Friday 29th June 2012

Audi claims electric 'ring lap record

R8 E-tron blitzes Nordschleife in just over eight minutes, Toyota says what about our 7:47?

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Clearly buoyed by its trailblazing first hybrid victory at Le Mans, Audi has claimed another motorsport-related record for 'green' tech, with a new electric-powered lap record at the Nurburgring.

Audi takes the record, Toyota shrugs out of shot

In a carefully choreographed piece of PR, Audi's chosen driver for the record was Markus Winkelhock - one of the team of drivers of the winning R8 LMS Ultra that triumphed at the Nurburgring 24-hourearlier in the year. That car, of course, still uses a 'proper' V10 petrol engine and makes a suitably thunderous noise, unlike the E-tron which, for those worried by the eerily quiet R18 E-trons at Le Mans killing the thrill of racing, represents another nail in the coffin of thrillingly noisy sports and racing cars.

Winkelhock steered the R8 E-tron to an 8:09.099-minute lap, before going out again and doing two consecutive flying laps of 8:30.873 and 8:26.096. Impressive stuff. But what about Toyota's record last year?

Based on a Radical, the Toyota-funded development hack managed 7:47.794 and is, clearly, faster than the Audi. So how is the R8 E-tron claiming the record? Well, reading the small print, it seems Audi is claiming the fastest lap for a production electric car, the limited number of R8 E-trons due to leave the Neckarsulm factory later in the year apparently giving it the right to make that claim.

Small number of production E-trons coming soon

Using a 550kg, T-shaped lithium-ion battery back seated in the central transmission tunnel and behind the seats, the E-tron has a range of 'about' 130 miles, weighs 1,780kg in total and will do 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds. Normally restricted to 200km/h (124mph in old money), the limiter was raised to 155mph for the record attempt. An electric motor for each wheel gives new-school Quattro cred, the combined 313hp delivered 70 per cent to the rear wheels as a default but torque vectoring across all four wheels allowing maximum traction whatever the situation. And there's plenty of torque to distribute too, Audi varyingly claiming anything between 442lb ft and 3,319lb ft (the latter at the wheels) depending on how you measure it.

"Of course, the R8 E-tron is a production car, not a racing car with the assistance of aerodynamics," says Winkelhock of the experience. "But with its low centre of gravity and rear-biased weight distribution, it brings with it a lot of sporty qualities. The torque with which the electric motors propel the car uphill beats everything that I know - even if they make hardly any noise in the process, which at the start was really a completely new experience for me."

And so the 'ring lap bragging, rivalry and spin enters the electric age... That commotion in Stuttgart? That'll be AMG charging up the SLS E-Cell, at a guess.

 

[SmartVenom]

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

[Monty Python]

Who gives a monkeys?

[kambites]

SmartVenom said:

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

I'm always surprised that a ring record is considered important for any car. I can't think of much that I care less about when buying a car than how fast it goes around a track that I'll probably never drive it on, in the hands of a driver vastly more capable than me.

[Riley Blue]

I've never seen ring records mentioned other than on PH. What relevance do they have?

Edited by Riley Blue on Friday 29th June 11:31

[pKay]

I care about those things.

Laptimes show the real speed of any car, especially those from the *ring*

Its bumpy, has lots of different corners and types of tarmac.
I think its a better indicator for real speed than horsepower or g-forces.

[StottyZr]

Riley Blue said:

I've never seen ring records mentioned other than on PH. What relevance do they?

You've never seen top gear then?

[hunt_the_fox]

Monty Python said:

Who gives a monkeys?

This. Other than yet another reason to loathe the Audi brand.

[BS75]

hunt_the_fox said:

yet another reason to loathe the Audi brand.

Works for me. Fairly typical 4-ringed obnoxiousness.

[Captain Muppet]

SmartVenom said:

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

They are trying to sell fast electric cars to people who like green technology yet aren't tedious Prius fodder.

Basically the sort of people who bought the thousands of Teslas.

[ThunderSpook]

Wouldn't they be better off going for a "we made it round the M25ring starting at 7am on a Monday morning and didn't run out of batteries"?

[MrTappets]

Have to say, ~1800kg really doesn't sound that bad, and things are only going to get better from here. I should also say that I do give a monkey's about electric 'ring times because it proves there's still an emphasis on fun and sportiness.

Furthermore - at least as far as 'normal' cars go - I'm all for electric (once the manufacturing issues get sorted) because it's so much quieter. Traffic noise just gets on my nerves.

[Nicholls22]

Captain Muppet said:

SmartVenom said:

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

They are trying to sell fast electric cars to people who like green technology yet aren't tedious Prius fodder.

Basically the sort of people who bought the thousands of Teslas.

Saving the planet whilst looking cool, instead of a looking dettached from life, wobbling around the road in a Prius thinking 'Where did it all go wrong.....?'

The US celebs will buzz of these!

[Johnboy Mac]

Monty Python said:

Who gives a monkeys?

Rightly or wrongly, not me anyway.

[Mr. Potato Head]

The beginning of the electric torque war. Bring it on.

[goron59]

Nicholls22 said:

Saving the planet whilst looking cool...

The planet doesn't need saving. It was here billions of years before we showed up and will be here billions of years after we're gone.

Not sure about the cool bit though. I own and R8 (V8) and one of the best things about it is the noise it makes. I reckon cars needs to start looking different if they're going to have leccy motors at each corner.

[CooperS]

goron59 said:

Nicholls22 said:

Saving the planet whilst looking cool...

The planet doesn't need saving. It was here billions of years before we showed up and will be here billions of years after we're gone.

Not sure about the cool bit though. I own and R8 (V8) and one of the best things about it is the noise it makes. I reckon cars needs to start looking different if they're going to have leccy motors at each corner.

Think its pretty obvious when someone says saving the planet they mean for our benifit.

But agree with the sound, for me the R8 is very audi exec bland but a dark grey R8 (maybe a 10) went through Farnham last night and it sounded great.

[Riley Blue]

StottyZr said:

Riley Blue said:

I've never seen ring records mentioned other than on PH. What relevance do they?

You've never seen top gear then?

You reckon Sabine would be faster?

[E38Ross]

SmartVenom said:

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

far from it. Audi realise there is a market for people who want fast cars, but don't cost the earth to run.

that said, not for me. the noise plays a large part in full on sports cars for me, hence i don't like the new M6. though i wouldn't mind an M5

[Chris71]

SmartVenom said:

I'm surprised that a ring record is considered that important in green marketing. I think Audi might be getting their markets a little confused.

Would the same apply to other green markets like diesel cars, do you reckon?

[Some Gump]

BS75 said:

hunt_the_fox said:

yet another reason to loathe the Audi brand.

Works for me. Fairly typical 4-ringed obnoxiousness.

Really? You LOATHE the Audi brand? It's not like they sit there murdering cats, is it?

Anyways, IMO the blame for this electric stuff sits with the EU - but if you can accept that electric may be the future, I'd much rather see R8 based flyoing machines pushing the technologgy than glorified shopping karts like the G-Wizz.