Audi R18 Le Mans prototype

The Audi R18, is a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) racing car constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi AG. It is the successor to the Audi R15 TDI. Like its predecessor, the R18 uses a turbocharged diesel engine but with a reduced capacity of 3.7 litres and in a V6 configuration. For the first time since the 1999 R8C Audi has chosen a closed cockpit design for their Le Mans prototype. As per the new rules the car features a stabilisation fin on the engine cover and also has a new 6-speed gearbox. Despite the capacity reduction, the 3.7L V6 can still make 550bhp. This is less than the outgoing R15, but the V6′s fuel consumption is doupt to be much better than the V10.


The car, which was unveiled at a launch in Ingolstadt on 10 December 2010, will makes its race debut at the Spa round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in May. It will then be used at Le Mans, the Imola 6 Hours, Silverstone 6 Hours, Petit Le Mans, and China 6 Hours.



Right on schedule, Audi has pulled the sheets off its next-generation Le Mans prototype. As had been rumored before the unveil, the R18 has abandoned the open-top design of its forefathers – the Audi R8, R10 and R15 Plus – for a closed canopy to improve aerodynamics and reduce driver fatigue. The company hasn’t worked with a clamshell since 1999, and we’re guessing is has more than a little to do with Peugeot’s 2009 Le Mans win. That victory is the only wrinkle in the Audi’s domination of the world’s most difficult motorsports race, and it’s no small coincidence that work on the R18 began in mid 2009.




The R18 gets its grunt from a 3.7-liter TDI V6 engine, and while Audi isn’t saying exactly how much horsepower or torque the oil-burner produces, we have to guess that the figures are nothing to sneeze at. Behind the engine is a new six-speed transmission, though the innovations aren’t simply chained to the drivetrain. Audi used a single-piece construction carbon fiber monocoque to keep weight down and increase stiffness, and those epic all-LED headlights are the first make their way to Le Mans.