Oh my God, not another one! I can’t even remember how many crashed Audi R8’s we had over here. We’ve seen them crashed in Russia, in Portugal, in Germany, we’ve seen them burning or swimming, even famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo had some problems with his. Now, Russia strikes again and makes another Audi R8 victim. This time, the crash was caught on tape by street cameras and we see the driver losing control and smashing into the guard rail. The good part is that it doesn’t look very serious, so the driver’s probably ok.

Read More: "Audi R8 driver loses control, crashes the car"

The Audi R8 is definitely one of the coolest supercars out there and we’d love to get our hands on one of them (at least for a drive test). However, even if you have enough money to think about getting one, it’s not that easy, because, though not very cheap, there are a lot of rich dudes that want one. While in Germany the waiting time is eight months, in the United States there are 50 units available each month, and a lot of people wanting them.

But that’s not all; according to Car and Driver, who spoke with Michael Dick, Audi’s member of the board of management for technical development, Audi are preparing some goodies for the R8 fans. First one is the R8 powered by the 5.2 liter V10 engine from the current S8, rumors saying that the engine might be upgraded up to 535 hp. The R8 V10 will be available in the second half of 2009. In the same period, Audi will also introduce the highly anticipated R8 Cabrio (or Convertible orTarga or Spyder, no one knows for sure what’s it going to be called). However, bad news for US customers. While the R8 V10 will be available in 2009, the R8 cabrio won’t be coming to the US until 2010 or 2011.

Another thing everyone was curious about, was if Audi was planning on actually releasing a V12 TDI version of the R8, like the one which was on display at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, but Mr. Dick said that Audi hasn’t yet made a final decision on the project.

Read More: "Audi R8 V10 and cabrio coming next year"

Audi has officially announced that they’ll offer a new sports car, based on they’re Audi R8 hit. The ‘racing’ R8 conforms to the production- based GT3 regulations and it will be available from autumn 2009. “The R8 is the first production Audi bearing the name and genes of a successful racing sportscar and is therefore an excellent base from which to build up our first big customer sport program,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. The new R8 will offer more than 500 horsepower and adds things like a rear wing, full roll cage, heat extractors over the engine bay, a longer spoiler. Built on a rear-wheel-drive architecture the Audi R8 GT3 transfers power to the wheels via a new 6-speed sequential sports gearbox with suspension components taken from the regular production R8. First test races are scheduled for the 2009 season with deliveries to start next Autumn.

More photos after the jump. Read More: "500+ hp Audi R8 GT3 unveiled"

We’ve already seen a lot of exotic car crashes, almost all of them caused by irresponsible owners which don’t know how to handle the power of their cars. But this crash is a bit special, because we’re not talking about the owner of the car, but about a regular person which asked Audi to give him the €160,000 supercar, the R8 for a test drive. Although he met the standards of a test drive with a car this powerful, the 33-year old man from the Netherlands, lost control while he was driving near a river and crashed the car into it.

Police aren’t disclosing the name of the unlucky driver, and believe that he was driving at about 130 km/h (80 mph), although witnesses say that he was driving a lot faster, about 200 km/h or 125 mph, a lot above the limit on that road of 80 km/h (50 mph). Speed isn’t the only thing police are taking intro consideration, because the road was a bit bumpy, and one of these bumps could have caused the speeding driver to loose control of the 420 hp car. Still, if you want to test drive a car with lots of power, you really should check your speed and the road conditions, or you might end up like this poor fellow.

Check out more photos after the jump. Read More: "Audi R8 taken for a test swim"

The only thing that crossed my mind after seeing this video was “Wow!”. This Audi R8, codenamed “Blackbird”, is definitely one of a kind. First of all, it looks great, with those black wheels but if you imagine this car only has looks, oh, you’re so wrong. Because it’s more stuffed with gadgets than the KITT: four GPS units, two radar detectors, police scanner, CB radio, kill switch for all rear lights, high-speed broadband Internet with Wi-Fi running on a tablet PC, power ports, takedown lights, remote-controlled exhaust bypass valve and a…liquid-cooled infrasonic wave pulse generator. But enough said, just enjoy the video!

Read More: "Wow! The Audi R8 “Blackbird”"

These are the first spy photos of the Audi R8 Targa, without any camouflage. The new Audi R8 Targa is scheduled for official launch in March 2009. There are speculations about the name of the new Audi R8 supercar: Targa, Convertible, Cabrio or Spider. But the most likely name will be Audi R8 Targa, as shown in the planning documents for the next years. About the engine, besides the 4.2 liter FSI powerplant that develops 420HP, we could also see the 5 liter V10 twin turbo engine with 580HP, from the Audi RS6. The new Audi R8 Targa is scheduled for official launch at Geneva Motor Show in March 2009.

Read More: "Audi R8 Targa without camouflage"

As you probably know, the Iron Man movie will hit cinemas starting May 2nd. The movie features Robert Downey Jr (one of my personal favourites actors), Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Samuel L. Jackson and is about a guy, Tony Stark (Downey Jr), who is is forced to create a life support suit to keep him alive after an accident and who he decides to use the technology in his suit to fight crime. Besides these fine actors and plenty of cool special effects, the movie also features another star, this time from the auto world, the Audi R8, which has just won two categories at the 2008 Car of the Year awards.

And here’s a teaser video released recently by Audi, called “Powerful Ideas” and which shows the similarities between the Iron Man and the beautiful Audi R8. Also, you may want to check out the Audi “Iron Man” microsite. Enjoy!

