From the same people that landed us the news on the demise of Audi’s deliciously sounding and revving 4.2-liter V8 on the next RS4, in place of which, the Germans will reportedly drop a new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 with more than 470-ponies, comes a report saying that the naturally-aspirated unit will continue life in the new R8.

Citing an Audi insider, Car&Driver magazine reports that the second generation R8 Coupe and Spyder models that are due sometime next year, will keep the 4.2-liter V8 as a base engine, albeit softly tuned to deliver more than the 424hp (430PS) it does on the current model, possibly producing the same 444hp (450PS) as on today’s RS4 Avant and RS5.

The explanation is two-fold. On one hand, the 552hp (560PS) 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 featured in the RS7 Sportback is “too difficult to properly cool in a mid-engine configuration, especially with its turbos mounted inboard”, according to the magazine, while the addition of turbochargers would also “dull” the wonderful engine sound, which is something that Audi doesn’t want on a supercar like the R8.

The other issue mentioned in the report is that Audi wants to keep a clear power distance between the base R8 and the 5.2-liter V10 version of its halo sports car, which itself, needs to sit below the platform-sibling of the next R8, the new Lamborghini Huracan.

By John Halas

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