Published: Dec 16, 2012

Audi Targets McLaren with Diesel Supercar

Even before McLaren's new P1 hits the road, Audi is already claiming that its upcoming diesel supercar will be even better.

Audi's fantastic R8 supercar has been a phenomenal success for the German automaker, but in order to remain at the top of the hypercar world, new measures must be taken. With arrival of the McLaren P1 hypercar just around the corner (not to mention the upcoming Ferrari Enzo successor, among others), Audi is now claiming that it has something in development that'll have superior performance capabilities to any of its soon-to-be rivals.

Audi Targets McLaren with Diesel Supercar

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According to a new report from AutoExpress, Franciscus Van Meel, the head of Audi's high-performance Quattro GmbH division, stated that the planned diesel-electric supercar will be better than the McLaren P1. "If we make this car it will be the absolute best supercar, and completely different in concept to the R8", according to Van Meel. Having dominated Le Mans under diesel power for years, Audi continues to develop its TDI engines for road cars, and the time is apparently nearing to make a diesel supercar. The concept was previewed by the R8 TDI Le Mans show-car that was powered by a V12 turbodiesel.

Although slotting a diesel into the existing R8 was ruled out in the long run, the new supercar could make burning oil its party trick. In order to challenge the new breed of supercars - including sister-company Porsche's new 918 Spyder, Audi's diesel could pack as much as 700 horsepower and even more torque to reach sixty in about three seconds and crack the 200-mph mark by some margin.