If you would have got the opportunity to know about the Blue Sport concept by Volkswagen, you will be left with no questions or doubts about it going to go into production. Not surprisingly, Volkswagen announced publicly that it would be available in three different versions of production. They are one for Audi, one for Porsche and one for Volkswagen. Not surprisingly, all of them offer different levels of luxury and performance. And all of them are placed at different price range also depending on their performance
In terms of performance and the luxury it provides, Audi can be placed in between the other two brands. Not surprisingly, it is also priced in between the two extremes. They say that it is targeted at customers who want more than the TT but at the same time, who cannot afford an R8. The exterior design of the new Audi model is inspired by the concept which is recently launched called as E-tron concept. Because of this, the Audi model was rumored to be called as the R4. But later, the rumors were rubbished by the company and the new reports suggest that the future sports car will be actually called as the R5. It is called R5 because it uses the five cylinder engine and the number 5 suggests the number of cylinders. It does not use the four pot engine which is used by the TT. Therefore it will not be a R4 model as thought of initially. Also, most of the R5 models will feature conventional combustion engines. Word is the top motor will be the five-cylinder 2.5-litre turbo from the TT RS, enough for some 350bhp; but sub 2.0-litre engines are a certainty.
The new Audi will rejoice the Audi fans, especially who love Audi TT as the biggest problem which many people face in an Audi TT is resolved. Audi is trying to position the new version carefully. They are making sure that there is no sub TT cheapling; it instead will be positioned above the TT version and at the same time below the R8 super race car. It is just 3933mm long, which makes it a mini car with a simple two-seater layout and it is just a little more than a centimetre longer than a Lotus Exige. But in this age of motor downsizing, people will pay a premium for a quality, compact sports car. Thus, this model looks appropriate for our times.
The new brand of Audi will be offered in two versions. One would be a coupe version and the other a roadster version. The roadster will be the production version using the E-tron concept.
The Audi R5 is tentatively planned in for launch in 2014. The two cars – E-tron Coupe and Spider are already shown by Audi and they have received good response and feedback. We can expect more hints in the future and the official debut of the latest R5 would happen sometime in 2014.
Source: topspeed
