A Review of the Audi R8 V12 TDi Concept

If you bothered, you you may have read my review of the R8 V10, but that article doesn't do justice to the daddy - the R8 V12 TDi. Unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, it's officially one of the hottest cars Audi ever built. And it is none other than Audi's LeMan race car in street car apparel. Audi made a name for themselves in LeMans racing with a diesel car by winning two times! Main reason for that is because while regular petrol powered cars need to refuel, diesel could keep on running.

Audi's 6.0 V12 TDi engine was first revealed in the Q7 in 2007 Detroit Auto Show. Audi figured it was a great engine and slotted it into the R8 to give us the R8 V12 TDi. The engine gives the new diesel powered monster 500 horsepower, and 738 lb-ft of torque! That's enough to rip up the pavement and cause an earthquake on the other side of the earth! Speaking of environmentally friendly!

Let's keep in mind that this is the very first V12 diesel engine powering a high performance super car! Diesel isn't regarded as a very sporty type of fuel. Yes, it's made for heavy duty, mainly for big trucks to carry around big trailers and stuff. But when you look at it, it's a perfect combination. You have heavy duty fuel in a little car. What can go wrong?

But, let's not hold our breath. A few sources are speculating that the R8 V12 TDi will never happen. They say the costs of re-engineering the car to fit the twin turbo mountain of an engine in the R8 will be too much to bring Audi any benefit. However, there were many companies that said they won't build their concept cars, and yet they do! Take Rolls Royce for instance. But, of course, there are others that like to give us concept cars, but never guild them for production. And now, I must politely point at Jaguar.

Anyways, there is no clear cut on whether Audi will or will not bring us the king of performance powered by a diesel, but there is another thing we must talk about - fuel economy. Usually cars with 500 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque will do at best 10 mpg. The V12 TDi, however, managed an average of 23 mpg! You can't go faster and still be so economical! Audi, if you ever stumble upon this article by some highly unlikely chance, build the car! You might be sparking a revolution of high performance and fuel economy! So what if it won't be profitable? McLaren built every single F1 super car at a deficit. So did Volkswagen when they built the Bugatti Veyron. Just build the car and leave your mark in diesel performance forever!