Driving Audi's 1000bhp R18 LMP1 race car

total and utter domination there's no other way to describe it since our D decided to make an assault on Lamont nobody else has really had much of a looking back in 99 ow d arrived in France with two are a tars and two closed cars the r8 sees they weren't especially fast in comparison to the BMW and Toyota competition but the r8 are showed good durability a finished third and fourth in 2000 they were back with the new OpenCart simply called the r8 they finished first second and third the next year our eights finished 1st and 2nd again and in o2 they took a clean sweep of the podium and so it continued the record stands at 13 wins in 17 years along the way hourly recording the first victories for a diesel-powered car and the first hybrid victory 2 which leads us to out his 2016 challenger and the car I'm going to be driving today the r18 it barely looks like a car more some kind of super insect that's evolved to thrive in a weird hidden ecosystem but that's what happens when sports car racing goes through a golden period as it is right now manufacturers are racing to create cars with huge aerodynamic grip and super efficient hybrid drivetrains the 4 liter single turbo v6 diesel engine of this r18 for example uses 32 percent less fuel than it did just five years ago beneath the unbelievably complex shape is a carbon fiber chassis with an aluminium honeycomb core it utilizes double wishbone pushrod suspension at the front and a pull rod system at the rear the suspension is interlinked to ensure a stable aero platform that diesel engine produces over 514 horsepower and over six hundred and twenty-five pounds foot according to Audi and drives the rear wheels the front axle is powered by a motor generator unit rated at over 470 horsepower for a total of a thousand or there abouts in a car weighing 875 kilos this is the first Audi prototype to use lithium-ion batteries for energy storage instead of a flywheel system which required a total rethink of the entire car that meant lots of niggles and yielded just for that lamang but at the last WEC round in Bahrain the r18 was sorted and it blitzed the competition claiming pole and a 1/2 in the race so it might be the fastest prototype racing car in the world right now 11:34 I reckon I'll be in the car in about 5 or 10 minutes last guide before me four laps been watching this thing all day not all day this morning go round with the proper drivers a couple of journeys and you expect to be excited about this stuff but this just fear from the fear [Music] leaf I'm driving the r18 on the handling circuit at Audi Sports Newburg motorsport competence centre which is around 20 kilometers west of there Ingolstadt HQ the 2.2 kilometer track isn't exactly made for testing the high-speed Aero Avalon one prototype I'm not complaining this is proper once-in-a-lifetime stuff in preparation I've done a whole two laps in an rs3 but here's what it looks like in an Audi r18 [Music] [Music] how to describe driving the r18 okay so the first sensation was relief I have sputtered into the anti-stall quickly followed by shock at the way the thing took off from the pits I felt like I was babying it but the forces were 911 Turbo S annuitant role plus a whole lot more the driving position is completely alien but feels very natural very quickly and despite not being a killer left foot breaker I didn't struggle to adjust to the r18 in fact the whole car felt my hesitate to say this but easy to drive not dirty and remote not like wants to spit you off the traction is unreal and the way it literally jumps out of corners is at first terrifying but soon you just want to feel it again and again [Applause] Wow [Music] of course everything happens so fast and I'm barely scratching the surface was I in the wrong gear in here anti-stall ors i gear too low and the traction control is cutting the power I just don't know I'm sure I locked the brakes a couple of times but the car seems to barely notice and turns in perfectly every time it's just intense even on a freezing day on treaded tires it beats a gt3 car on slicks for braking and cornering and accelerates in the lower gears like a p1 GTR running nitrous it's simply the purest most exciting driving experience I've ever had more than anything I leave with respect for the guys you drive the wheels off these things for a double or triple stint the concentration and discipline required is unimaginable to experience the r18 even just for a few laps is something else to know that this car is the last in a long line of incredible machines that have dominated the sport and helped nurture the WEC into what it is today is something close to tragic LD pulled the plug on its endurance racing program out of the blue and just a few weeks before my drive of the r18 the 2017 car was designed and its parts are still laying in their boxes never to be built up into a hole so it's a quiet farewell to Audi after a glorious era we really really hope they come back soon [Applause]

Channel: DRIVETRIBE

Views: 1,546,432

Rating: 4.9301243 out of 5

Keywords: drivetribe, jeremy clarkson, richard hammond, james may, audi, audi sport, le mans, wec, R18, audi r18, race car

Id: ZFLD1w6iaWA

Length: 8min 11sec (491 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 31 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/googlehymen]

Great video. What a privilege and testiment to the development and race team.

[u/Remmy14]

I rarely get to watch WEC but find it pretty fascinating. Just out of curiosity, could anyone give a good summary of why Audi decided not to return? Was it cost? Go out on top? Seems odd. And he even mentioned that the 2017 car had already been started to be designed and built.

[u/HadesF]

An engineering masterpiece

[u/dolan313]

Of course it's not comparable at all but when he mentioned that it was very driveable it reminded me of the LMP1 cars in pCARS. Great fun to drive and grip really well.

[u/nacho35]

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

In all seriousness, be it a small team like Manor or a stalwart like Audi, seeing teams and people leave motorsport hurts. Just think of the people this program involved... The guy who was down in the carbon baking facility, proud as hell of the fact that he baked those wings for 10 years. The engineer who was so proud of his shift pedal that he spent countless hours perfecting. Hell, the guy who cleans the shop was probably so proud to be a part of something as storied as that. Now, nothing. Gone.**

[u/jigielnik]

I kind of wish this guy got to drive the Audi

[u/RedditStreamable]

Mirror of [OT]Driving Audi's 1000bhp R18 LMP1 race car!

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[u/SGNick]

Off topic, but I usually think of this car when I hear concerns that the halo will limit visibility, that cockpit is downright claustrophobic!

[u/CruzanAK]

As much as I love F1 and never watch WEC, I feel like I would have more fun driving this car over an F1 if I ever got the chance.