Audi is gearing up for the 2014 World Endurance Championship season—and that series' headline event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans—but until now, had yet to show the final version of its latest R18 e-tron Quattro race car. The wait is now over, after Audi revealed the latest iteration of the R18, as well as its snappy new livery, by driving it down the public roads that form Le Mans' Circuit de la Sarthe on race day.
The R18 e-tron can drive on roads, just like a real car.
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Besides running a parade lap of Le Mans, Audi also revealed a few juicy tidbits about the R18′s powertrain updates. In keeping with the new WEC rules, the R18′s total per-lap boost energy output is capped, but Audi managed to slip into the frugal 2-megajoule energy recuperation class. Performance is unlikely to suffer—the team's leader, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich told us as much in person during a testing session last week—and to make up for the hybrid-system boost's limitations, Audi enlarged the R18′s V-6 TDI diesel engine capacity from 3.7 liters to 4.0. More specific information will be released in the coming weeks, including output figures from both the front-axle motor-generator unit and the diesel six. But for now, enjoy the R18′s sweet graphics package.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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