Three years after the unveiling of the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, the production version has made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in the guise of the new Audi R8 mid-engined sports car.

Billed as "the sporty pinnacle of the Audi brand", it features a 309kW V8 FSI engine, quattro permanent four-wheel drive and Audi Space Frame aluminium body.

The first Audi mid-engined sports car will be available to order in Europe from end September 2006 with first deliveries made in the first half of 2007. And it has been confirmed for the South African market, due to be launched during 2007.

The power

Audi reckons the new R8's engine provides turbine-like power up to the highest rev ranges, a high maximum torque, and a race car sound — a powerhouse mill also suited to everyday use.

The high-revving 309kW eight-cylinder engine, features an evolution of the company's FSI petrol direct injection technology. Ninety per cent of the maximum torque is maintained consistently throughout an engine speed range from 3500 to 7600r/min.

Maximum engine speed is 8250r/min which boosts power output at high engine speeds and allows for smoother, better responsiveness across the revs range.

As a result, performance figures are what you'd expect from a car like this: acceleration from a standstill to 100km/h takes a claimed 4.6 seconds en route to a top speed of 301km/h.

Two transmissions are available: a manual six-speed gearbox or the optional Audi R tronic sequential-shift gearbox. Here, too, the motorsport influence is evident, with a joystick gearshift on the centre console and paddles mounted on the steering wheel.

While the fast-shifting Sport mode is designed for driving fun, an automatic mode can also be selected.

Such a powerful Audi is of course fitted with permanent four-wheel drive, which distributes the power variably to the front and rear axles by way of a viscous clutch. On the R8 the quattro system is adapted to the axle load distribution typical of mid-engined cars.

The central position of the engine is above all a boon to driving dynamics, as it allows for a weight distribution, as on the R8, of 44 percent to the front and 56 percent to the rear.

The chassis

The chassis features forged aluminium double wishbones at the front and rear. At the front they are triangulated, while at the rear the top one is triangulated and the bottom one is a triangulated wishbone with a track rod.

This provides for optimum wheel control, and is an architecture that delivers agility, maximum steering precision and well-defined self-steering characteristics. Direct, hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering provides feedback to assist the driver.

The spring and damper set-up is stiff in order to further improve driving dynamics, while still providing ride comfort. This is particularly true when the "Audi magnetic ride" adaptive damper system, first seen on the new TT, is chosen as an alternative to the standard gas-filled shock absorbers.

The reason for this is that these shock absorbers employ an innovative technology. Instead of the conventional damper fluid, a magnetorheological fluid is used — a fluid whose viscosity can be influenced by an electromagnetic field. This effect enables the damping characteristic to be influenced electronically at will and instantaneously.

By applying a voltage to the electromagnets the correct damping forces can be delivered in every driving situation, improving ride comfort and driving dynamics. A computer equipped with sensor technology determines the prevailing driving situation in a matter of milliseconds.

Drivers can choose from two driving programs depending on whether they want to drive in a highly sporty style — with the magnetorheological fluid adjusted to a low viscosity — or with the emphasis more on ride comfort.

Step outside

The Audi R8 sits broad and squat on the road, with a strongly accentuated rear end. The car's body is highly compact in appearance. The front end and the gently curved roof arc are drawn in a sweeping line; a line which immediately marks the two-seater out as an Audi.

The side view also reveals familiar contours. The dynamic line above the wheel arches and the shoulder line interlink the front end, side and rear, emphasise the doors and the transition to the side air vent, and highlight the typical Audi rounded wheel housings accommodating the big wheels.

The cabin is pushed far forward — a typical feature of a mid-engined sports car, and a visual cue linking it to the race car of the same name. Behind the cabin, positioned in front of the rear axle, is the V8 FSI engine, visible both through the large, shield-shaped rear window and from inside the car.

The R8 is 1,90 metres wide but 4,43m long and 1,25m high. The 2.65m wheelbase offers room for the cabin and the longitudinally mounted engine behind it.

Behind the doors, a large-surface 'sideblade' air deflector sweeps between the wheel arch and the roof section, delivering air for the V8 to breathe as well as for cooling.

The front end is characterised by the trapezoidal styling of the Audi single-frame grille, flanked on the right and left by additional large-dimensioned air intakes. For the first time, the four-ring badge is positioned on the bonnet, above the grille. The flat strips of the LED headlights, with their clear-glass covers, join flush to the tops of the air intakes.

The R8 is the first series-production car to offer the option of ordering all the headlight functions — dipped beam, main beam, daytime running lights and indicators — as LEDs from the end of 2007 onwards.

At the rear end the interplay of concave and convex lines contours the side-on view. Underneath the clearly defined separation edge there is a flat vertical surface framed at its sides by the rear lights ? also in LED technology. The third brake light strip runs across virtually the full width of the roof, forming the termination of the transparent engine hood.

Indirect engine compartment lighting by white LEDs, enabling the engine to be seen even in the dark, is available as an option. Two large-format diffuser openings sit in the rear bumper, while the two pairs of circular twin exhaust tailpipes each sit at the right and left above the diffuser openings.

An automatically extending rear spoiler is deployed to assist the R8 in using the wind. It provides additional downforce to boost the suction effect produced by the aerodynamic styling of the underbody and by the diffusers. When travelling at lower speeds, the rear spoiler automatically retracts flush with the body.

That full aluminium body is constructed in the Audi Space Frame (ASF) design. Its synthesis of minimal weight and maximal rigidity provides the ideal foundation for optimum driving dynamics, as well as delivering a power-to-weight ratio of 3.71kg per bhp.