Thursday 26th February 2015

'Mr R8': PH Meets

R8 development boss Roland Schala on why 'his' supercar is so much better than the mechanically related Huracan

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"The Huracan is a real beast", says Schala shaking his head. "It's just simply not very usable day-to-day, the cabin is so tight and narrow and it's just not comfortable at all. The R8 is totally different. You can drive it hard on the track all day long, as fast as you can go and then, at the end of the day, drive back home. It really is that usable."

Schala surprisingly keen to stick knife in to Huracan

In this business it's rare for a car industry exec to go on record and put the knife into a rival's product. Even rarer for senior suit to criticise a product produced by a brand owned by the same parent company. But Roland Schala is keen to distance 'his' R8 from the Lamborghini Huracan - for good reason.

Developed side-by-side using the same platform, engine and transmission, Schala knows the Audi R8's late arrival means it runs the risk of it being labelled a poor man's Lamborghini, or a Huracan in drag.

Instead of playing the clinical German card and marketing the new R8 as the sensible supercar Schala insists the Audi R8 - not the Huracan - is the more 'emotional' car.

It's a brave tactic, but Schala is clearly a passionate man himself and a real car guy. Not only is he a huge fan of the first R8, he's a true car enthusiast, listing a Lancia Delta Integrale and Mercedes Unimog among the vehicles in his dream garage. With a career spanning 16 years at Audi he moved to Quattro GmbH two and a half years ago to take control of the R8 project.

Brotherly love? Not much of that in this case

Before that he managed the development of the first generation Q7 and Q5 SUVs - both very un-R8-like but both huge successes for Audi. In Ingolstadt then Schala is considered a 'safe pair of hands' and the perfect person to guide a project as complex and nuanced as the R8.

And boy was it complicated. Doubly so when Audi's motorsport arm decided to fast-track the replacement of the R8 race car too. This meant both had to be developed in tandem so the race car could compete in its first race at the Nurburgring 24-hour in May. So Schala had to keep an eye on what Lamborghini was doing while juggling the interests of two sets of very demanding engineers with two very different objectives.

That's how racer Frank Stippler stepped into the fold. The former N24 winner and current Audi works driver straddled both motorsport and road car camps. Both sides benefitted from Stippler's experience and it's no coincidence that what he suggested to improve the road car always trickled down to making a faster racecar. But before all of that Schala had to nail down what direction the R8's replacement should take.

"The most important part of creating the R8 was figuring out what the replacement R8 should actually be and then having the freedom to go ahead and make that car," says Schala.

Proof to be in driving but all sounds promising

That's why the Audi R8 doesn't lift the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 for the RS6.

"We had to go our own way and a large capacity engine is evidence of that. I just love the unique character of having a big, normally aspirated V10. And then there's the sound!"

Schala says this big engine will satisfy purists who weren't fans of the non-linear response of 'small' turbocharged V8s. From the beginning Schala didn't want the "edginess" of a Lamborghini. To help demonstrate to engineers Schala picked three benchmarks - the Porsche 991 Turbo S, McLaren 650S and Ferrari 458 Italia.

"All these cars are completely different characters with different abilities, but all are individually compromised. My proudest achievement with the new car was coordinating with all our teams of engineers to reach our specific targets for the R8 and making them work in harmony. We really never felt like we were compromising in any area."

Schala gives the example of when Stippler and his team of development engineers reported the R8's front diff was overheating during flat-out track testing at places like the Nurburgring.

Schala sounds to have been given free rein

"It was only happening at the very extremes of performance but when the diff did overheat it compromised the capabilities of the Quattro all-wheel drive and I couldn't live with that. That's why I campaigned for a front differential oil cooler. It wasn't cheap, but I got it. And now you can drive all day on the track and the Quattro system will always work perfectly."

It took a total of four years from the first discussion about what an R8 should be until the final prototypes were signed off for production. Over those years the competition has transformed and levels of performance lifted into almost hypercar territory. But none of the Audi engineers we spoke to, including Schala, seem particularly worried. In fact, they're relishing the R8 going up against new rivals like the Honda NSX.

And there's more to come, lots more.

"We want the R8 to be a technical flagship for Audi - but not for it to have new technology for the sake of it. The new tech must add to the performance, add to the experience and make the R8 even more emotional."

Smiling broadly when we suggest a GT3 version, faster V8 hybrid and all-electric E-Tron R8, Schala nods in excitement to say they are all possible. Clearly, he has a lot up his sleeves and we don't think he's bluffing. Remember, this was the guy who put a 500hp V12 diesel in a Q7 and convinced sensible Audi to sell it. No wonder he got the R8 gig.

 

 

 

 

[VladD]

"Schala insists the Audi R8 - not the Huracan - is the more 'emotional' car."

Schala needs a good slap and a drink of reality juice.

[VladD]

Dave Hedgehog said:

VladD said:

"Schala insists the Audi R8 - not the Huracan - is the more 'emotional' car."

Schala needs a good slap and a drink of reality juice.

post your drive in both so we can see where the R8 falls down

I was basing it on the looks. I look at the Huracan and think "Wow", where as I look at the R8 and think "Meh". Obviously you've driven both and thus can correct me. So how were they for you?