Prepare To Be Befuddled By This Inline-Four Audi R8

This 650bhp, 950kg hill climb-spec R8 is powered not by a V8 or V10, but by a heavily-boosted inline-four!

29 Aug 2018

The defining feature of any R8 - be it a V8 or a V10 version - is surely the engine. So, the idea of whipping out one of those many-cylindered works of art and slapping in a heavily turbocharged inline-four is just a bit wrong, isn’t it?

In the world of motorsport, not really. This fascinating hill climb car from a company called Dialynx Performance has been given a 2.0-litre engine transplant for class reasons, a move which has also helped the mid-engined Audi shed a load of weight - this one tips the scales at just 950kg.

It’s no ordinary four-banger sitting behind the cabin, either. It’s a hybrid of two VW Group engines of the past: an ALT 20-valve aluminium block married to a 16-valve ABF Mk3 Golf GTI cylinder head. The whole shebang is fed by a Garrett turbocharger running at 30PSI.

When brimmed with racing fuel, the engine - which sits on a custom rear subframe - develops 650bhp. It may not sound quite as nice as it did originally, but damn, does it make for one fast R8.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

So it’s like a Class-B R8?

Nah, it’s still too big to be a rally car

[DELETED]

Lemme help ya out

I literally had this idea about a week ago for a super light Group-S homage but with the 2.5l 5cyl instead of a 2.0 4cyl

Deja Vu starts playing

You mean like this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_quattro_concept

The only way you can justify to swap a v10 for a i4 is for weight reduction

And to sneak into a lower displacement class
And for weight distribution

I’m sorry but this is absolute sacrilege, I’ll live with a 2.0L I4 LMP1 but I condemn this I4 R8

I’m stubborn so what

Did you just forget about whatever i4 donor having received an R8 v8/10?

Class reasons. Fair enough if its fast!

Another victim of Dieselgate😞

how it feels to see the engine in the R8s MASSIVE Engine bay……

What’s that sound as it accelerates? Not the straight cut gears that make that high pitched whine, but the thing that sounds like a Lionel model steam train

Pretty sure that was something on the bottom scraping. You can see at 0:25 and other front-facing shots that something ( rear diffuser ? ) is hitting the ground repeatedly when under acceleration