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Audi Just Replaced the R8 With Something Wilder

The R8 is gone. In its place, Audi has dropped the Nuvolari: a 1,001hp hybrid supercar that does 0-100km/h in 2.6 seconds and tops out beyond 350km/h. Limited to 499 units, with deliveries kicking off in the first half of 2027, this is the most powerful production car Audi has ever built.

It is not a subtle replacement.

Four Drive Units, One Insane Number

The heart of the Nuvolari is a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo lifted from the Lamborghini Huracan lineage, producing 800hp on its own. Three axial flux electric motors join the party: two oil-cooled units at the front axle, one slotted between the V8 and the transmission at the rear. Combined system output lands at 736kW. That V8 screams to 10,000rpm, a figure you normally associate with racing machinery, not road cars.

The two front motors deliver up to 2,150Nm of torque to the front axle alone. That number is not a misprint.

Quattro Gets Smarter Than Ever

Audi calls the all-wheel drive system in the Nuvolari the \"quattro predictive ride,\" and it is a meaningful step beyond anything the brand has done before. Rather than reacting to grip loss, the system reads steering angle, yaw rate, acceleration data, and current grip levels continuously, then acts before a problem develops.

Torque vectoring, active aerodynamics, and brake interventions all work as one integrated system. On corner entry, the rear wing moves to high downforce. On the straight, it flattens out to reduce drag. A DRS button on the steering wheel lets the driver drop it further still, pulling top speed higher when it matters.

Track Mode tightens everything further, with traction control settings spanning from Wet through to TC Off for those who want full accountability.

F1 Carbon, Road Car Price of Entry

The Nuvolari body is almost entirely carbon fibre reinforced polymer, produced using prepreg autoclave technology pulled straight from Formula 1 manufacturing. The Audi Space Frame underneath combines with that full CFRP exterior to keep weight in check while delivering torsional rigidity that makes the whole package feel planted and precise.

Forged centre-lock wheels make their production Audi debut here. The braking system matches that ambition: ten-piston front calipers on 420mm discs, four-piston rears on 410mm discs, all underpinned by a brake-by-wire architecture with an energy absorption capacity of 2.8 megawatts. That figure puts it on par with a current F1 car.

The Name Carries Weight

Tazio Nuvolari was one of motorsport's great originals. An Italian racer of the pre-war era, he won in machinery that should have lost, on tracks that punished any mistake. Fearless, relentless, completely focused on the act of going fast. Audi naming their fastest ever road car after him is not an accident.

The interior nods to that legacy. HMI colour accents reference the Auto Union Type C racer of the 1930s. The cabin splits into two zones: a dark, driver-focused front section designed to strip away distraction, and a lighter rear finished in Shadow Dune. Carbon fibre seat structures, anodized aluminium display frames, and a stripped-back control layout complete the picture.

Four driving modes cover the full range from electric-only city running through to Dynamic+, which hands the powertrain over entirely to performance. The Nuvolari will do short distances on electric power alone and recover energy under braking across nearly every driving phase.

499 Cars. That Is It.

Audi has made their statement. The R8 era is closed, and what replaces it is harder, faster, and technically more complex than anything to wear the four rings. The Nuvolari arrives in 2027. All 499 of them will find owners before most people finish reading the spec sheet.

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Audi's 1,001hp R8 Killer