2011 Audi R18

2011 Audi R18, which was presented at the Audi Sportpark in Ingolstadt on the evening of Friday, December 10, 2010, Audi is aiming for its tenth Le Mans success in 2011. Audi aims to continue its string of victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a completely new LMP1 sports car development.

The racing debut of the Audi R18 is planned for the Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 6 Hours on May 8, 2011. Prior to the event, the new prototype will be able to do its first laps on the race track at Le Mans during the official test day on April 24 and gather important data for the race on June 11 and 12, 2011.

By opting for a 3.7-liter V6 TDI unit, Audi retains the diesel concept that saw its first victorious fielding in 2006. "From our point of view, the TDI continues to be the most efficient technology. Another new development is the six-speed transmission in the Audi R18 which has been specifically modified for use with the smaller engine.

The engineers’ Audi Sport using The chassis and aerodynamics package contains a lot of know-how from the R8, the R10 TDI and the R15 TDI whereas the fitting of identically sized front and rear wheels is new to an Audi Le Mans sports car. This configuration allows a more balanced weight distribution.

Audi's light designers had the chance to make their mark on the development as well: The LEDs of the daytime light form the shape of a "1" which is intended to inspire associations with Audi's historic brand logo. The Audi R18's headlights, which are the first to completely consist of LEDs with optimized amount of light, are a technical highlight.