Audi Looking to Use the Asterion’s Tech Under the R8’s Skin

Audi R8 V8 Coupe (Credit: © Audi)

The Lamborghini Asterion amazed the automotive world in good and bad ways. The sheer power that its hybrid drivetrain produced was a beautiful thing, but its looks were dramatically un-Lamborghini. The soft lines and chunky panels just didn’t fit the mold of today’s Lamborghini lineup. Fortunately, reports point to the Asterion not making it to production, but the drivetrain is very much in plans of Lambo’s parent company, Volkswagen.

According to Car Magazine, Volkswagen Group is planning to use some of the technology behind the Asterion’s 897-horsepower, hybrid drivetrain under the skin of the next-generation Audi R8. It is unclear just how much of this technology Audi will recycle, but Audi executive Ulrich Hackenberg stated that the Asterion used the R8’s platform, so there is the possibility of a direct swap from the Asterion to the R8. However, the chances of seeing a 897-horsepower R8 are slim to none, so we will likely see a radically detuned version of the same drivetrain as we saw in the Asterion.

The main focus for using this hybrid drivetrain in the R8 is to reduced CO2 emissions without strangling the engine. This is certainly something that the Asterion’s powertrain can handle with ease thanks to its 98 g/km CO2 emissions.

Hackenberg went on to discuss another alternative-fuel R8, when he brought up the R8 E-tron. In this conversation, Hackenberg mentioned that the all-electric R8 E-tron will have a range of 250 miles. If you’re keeping score at home, this range would make the R8 E-tron nearly as efficient as the Tesla Model S.

The revised R8 is right around the corner, but we will likely not see either of these two hybrids before the midway point of the new generation. We’ll make sure to pass any updates on to you in the meantime.