RE: Audi S8 V10: Spotted
Discussion
Vroom101 said:
I wish journalists would stop regurgitating the same old nonsense about the S8/S6 engine being related to the engine in the Gallardo.
”...in fact the 5.2 shares very few components with the 5-litre Lamborghini unit, the only significant shared parts being the drivetrain for the four camshafts. The reason is that the Audi V10s are built at the same factory as every other Audi engine, which, for economies of scale, has been configured to produce engines with a common 90mm bore spacing. The bore spacing of the Gallardo engine is 88mm. This is how the Audi V10 ends up with a different cylinder block, a new crankshaft, different pistons and new camshafts, while the more restricted engine bay, plus Audi’s desire to give the engine its FSI direct injection, result in bespoke induction and exhaust systems and a new sump.”
So if they are related, they are second cousins once removed at the very best
That doesn’t detract from the fact that Audi should be applauded for sticking a monster V10 in a saloon car though, and I would love an S6 Avant, if I could afford to put fuel in the thing.
Ok so not sure if anyone’s in here any more and bit of a wild thread resurrection, but Meaden’s take was only briefly correct at the time. Article said:
Using a reworked Lamborghini Gallardo engine stroked from 5.0- to 5.2-litres for extra torque, it utilised direct injection to produce 450hp and 398lb ft.
No, it doesn’t use a reworked Lambo engine. Far from it. I think Richard Meaden is the only writer I’ve ever seen explain it properly, way back in Evo 91”...in fact the 5.2 shares very few components with the 5-litre Lamborghini unit, the only significant shared parts being the drivetrain for the four camshafts. The reason is that the Audi V10s are built at the same factory as every other Audi engine, which, for economies of scale, has been configured to produce engines with a common 90mm bore spacing. The bore spacing of the Gallardo engine is 88mm. This is how the Audi V10 ends up with a different cylinder block, a new crankshaft, different pistons and new camshafts, while the more restricted engine bay, plus Audi’s desire to give the engine its FSI direct injection, result in bespoke induction and exhaust systems and a new sump.”
So if they are related, they are second cousins once removed at the very best
That doesn’t detract from the fact that Audi should be applauded for sticking a monster V10 in a saloon car though, and I would love an S6 Avant, if I could afford to put fuel in the thing.
I was lucky enough to have a visit to the factory as a VW investor a few years ago and asked Maurizio Reggiani about this. He joined Lambo not long before Audi bought, in the mid 90s from Artoli EB110 era Bugatti.
Lambo mid 90s was trying to develop the Canto to replace the Diablo as well as developing a smaller mid engine car. They approached Audi about using a tweaked version of the 4.2 v8. That discussion ultimately ended in VW/Audi buying Lambo. For buttons.
Reggiani himself and plenty of other lambo engine designers were part of the attraction to VW, so he says, tho I’m still not sure who did what to design EB110 engine, guess they were doing heroic things with the Lambo Bizzarrini engine too :-D
When VW turned up, they binned the canto and set to work on murci instead, but Diablo got a life extension with the 6.0 that basically took all the new parts from the canto including engine and wider front track. Hence why they seemed to put so much effort into a low volume short lived end of production facelift. Anyway, that’s a digression.
They also gave lambo the go-ahead to develop a new v10 for what became the Gallardo. Seeing as they thought the Italians were magical at that. So no direct link at all to the Audi v8 apart from original design ethos of the kind of engine they were looking for and full access to the v8 design and parts supply chain.
That was a roaring success, and then several years later with VW more confident in their ownership, and more focused on the bottom line, they pushed Lambo to come into line with Audi supply chain, which meant keeping the v12 in house with a new design but shipping in the higher volume v10 engines from Audi’s engine plant. And that meant different engine bore spacing per meaden’s comment.
What came from that was the new 5.2 lambo engine. Reggiani says lambo designed it, others have suggested Audi did, I suspect it was a joint effort, but it is produced by Audi. It has the same 90mm bore spacing as the Audi engines and sounds quite a lot different to the pre facelift Gallardo 5.0 due to totally different firing order.
So, maybe correct thing to say is that Audi S8 and S6 had an engine jointly developed by both brands, initially used by Audi, subsequently taken up by lambo in the G and then Huracan. I’m sure there are all sorts of different internals, but I’ve no doubt they’re same engine family. What I don’t know is where the rs6 5.0 fits. Is that the lambo engine or a short stroke 5.2 with turbos or something completely different?!
Love to hear if anyone has different insight.
^^^^^ That.
The 5.0 V10 used in the Gen 1 2003+ Gallardo was Lambo’s own engine. The Gen 2 2008+ Gallardo and now Huracan use a high performance version of the Audi V10 from the S8 and S6 of the time. The same engine was also put to work in the R8 V10; essentially the same car underneath as the Gen 2 Gallardo.
So Lamborghini used an Audi engine, not not the other way around.
The 4.2 V8 in the R8 and RS4 are likely the outcome of work done on what Lambo was wanting for their “entry level” V8 offering.
The RS6 5.0TT V10 was “basically“ a lower compression version (hence the lower swept capacity of 5.0 Liters) of the 5.2 V10 with a couple of turbos strapped on.
Interestingly, if you were so inclined, a Huracan V10 engine will bolt right into an S8 or S6 V10.
The 5.0 V10 used in the Gen 1 2003+ Gallardo was Lambo’s own engine. The Gen 2 2008+ Gallardo and now Huracan use a high performance version of the Audi V10 from the S8 and S6 of the time. The same engine was also put to work in the R8 V10; essentially the same car underneath as the Gen 2 Gallardo.
So Lamborghini used an Audi engine, not not the other way around.
The 4.2 V8 in the R8 and RS4 are likely the outcome of work done on what Lambo was wanting for their “entry level” V8 offering.
The RS6 5.0TT V10 was “basically“ a lower compression version (hence the lower swept capacity of 5.0 Liters) of the 5.2 V10 with a couple of turbos strapped on.
Interestingly, if you were so inclined, a Huracan V10 engine will bolt right into an S8 or S6 V10.
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