Currently reading: Audi R4's future 'undecided'
Small, entry-level Audi roadster's future in VW's hands; baby Porsche Boxster to share tech

The future of the Audi R4, a Boxster-sized mid-engined sports car, currently hangs in the balance as Audi and Volkswagen decide whether steel or alloy body construction is the way forward for the all-new model.

The final stamp of approval for the R4 rests with parent company Volkswagen, according to high-ranking Audi insiders in Ingolstadt.

They say production feasibility studies are yet to determine whether a pressed steel or alloy spaceframe chassis is the better option. The e-tron concept car was based, like the R8, around an alloy spaceframe.

Engineers involved in the studies have told Autocar that lines have been drawn between the cheap-to-produce yet relatively heavy monocoque or the more expensive but lightweight aluminium structure.

One source told us: “The reaction to the e-tron concept has been overwhelming.

"We’re weighing up all of the options and possibilities. There’s no real time pressure because we’re not replacing an existing model but establishing a new one.”

Volkswagen’s involvement in the R4 programme stems from its own plans to use the same platform to create an even more affordable mid-engined coupé/roadster along the lines of its BlueSport concept, which was unveiled at the 2009 Detroit motor show.

In a production strategy similar to that of the Volkswagen Polo/Audi A1 and Volkswagen Golf/Audi A3, the two car makers plan to create two distinctly different cars using a common mid-engine/rear-wheel drive structure.

A final green light for the new platform also hinges on a decision from Porsche, which is studying proposals to create a new entry-level model positioned underneath the Boxster and using the same underpinnings.

"Scale is important to a project like this,” an Audi source told Autocar. “But with three different car makers working to a common goal, the chances [of it getting the go-ahead] look good.”

Although the Audi e-tron concept car was revealed with an all-electric driveline, the production version of the R4 is planned to come with the choice of turbocharged 1.4–litre and 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engines as well as a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine.

 

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Lanehogger 10 May 2010

Re: Audi R4's future 'undecided'

I assume the R4 would be the replacement for the TT, on the basis that the R4 is being labelled as a Boxster/Cayman rival which the TT is at the moment. But to confuse matters, Porsche are planning a model based on the R4......which will sit below the Boxster/Cayman?!?!

Peter Cavellini 10 May 2010

Re: Audi R4's future 'undecided'

Please build it!, then we can forget about the TT !,the R4 is the natural successor too the TT, a car up until the TTRS was at best the default Cheltnam chariot!

Amanitin 10 May 2010

Re: Audi R4's future 'undecided'

beachland2 wrote:
forget steel its the past not the future

I think you should ask an A8 owner what it cost to repair the car park scratch on their aluminum body panels.
The number you will hear is the primary reason why noone will even consider putting aluminum into mainstream cars. That's unless there is a shop with inert atmosphere welding at every corner.