Detroit show: Audi goes ballistic with V12 diesel

AUDI has taken its Le Mans-winning V12 twin-turbo diesel and turned it into a breathtaking road-going engine, then wedged it into the back of the stunning mid-engined R8 supercar.

With a capacity of 6.0 litres – even bigger than the 5.5-litre Le Mans engine – and running 2.6 bar of boost, the twin-intercooler V12 TDI pumps out some 368kW of power and a massive 1000Nm of torque, which is maintained from 1750 to 3000rpm.

Shoehorned into the back of the R8 and driving all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, that is enough to propel the car to 100km/h in just 4.2 seconds (0.4s faster than the regular 4.2-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 R8).

With a top speed of 300km/h, the R8 V12 TDI would be the fastest diesel in the world – should Audi put it into production.

Although Audi confirmed production of the engine at the Detroit show, it did not confirm production of the R8 V12 TDI supercar. If it does go ahead (as expected), an Audi Australia spokesperson said that the company would be interested in bringing it here.