Wrong Side of Supercar Heaven - Audi R8 V12 TDi

Alongside the four ovals’ other torque monsters (Q7 V12, SQ7 for example) lies a black horse of sorts. A Frankenstein-like creation born of diesel and power. What do we get when we take one of the most torquey engines ever, which also happens to be the only diesel V12 ever fitted to a production car, and shoehorn it into the same company’s finest road-going offering? Why, we get the 2008 R8 TDi. A contradictory mish-mash of chassis-twisting grunt and high-strung, no limits supercar. What’s the reason for this thing existing? Audi have a ‘thing’ for performance diesels (which should be common knowledge at this point), though why they decided to stick their most ludicrous oil-burning lump in their flagship supercar is beyond me. TL;DR: I don’t know, though I’m happy they did.

What the R8 has that the other two don’t however, is rarity (being a concept, there is only one). Sure, the V12 Q7 (which donated its heart to this beast) is extremely scarce on UK roads by now, but they are road-legal and there are more than one, so that is to be expected. The R8 TDi was a concept that came about during Audi’s earlier ‘performance diesel’ era, though true performance credentials still shine through, as the engine is allegedly related to the LMP1 R10 TDi’s powerplant. Specs are identical to those of the V12 TDi Q7, pushing 493BHP and 737 lb/ft of torque down to the road through all four meaty chunks of rubber. As at the time of the TDi’s creation there wasn’t a manual transmission strong enough to withstand the sheer brutality of this engine, a humble 6-speed from a bog-standard A6 diesel was employed, limiting the torque in the test car to just half of what the engine was truly capable of. On the plus side, 25mpg was achievable. Neat.

As this beast sadly never reached the production stage, there isn’t a whole lot to say besides specs. Predicted top speed was 202 mph and along the way it would collect 60 of those in 4.2 seconds. The assumption I would make due to the increased weight over the normal R8 (extra 100kg thanks to the hefty heart, bringing the dry weight to nearly 1800kg) would be that of greatly affected cornering, though from the (basic) reviews I have read, it appears to drive much like a standard R8. The ‘Magnaride’ dampers were kept, keeping it nice and flat through corners, though in most write-ups the testing facility comprises of a car park, thanks to the lack of road certification.

Due to the fragile nature of the prototype, no proper testing was ever conducted. Not once has the vehicle gone faster than 35MPH, never has it been launched using full trot, and never has it ever seen rigorous cornering. What could have been a truly magnificent-if-oxymoronic super-diesel, sadly locked away in the aftermath of Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, never (at least, yet) to be seen again. What do you think could happen in the future in terms of high-performance diesel cars? Tell me down below. Thanks for reading!