New Audi R8 India launch in early 2016

The new Audi R8 will be launched in India, in early 2016. It is the second generation of the German supercar, and the range-topping version will get a 601bhp 5.2-litre V10 petrol engine along with a newly-developed Quattro all-wheel-drive system. It has a claimed 0-100kph sprint time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 330kph.

The new R8 is based on a new spaceframe structure that is claimed to weigh 200kg. Though primarily made of aluminium, it uses carbonfibre-reinforced plastic elements for added weight saving, and improved rigidity. The top-of-the-line R8 V10 Plus tips the scales at 1,454kg. At 4,442mm long, 1,944mm wide and 1,241mm high, the new R8 is the same length as the old R8, but 39mm wider and 9mm lower than before.

Overall, the new R8 is stylistically similar to its predecessor, but there’s a new single-frame grille and LED headlamps. Audi is also offering the new R8 with laser headlights that use a laser-guided spot lamp for the high beams, along with dynamic turn signals at the front and rear.

It gets a thoroughly updated version of the previous car’s 5.2-litre engine in two different states of tune. In standard form, it makes 532bhp and 55kgm of torque, while in the more powerful Plus avatar, it packs 601bhp and 57.1kgm of torque. This V10 unit now gets a new cylinder-on-demand system, and the seven-speed dual-clutch S-tronic gearbox has been tweaked to adopt an automatic engine stop-start system, which has helped improve efficiency by a claimed 10 percent.