http://news.windingroad.com/safety/rip-rs8-audi-supercar-prototype-burns-up-on-nurburgring/
Poor Audi. I saw one at the Cleveland Auto Show and thought it was a tremendous looking car inside and out.
Have you seen in real life? IMO it's one of the best looking cars of last year. V8 / V10 is one difference I could make out from that article.
Dumb naming scheme... A8 - Sedan R8 - Sports car S8 - Uber Sedan RS8 - Sports Car RS4 - Sports Sedan What if they wanted a super version of the S8? They've painted them selves in a corner. Lucas.
To be quite honest, i don't think they would it goes against the RS core values since its size, and i guess you could say target audience, They re tweaked the V10 so its not as jump etc in the S8 so i don't think they would want to re-tweak it again and just un-do what they did. Its kind of the same reason BMW does make a M7, it doesn't fit the badge, RS from my understanding is THE sports car while the S is just a upper level. I have driven a S8 and own a A8, and they are different, but still luxury is the key. Also consider that they named the R8 in honor of the R8 Lemans race car it make sense, and the people who buy it will have that mind link. Audi, BMW etc have market groups who spend major $$ figuring out what to name a car etc. it has its meaning and purpose
We did a post on the RS8 fire and it started the same discussion about Audi badging. One of the things Adi could have done was to name it R9 to show a spiritual link to the R8 and R10 race cars. This would also have fir in with their current practice of using odd numbers for their non-sedan models. A3, new A5/S5, etc. Anyway, I had a chance to see the R8 pacing the ALMS race at Long Beach and it looks pretty cool in motion. I have a few shots of it somewhere in the gallery with our write-up: Coverage of this fire: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/09/spy-shots-audi-rs8-burns-on-the-ring/ Video of the same RS8 prototype at the 'Ring, before the fire: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/10/video-audi-rs8-before-the-flames/ Coverage of ALMS Long Beach race: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/15/spoiler-alert-alms-results-and-gallery-from-americas-monaco/
Supposed to be aluminum, but speculation was it might have been carbon fiber because it disappeared so quickly.
+1. I don't know why yet, but I just don't feel bad for the car. I'm just glad the test driver got out uninjured.