Audi R18 TDI Hybrid (Continued)

As I mentioned before, Audi designed and built two examples of their R18 Diesel-powered endurance race car with a hybrid drive train.  Now we find out that the hybrid system used in the R18 is very similar to the one used in the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid, which is not surprising, since both companies are part of the Volkwagen Group.  Autoblog tells us:

Unveiled yesterday, the R18 e-tron Quattro takes the same form as the conventionally powered R18 Ultra, but with one important difference: its TDI diesel engine is assisted by a regenerative braking system that gives it not only hybrid power but (through-the-road) all-wheel drive.

Schematic of Audi's Diesel-Hybrid racing power train.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm very excited about these new racers and the technological advancements they represent.  Unfortunately, I'll be "off the net" when the 24 Hours of Le Mans runs this June.

Oh, well.  I guess Aimee will just have to get me the highlights DVD as a present.  Hint, hint.

The Audi R18 TDI Ultra (left) and R18 e-tron Quattro endurance race cars.

The best thing about these cars is that the technology Audi developed for them will likely end up in street legal cars ordinary people can buy (okay, ordinary people with lots of money).  After all, Audi first developed "Quattro" (I have no idea why they insist on misspelling it) all-wheel-drive for rally racing, and their Diesel technology is slowly trickling back down to their street legal cars.

Man, I love racing!  Okay, not NASCAR.  NASCAR is crap.  The cars are far more antiquated than anything on the road (they just stopped using leaded gasoline a few years ago and they still use carburetors!) and all they do is drive in circles.  And to demonstrate how tough they are, they cancel a race any time a few drops of rain fall on the track.  Not even the perfumed princes of Formula 1 do that!

Anyway, racing is supposed to improve the breed.  That's its ultimate purpose; to develop technologies that are useful in production vehicles.  NASCAR can't do that because the rules keep the cars in the stone age.  Endurance racing, on the other hand, does.