Audi’s Nuvolari Supercar Is Hardly a Next-Gen R8

BMW was a stuffy German car brand making executive sedans for men in gray suits. But then it released the Z1 sports car with drop-down doors and followed it with some of the most legendary sports sedans in history under its M label. Around the same period, Mercedes-Benz brought Germany’s tuning scene in-house by buying AMG and releasing overpowered sedans with crazy wings from its own dealerships. BMW’s best cars offer sports-car-like driving excellence within sedan proportions, and AMG brought muscle-car madness to the premium German car.Audi was the odd one out. It never properly capitalized on the Quattro rally cars; its RS-branded wagons were too little, too late; and it kept a reputation for boring stuffiness. Until that is, it released the Audi R8 in 2006. With parts stolen from the Lamborghini Gallardo — the baby Lamborghini released five years after Audi purchased the company — it was arguably the most important and successful halo car of all time. The R8 was a fantastic car in its own right — driving superbly, looking sensational, and having more supercar exoticism than the Porsche 911, with the same practicality, at the same price — and not only did it sell strongly, but it sharply elevated the sports credentials of the Audi brand and brought more customers into dealerships. The first-generation Audi R8 GT, with the V10, is among the most underappreciated and greatest supercars of the 2000s, and the best version of a car that turned Audi’s image around.Audi R8 GT (2010). Courtesy of AudiToday, the R8 is dead, and the smaller TT sports car is dead with it. Audi is hoping to set itself apart in a period where Mercedes is releasing electric blobs, and BMW’s designers are blind. But its newly unveiled Nuvolari won’t do that.2027 Audi Nuvolari. Courtesy of AudiUnveiled in May, the Nuvolari is an almost 1,000-horsepower, carbon-bodied Audi version of the new baby Lamborghini, the Temerario. Audi is making just 499, each selling for more than $650,000, and it will do zero to 60 in 2.6 seconds.2027 Audi Nuvolari. Courtesy of AudiBut you can now buy electric minivans with those performance figures, so what matters here is the feeling and look. And the Nuvolari just doesn’t work. It’s a sloppy combination of the R8 template with the new design language that Audi has introduced for its electric cars with the 2025 Concept C.Audi Concept C. Courtesy of AudiAudi Concept C. Courtesy of AudiLast year, Audi unveiled its Concept C, a preview of its upcoming electric Audi TT that combined simple graphic elements with elegant, sophisticated curved surfacing. It was gorgeous. But the Nuvolari is blunt and too blocky, like a render that didn’t generate properly. The hood is overly flat, with too many straight lines. The rear is a black grid. The surfacing aims for elegant simplicity but hits bland incompleteness.2027 Audi Nuvolari. Courtesy of AudiTesla’s Cybertruck is not a pretty car, but it works by fully committing to its harsh, simple aesthetic. The Nuvolari wants to use that sheer, futuristic minimalism, but it is just a mishmash of the R8 template, Audi’s upcoming design language, and the existing chassis of the Temerario. Unsurprisingly, the final result is inherently messy and uncompelling.Also, though the Temerario has far more power than the outgoing Huracán, it loses the V10 in favor of the turbocharged, worse-sounding V8. In turn, though this is limited, expensive, and more powerful than any Audi R8, it’s simply a less compelling car than any previous version.2027 Audi Nuvolari Interior. Courtesy of AudiThe one true success of the Nuvolari is its interior, which is beautifully simple and has a single central screen out of the way. The Nuvolari won’t do much to improve Audi’s brand image, but if this is a preview of the interiors of its upcoming models, at least it can stand out by not having another screen-festooned interior.

Audi’s Nuvolari Supercar Is Hardly a Next-Gen R8

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