2017 New York Motor Show: Audi R8 GT4 race car debuts, has less power than road version

AUDI has unveiled another race car version of its V10-powered supercar at the New York Motor Show, the R8 LMS GT4.

And as the name suggests, this time around the two door, mid-engined R8 gets built with the less-hardcore GT4 category in mind. Previous iterations of the R8 LMS were designed for the faster GT3 category.

With less aero and less grip, GT4 cars sit below their big-winged GT3 siblings and are more closely aligned with the road-going variants that form their basis. In the R8 LMS GT4’s case, it shares more than 60-percent of its components with the road going version.

However, it actually has less power than its showroom-spec counterpart. The R8’s 5.2-litre V10 has 449kW in the top-tier ‘Plus’ version of the road car, but is detuned to 364kW in the GT4 race car to promote parity across the grid.

The GT4 ditches the road car’s all-paw quattro system, sending power exclusively to the rear wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch paddle-shifted gearbox.

GT4 races are held across the globe, with the cars eligible for entry into the Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia, along with select Australian GT events.

“13 racing series in which GT4 models can compete worldwide already exist today worldwide,” says Stephan Winkelmann, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH.

“Audi Sport GmbH is one of the leading manufacturers offering cars in the GT3 and TCR customer sport categories. Now we’re targeting the GT4 class at exactly the right time.

“These fast-growing business segments and the DNA shared by our race cars and production vehicles underscore our ambition to become a true global player in the high-performance league.”

The car will make its competitive debut at the Nurburgring 24 Hours from May 25 to 28.

Rivals include the recently released Chevrolet Camaro GT4, and the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 which also competed at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

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