Read More: "Video: Iron Man teaser featuring the Audi R8"

Today, the 2008 World Car of the Year awards winners were announced. The cars were nominated for four categories, Overall Car of the Year, World Design of the Year, World Performance Car and World Green Car and the winners were voted by 47 journalists from 24 countries throughout the world.

The winner of the Overall Car of the Year award was the Mazda2, followed by the new Ford Mondeo and the Mercedes Benz C Class. The Mazda2 also came in second at the World Design of the Year, where the winner was the Audi R8 and the third place went to the Volvo C30. The Audi R8 also won in the World Performance Car section, followed by the Audi S5 Coupe and the new BMW M3. The fourth award, for the World Green Car was won by the BMW 118d with Efficient Dynamics followed by the SmartForTwo cdi and the Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI BlueMotion.

So, we can say that the big winners were the Audi R8, with two awards, and the Mazda2, which won the main category and also came in second at another. The winners of the second and third place in each category are ok, though we don’t really dig the Volvo C30 as a great design.

Read More: "2008 World Car of the Year winners announced"

I remember seeing an episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson was saying that the Audi R8 is an extraordinary car, except for the fact that it’s very quiet comparing to what you’d expect from a supercar like this. Well, guess that Edo Competition took care of that “problem”, because here’s a video of the sound made by an Audi R8 fitted with a new Edo Competition exhaust system. Will turn some heads on the street for sure. Enjoy!

Read More: "Audi R8 Edo Competition exhaust sound"

Don’t know why, but it seems the Audi R8 is one unlucky car. We wrote about R8s crashed in Germany, in Russia and in the UK (not really a crash, but soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo lost control of his car and was very close to an accident). This time a Portuguese guy lost control of his Audi R8 in Oporto, Portugal, right in front of the city’s hospital. There were no injuries, but the car was pretty damaged, after climbing the sidewalk and also hitting two Mercedes that were on display.

Thanks for the tip, Ricardo!

Check out more photos after the jump.

Read More: "Another unlucky Audi R8, in Portugal"

At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, one of the stars of the Audi stand was definitely the special edition Audi R8 V12 TDI LeMans, the first 12-cylinder diesel engine in a high-performance sports car. The six liters V12 TDI engine produces 500 hp and 1,000 Nm (737.56 lb-ft) of torque. The R8 TDI Le Mans from Geneva shines in the Brilliant Red paint finish and features a more sporty interior, with aluminum applications, steering wheel rim with a flat lower edge. But enough said, we’ll let you enjoy the Audi R8 V12 TDI LeMans photos we took at Geneva. Click on the ‘Read More’ link below to see the photos.

Read More: "Geneva 2008: Audi R8 V12 TDI Le Mans"

Though most of you have probably seen this ad, I couldn’t let it go by without posting about it. The Audi R8 was aired during one of the world’s most viewed sports events, the Superbowl XLII, and it reproduces one of the most famous movie scenes in history, from “The Godfather I” movie.

In the original scene, successfull Hollywood producer Jack Woltz (played by John Marley) wakes up to find his horse’s (Khartoum) head on his bed. In the Audi R8 ad, we have the same scene, only this time we have Alex Rocco (which played Moe Greene in the original movie), waking up to find his bed full of oil and the front part of what it looks like a Rolls Royce.

And then we have Audi’s warning: “Old luxury just got put on notice”. Overall, an interesting commercial. Not one of the best, but definetly a cool one.

Read More: "Video: Audi R8 Superbowl XLII Ad"

As we’ve announced a few days ago (see the post here), Audi unveiled today, at Detroit, the Audi R8 V12 TDI, a diesel powered version of their high performance R8. Though we love it, so far, the car is just a concept and we’re not sure if Audi will decide to roll it into production. Powered by the V12 TDI with a displacement of six liters, which produces 500 hp and 1,000 Nm (737.56 lb-ft) of torque, the R8 V12 TDI sprints from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.2 seconds and reaches a top speed of over 186 mph (300 km/h). The engine is based on the V12 TDI race engine from the R10 race car, which produces over 650 hp from a displacement of 5.5 liters, giving it the potential for a top speed as high as 330 km/h (205.05 mph) depending on the gear ratios.

The Audi R8 V12 TDI concept with matt “Grace Silver” bodywork looks even wider and more resolute than the core model. It shows its potential through its muscular proportions, accentuated wheel arches and even larger air apertures. The rhombus-pattern cover on the air inlets and outlets is the hallmark of Audi’s sporty top models and a familiar feature of the current RS generation.

Check out more photos and read the huge press release, after the jump.
Read More: "Detroit Auto Show: Audi R8 V12 TDI unveiled"

A few days ago we’ve wrote about the Audi R8 V12 TDI, which will debut at the upcoming Detroit show. You can read more on our previous post (click here). Enjoy the video!

Read More: "Video: Audi R8 V12 TDI"

Portuguese soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo, currently playing for Manchester United, was driving his Audi R8 after the match against Fulham, where he played very well, managing to score 2 goals. Apparently, the good performance, plus the fact that he got the R8 recently, made him to lose control of the car and spin 180 degrees, on his way home.

A witness said: “Cristiano had a real fright. He was giving it some welly on his way home from the game, in great spirits after a brilliant performance. The road was a bit slippery and he ended up losing control, power-sliding around the roundabout. He did manage to turn the car safely and avoid any damage…but he’s had a proper scare.”

Some time ago, his Manchester United colleague, Wayne Rooney, also lost control of his new car, a Lamborghini Gallardo.

Read More: "Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo involved in Audi R8 incident"