KEY POINTS:
What you see here is not what you'll get when the Audi R8 supercar arrives in New Zealand in September.
Not yet anyway. For the car pictured is the go-faster RS8, spied testing this week at Germany's Nurburgring circuit.
It was the second of two RS8 prototypes Audi was trialling. The first caught fire and burned out before firefighters could reach it on the 24km-long layout. Audi blamed a petrol leak.
The production RS8 isn't expected to land in New Zealand until 2009. There is no guarantee it will be called the RS8 either. Audi might give it a new handle, like the R10. But, for the moment, we'll call it the RS8.
It shares the two-seat R8's all-aluminium spaceframe design and was photographed by German spy agency Automedia, which supplies exclusive pictures to the Herald.
Automedia reports that the main visible difference between the R8 and RS8 are bigger air intakes on the sides and new side skirts. The front brakes on the RS8 are also bigger.
Writes the agency: "Looking at it, during the high-speed test at the Nurburgring, really shows how well balanced the RS8 is. Smooth in and out through every curve, and very quick on the long straight."
There is also a big difference between the two cars under the mid-mounted engine cover. The R8 is powered by the 4.2-litre V8 engine from the RS4 sedan and avant.
It delivers 310Kw (415bhp) at 7800rpm and 430Nm of torque from 4500 to 6000rpm and drives all four wheels through Audi's quattro system. It comes with a choice of gearboxes in the R8: six-speed manual or a six-speed sequential unit called R-tronic.
The RS8 quattro uses a 5.2-litre V10 engine, a development of the 5-litre V10 in the Lamborghini Gallardo.
The 5.2-litre unit is found also in the Audi S6 and S8 sedans, where it produces around 330kW at 7000rpm and 540Nm at 3500rpm.
But it is expected to be tweaked to give the RS8 similar power to the slightly smaller Gallardo engine, around 382kW (520bhp). Torque will rise to around 560Nm.
This output will make it Audi's fastest production car. It is understood the Nurgburgring test car was running a six-speed manual gearbox.
The two-seater R8 will be priced from around $260,000 when it gets here in about three months. Audi says it sprints to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 300km/h (187mph).
The RS8, says Automedia, should be good for a four-second sprint and a top speed of 320km/h (200mph).
Will it beat the 3.6-litre Porsche Turbo and its 353Kw (480bhp) at 6000rpm and 460Nm between 1950-5000rpm?
Said Automedia: "Well, it's got the looks and the speed, so we will just have to wait for the first duel between the two."
The Porsche Turbo weighs 1585kg, the Audi R8 1560kg. The RS8 is likely to be around 1600kg.
Audi says it has sold out its annual 1000-unit allotment of R8s for Germany until 2009. Globally, Audi plans to sell 4000 R8 units a year.
The market for supercars is the fastest-growing segment in the automotive industry, according to the Institute for Automotive Business, a study group in Germany. It says worldwide sales will grow from an estimated 123,600 units this year to 248,000 units by 2015.
