is not confirming that this Detroit e-tron will make production in electric form, but the company has a team of 100 engineers working on electric drive systems. CEO Rupert Stadler says that e-tron name could be pegged to a whole range of electric Audis, just like quattro covers a range of all-wheel-drive models.