The Audi R8 Could Come Back

It’s been a year since Audi built the final R8. Although Lamborghini is replacing the Huracan with the new Temerario, a twin from Ingolstadt hasn’t been officially announced yet. However, a new report indicates that the Four Rings want to sell another supercar. Unlike the fully electric PB18 E-Tron concept pictured below, the next R8 will allegedly stick with a combustion engine.

According to a fresh report from Autocar, the R8 is expected to return by late 2027. The new flagship apperently has the stamp of approval from the company’s CEO Gernot Döllner. We’ve contacted Audi for a comment, and we’ll update the story once we hear back. In the meantime, the rumor mill states that the next-generation model will be a plug-in hybrid based around a V-8 engine shared with the Temerario. No surprise there.

While the previous R8s were developed concomitantly with the Gallardo and Huracan, a new model would arrive years after the Temerario. The baby Lambo was an in-house effort, made possible by the growing success of the raging bull, securing the funds to develop the new supercar on its own. In 2024, for the first time ever, Lamborghini outsold Bentley, delivering 10,700 units, or 100 more than the company headquartered in Crewe.

Once again, the R8 will be easier to live with than its Lamborghini twin, which will remain the more hardcore variant. However, Audi is apparently using an unreleased, hotter Temerario as the foundation for the rebirth of its supercar, so it could launch an R8 Performance from day one. The standard Temerario already has 907 hp from its twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8 and three electric motors, so a four-digit horsepower isn’t out of the question.

The design is a missing puzzle piece, considering the PB 18 E-Tron is already five years old. The concept was penned while Marc Lichte was still Head of Audi Design, but Massimo Frascella replaced him in early 2024. The showcar was conceived strictly with an electric drivetrain, so an intricate V-8 plug-in hybrid with a tri-motor setup would undoubtedly impact the vehicle’s size and shape.

Last August, Audi essentially backtracked from its plan to go purely electric by 2033. CEO Gernot Döllner said the company must remain “flexible” because the adoption of EVs is going slower than estimated. A few weeks ago, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Audi and Volkswagen were interested in investing more money in combustion engines. A new R8 could be among the last new Audi models with ICE power, along with the long-rumored Q9 three-row SUV.

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Bringing back the R8 does make sense – and that’s not just the enthusiast in us talking. Lamborghini has already done most of the heavy lifting while developing the Temerario. Given the electrified powertrain, stricter emissions regulations wouldn’t be a cause for concern. Economies of scale would improve for the VW Group after investing all that money into the all-new V-8 with its flat-plane crankshaft and 10,000 rpm redline.

If the R8 is indeed making a comeback, one question arises: Why didn’t Audi do this right from the start? We can only assume they had bigger fish to fry. Sure, the R8 wasn’t a massive seller, with just 44,418 units delivered between 2007 and 2024. However, its purpose was never to match the popularity of the A4 – it was meant to be a flagship, drawing people into showrooms to buy that A4.

Audi aims to move upmarket, charging more for fancier cars with nicer interiors while accepting the risk of selling fewer cars. Reviving the R8 would align perfectly with this newly announced strategy.