Upcoming Audi Hypercar Being Developed Under Scorpion Name, Will Get Diesel Hybrid Powertrain Derived from R18 Race Car’s

Audi’s Scorpion will use a modified version of the 510-hp, 3.7-liter V-6 TDI engine from this R18 e-tron Quattro.

Speculation is rife about Audi’s upcoming hypercar, which is being referred to internally as Scorpion. The R10 or R20 monikers at the center of recent speculation are far from official, we’re told by an Audi source, as a final decision on the name hasn’t been taken yet. But progress is strong on this pet project of brand R&D chief Wolfgang Dürheimer.

Details on Audi’s Scorpion have been slow to emerge from Germany, but we can reveal that the car will be powered by a modified version of the 3.7-liter V-6 TDI engine found in the R18 e-tron Quattro Le Mans Prototype racer, as well as front-mounted hybrid hardware of unknown specification (at least to those outside the project). The diesel mill is a 120-degree V-6 featuring four valves per cylinder and an aluminum engine block, force-fed by a single turbocharger. In race trim, this engine produces “more than” 500 horsepower and “more than” 625 lb-ft of torque, but its intakes are restricted. In series-production form, it theoretically could be even more powerful.

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• First Drive: 2013 Audi R8 Coupe and Spyder
• Instrumented Test: 2013 Audi RS5
• Comparison Test: 2013 Audi S6 vs. 2013 BMW M5, 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG

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Our information contradicts previous reports that the mid-engined car would pack the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous 3.0-liter V-6 TDI. A capable unit, to be sure, the 3.0 TDI powers diesel variants of Porsche’s Cayenne and Panamera, Volkswagen’s Touareg, and just about the entirety of Audi’s range, but it is deemed far too pedestrian for an über-expensive, über-exclusive, über-fast plaything of Scorpion’s stature. “It wouldn’t make sense to use anything but the R18′s racing engine in the Scorpion,” our source tells us. That’s good news for the select few that will have the financial means or the clout to get behind the wheel of Audi’s roadgoing Le Mans racer.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/aOuqeuPLdo0/

Hans Herrmann François Hesnault Hans Heyer Damon Hill Graham Hill