A 2015 Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro from the carmaker’s penultimate year in the top category at 24 Hours of Le Mans is about to go on sale at the dealership in London Joe Macari. There are no prices listed, so if you have to ask, well, you know the rest.
Audi used the name R18 for a series of racing cars from the 2011 to 2016 season, after which the automaker ending its Le Mans campaign. The R18 TDI Ultra appeared first, appeared in 2011 as the successor Audi R15 TDI. The R18 E-Tron Quattro hybrid raced alongside the TDI Ultra in 2012, and was later superseded when Le Mans regulations moved from the LMP1 to the LMP1-H (for hybrid) as the top-of-the-line.
The car currently for sale is a much improved 2015 version of the R18 E-Tron Quattro. It featured significant aerodynamic changes, including a larger dive plane and large air intakes on the front wheel arches, requiring a re-examination of the crash structure, according to the listing. Other changes include new side covers with reworked vents for improved cooling and a different rear bodywork designed to reduce drag.
2015 Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro (photo via Joe Macari)
A 4.0-liter V-6 diesel engine delivers 550 hp to the rear wheels and an electric motor sends 268 hp to the front wheels. That gave the R18 E-Tron Quattro all-wheel drive, but only intermittently, since electric power isn’t always available.
The car for sale is chassis 416, driven by Lucas di Grassi, Loïc Duval and Oliver Jarvis. We know that the trio finished fourth overall at the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours. saw Porsche win for the first time since 1998. But the listing only mentions the 416 chassis which took part in 6 Fuji, 6 Shanghai and 6 Bahrain, also part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) ) that year . The car finished fourth at Fuji and Shanghai, and sixth at the Bahrain race.
Audi won Le Mans every 24 hours from 2011 to 2014, and most go back to the turn of the century, but haven’t won since. Car manufacturer will return to Le Mans with entry for the new LMDh class in 2023.
