Audi Reveals New R18 Coupe

[Ste]

Source: Autosport

Audi's latest Le Mans challenger, the R18, has been revealed as a coupe.

The car, which will replace the Le Mans-winning R15-plus, was unveiled at a launch in Ingolstadt tonight.

The R18 will be powered by a 3.7-litre six-cylinder turbodiesel and will soon begin an extensive testing programme.

Audi's motorsport chief Dr Wolfgang Ullrich confirmed that the latest Le Mans rules led to the switch to a closed car, following rival Peugeot's lead, after a decade of open Audi LMP designs.

"The rules mean you have to have a roof to be competitive," he said. "Driver changes are always easier with open cars, but the changes have taken that away.

"The smaller capacity engines [turobdiesels have been reduced from 5.5 to 3.7 litres] also make aerodynamic efficiency more important.

"It breaks my heart because I love the open cars, but the expectations we have of this car are very high and it looks great."

Although Audi did not rule out introducing hybrid technology in the future, Ullrich reaffirmed the firm's commitment to using a turbodiesel.

"We believe the TDI engines are the most efficient, so it was very clear that we would use them at Le Mans," he said.

Audi confirmed it will contest the Sebring 12 Hours with the R15-plus, ahead of the R18's debut at the Spa round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in May. It will then be used at Le Mans, the Imola 6 Hours, Silverstone 6 Hours, Petit Le Mans, and China 6 Hours.

[Ste]

That looks SO slick!

[Rob]

wow they DID go for closed cockpit, very surprised by that. But it makes more sense to have 1 this year. Look out Pugs.

[Rob]

[Rob]

be nice to see it kept in that black, looks menacing. :xmasbiggrin:

[Nova]

Read this on AS this AM, but you have more pix...this is a really nice looking closed cockpit car..Audi said the rules
changes made them do a closed cockpit...not sure why...
Thx Rob, really great pix.

[Tommy_F]

Some more pics and explanations about it here: http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsnov10.html

[Rob]

Some more pics and explanations about it here: http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsnov10.html

thanks for that Tommy, very nice. Cannt wait to see this thing race

[Rob]

Q & A: Audi's Ullrich on new R18

By Kevin Turner Saturday, December 11th 2010, 14:45 GMT http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88662


Dr Wolfgang Ullrich has overseen Audi's run of success at the Le Mans 24 Hours over the last decade.

At the launch of the R18 - Audi's first closed Le Mans challenger since 1999 - he told AUTOSPORT why the German firm had moved away from the open cockpit approach.

Q. Why have you decided to go with a closed car?

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich: There are two reasons. The first is the change to the sporting rules, about two and a half years ago, when they decided to change the pitstop limit from four mechanics to two. With four guys changing tyres the driver change was the important factor for the pitstop time. Now, with the doubling of the time to change the tyres, even with the closed car, you can easily change the driver before [the tyre change is complete].

Point two is the more you reduce the engine power the more important the fuel efficiency is. The aerodynamic efficiency of a closed car will always be better than an open one, because you have all the disturbances that are given by the open cockpit, such as the driver helmets. So, nowadays, there is not really a choice – it has to be a closed one.

Q. Have you considered building a closed Le Mans car before, apart from the R8C in 1999?

WU: When we decided on the R15, it was six months too early – before the new tyre change rule. If it hadn't been like that, maybe we would have already considered making the R15 a closed car.

Q. Are you concerned Peugeot's greater experience with closed cars will give them an advantage?

WU: They had an advantage with their closed car so we worked very hard on the efficiency of the open car to a very high level, to get closer and closer to the closed car. So we hope we can match them straight away.

Next year is the first time both manufacturers have the same situation: we have new cars, following a new rulebook, and it's a new challenge.

[Rob]

Audi extends motorsport commitment
By Team Update ⋅ December 10, 2010 http://www.planetlemans.com/2010/12/...rt-commitment/

Audi aims to continue its string of victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a completely new LMP1 sports car development. Since its debut in 1999, the brand with the Four Rings has won the world’s most important endurance race as many as nine times with the R8, R10 TDI and R15 TDI models. In doing so, Audi has equaled this feat in the race’s roll of honor with Ferrari. With the new R18, which was presented at the Audi Sportpark in Ingolstadt on the evening of Friday, December 10, 2010, Audi is aiming for its tenth Le Mans success in 2011.

For the first time since 1999, Audi will contest Le Mans with a closed coupe again. “In the future, aerodynamic efficiency will be even more important at Le Mans than it was in the past,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “A closed car has clear advantages in this respect. Our computer simulations have been confirmed in the wind tunnel and during initial track tests.”

Significantly smaller engines than those used before will be prescribed at Le Mans in 2011 as the rule makers aim to achieve a substantial reduction of engine power. By opting for a 3.7-liter V6 TDI unit, Audi retains the diesel concept that saw its first victorious fielding in 2006. “From our point of view, the TDI continues to be the most efficient technology,” says Ulrich Baretzky, Head of Engine Development at Audi Sport. “There are good reasons why the share of TDI units among Audi’s production models is as high as it is.”
Through the innovative V6 TDI engine for the Le Mans 24 Hours, motorsport is yet again performing pioneering work for the production arm at Audi where there is a growing trend towards smaller, more economical but yet powerful engines.

