Road Trip: 2008 Audi R8 - EXCLUSIVE 3-PART VIDEO FEATURE

Click PLAY buton below to watch Episode 1

Take a Road Trip with The Auto Channel in the all new 2008 Audi R8 sportscar

In the first episode of this 3-part series Johan de Nysschen,

Johan de Nysschen, Exec. Vice President, Audi of America

Audi of America's Executive Vice President, gives an overview of their fantastic new R8. In episodes 2 and 3 The Auto Channel's Executive Vice President, Marc J. Rauch, rides along with Johan on the road in Sonoma, California as he talks about why Audi designed the R8, the marketing of the vehicle, its performance characteristics and the R8's marketplace competition.

To ride along just scroll down to the embeded video window below.

To watch Episode 2 of this three-part series CLICK HERE.

To watch Episode 3 of this three-part series CLICK HERE.

THE NEW AUDI R8: THE GENES OF A WINNER
Audi has incorporated the name and the genes of a five-time Le Mans winner, the Audi R8 prototype race car, into a spectacular production sports car. Three years after unveiling the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, the production version debuted at the 2006 Paris Motor Show as the new Audi R8 mid-engine sports model. It is a fascinating driving machine and the sporty pinnacle of the Audi brand. The mid-mounted 420 hp V8 FSI engine, quattro® permanent all-wheel drive and Audi Space Frame® aluminum body form the basis for truly outstanding driving dynamics.

As the first Audi mid-engine sports car, the R8 combines Audi’s experience gained from numerous motor sport triumphs with groundbreaking design and the acknowledged technological expertise of the brand. This expertise has led to the slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik,’ or advancement through technology, becoming a byword for leading edge technology both on the race track and on the road.

Audi has recorded countless motor sport victories on race tracks all over the world. Following the rally successes of the Ingolstadt brand in the 1980s, and its triumphs on the touring car circuit, matching the feats of long-distance motor racing cars was undoubtedly the biggest challenge yet faced by Audi’s motor sport engineers. Nonetheless, they mastered this challenge in style with the Audi R8 prototype, which won the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours five times – from 2000 to 2002 and in 2004 and 2005 – and on two occasions even took the first three places.

Le Mans is without doubt the toughest challenge to the Audi Sport Team’s engineers because it calls for a level of engineering going far beyond the need merely to keep all the systems focused on a short, sharp sprint. Alongside the essential virtues of top performance and optimized driving dynamics, the key requirements in long-distance racing are endurance and reliability, allied with optimum ergonomic design. These are genes that are eminently transferable to a road-going sports car and which, along with its exciting design, make the Audi R8 truly unmistakable.