Audi revealed its new contender for the World Endurance Championship (WFC), Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro on the streets of Le Mans. Audi chose to reveal the vehicle on the streets of Le Mans instead of a racetrack, Tom Kristensen drove the hybrid sportscar from city centre to racetrack. Official WEC tests will commence from March 28th and will end on March 29th where the sports car will participate. The season will commence from April 20th, 2014 in UK at the Silverstone circuit.
Besides unveiling its new sports car, the auto maker also displayed its new livery. New colour options like silver, black, white and red are being offered on the car. The design manager , Motorsports and Special Projects, Dirk van Braeckel believes that the new colours available on the sports car are indicative of success achieved in the past and also represents complexity of the technology of the sports car.
The focal point of WECorganizersthis year is hybrid and diesel systems and hence stress in being given on fuel efficiency. Under the hood, R18 gets a 4.0 litre, V6 TDI diesel motor, an electric motor has also been fitted along with the diesel engine. The motor generator unit is positioned in the front axle, the flywheel energy storage system is present to store energy. E-Tron is an all wheel drive, power is supplied to the front wheels through MGU while rear wheels are powered by diesel motor.