Another new development is the six-speed transmission in the R18 which has been specifically modified for use with the smaller engine.

Numerous detailed solutions

With regard to the chassis Audi Sport wants to live up to its promise, expressed in the brand’s “Vorsprung durch Technik” tagline. Unlike those of the closed Le Mans prototypes, the carbon fiber monocoque of the R18 does not consist of two halves but features a single-component design. This saves weight and increases stiffness.

For the development of the closed R18, engineers at Audi Sport were able to draw on the experiences gained in 1999 with the R8C and in 2003 with the LMP1 of the corporate “sister brand” Bentley that was victorious at Le Mans. “Also the Audi A4 DTM, which for example, features a heated windshield, allowed us to shorten the development cycle with respect to the ventilation of the cockpit, the doors and the heating of the windshield,” explains Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Engineering at Audi Sport.

The chassis and aerodynamics package contains a lot of know-how from the R8, the R10 TDI and the R15 TDI whereas the fitting of identically sized front and rear wheels is new to an Audi Le Mans sports car. This configuration allows a more balanced weight distribution.

The R18’s headlights, which are the first to completely consist of LEDs with optimized amount of light, are a technical highlight. The new generation of headlights was developed in close cooperation between Audi Sport and the Technical Development (TE) division of AUDI AG and by using at Le Mans, will be prepared for future use in production vehicles. Audi’s light designers had the chance to make their mark on the development as well: The LEDs of the daytime light form the shape of a “1″ which is intended to inspire associations with Audi’s historic brand logo.

The Audi R18 has been designed for progressive electrification, which Audi Sport is planning to drive forward step by step. “But efficiency is always the crucial factor for us,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “No matter which form of energy recovery we may choose the key aspect for Audi – in motorsport as well as on the production side of the house – is that it provides a true advantage.”

The development of the new Audi R18 started in mid 2009. The V6 TDI engine has been running on the dynamometers since the summer of 2010. The R18, with Allan McNish at the wheel, completed its first test on a racetrack at the end of November.

The racing debut of the Audi R18 is planned for the Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 6 Hours on May 8. Prior to the event, the new prototype will be able to do its first laps on the race track at Le Mans during the official test day on April 24 and gather important data for the race on June 11 and 12.

Audi is planning to field three Audi R18 cars at Le Mans, which will be entered by Audi Sport Team Joest, the most successful Le Mans team of all time. In addition, Audi Sport Team Joest will contest the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), consisting of a total of seven endurance races on three continents (including the Le Mans 24 Hours) with two cars. At the opening race at Sebring on March 19, the team will use two “R15 plus plus” cars. “Sending the R18 into a race at such an early point in time would be difficult in terms of logistics and interfere with our development program,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

[Rob]

May 8th!! that long time wait!! at least Audi are going back to Sebring whoooop, Pugs will not have it as easy as they did this year :xmasmad: R15 plus plus for Sebring interesting. Roll on March.

[scuderiafan]

Am i the only one that thinks that is Vulgar?? That nose, eughh

Anyone know if the Ferrari 458 will be entering next year, or is it the 430s?

[epiclyaddicted]

Am i the only one that thinks that is Vulgar?? That nose, eughh

Anyone know if the Ferrari 458 will be entering next year, or is it the 430s?

It's the 458s next year. This year was the last with the 430s.

[scuderiafan]

It's the 458s next year. This year was the last with the 430s.

Cool, can't wait to see them in action.

The Top Gear christmas special has one in i think a special race.

[epiclyaddicted]

Cool, can't wait to see them in action.

The Top Gear christmas special has one in i think a special race.

Yep, a 458, Merc SLS, and one of the new 911s (don't ask me which one though! )

[Rob]

Yep, a 458, Merc SLS, and one of the new 911s (don't ask me which one though! )

they all look the same, think it new GT3 :xmasconfused:

[epiclyaddicted]

they all look the same, think it new GT3 :xmasconfused:

Is it the GT3? Or the GT2? Or the GT3RS? Or the GT2RS?

I really don't understand the 911 range. They all look the same, sound the same, has the same flat six engine... boring!

[Rob]

Is it the GT3? Or the GT2? Or the GT3RS? Or the GT2RS?

I really don't understand the 911 range. They all look the same, sound the same, has the same flat six engine... boring!

yep they all do, never have either.Boring.

[Rob]

Is it the GT3? Or the GT2? Or the GT3RS? Or the GT2RS?

I really don't understand the 911 range. They all look the same, sound the same, has the same flat six engine... boring!

yep they all do, never have either.Boring.

[Ste]

Agree with you both. Never been a porsche fan.

Although, my Uncle has a 1973 911 and it's really nice. Old clunky gearbox, useless brakes but it sounds lovely!

[Nova]

Thats too bad the 430 is out, really love that car, but w/time comes progress..if Ferrari dont use the 458, they will be
behind. I cant wait to see the 458 in racing version. The more I see it, read about it, the more I simply love it.