The Audi Nuvolari is a 987bhp, carbon-bodied, £500k supercar
The R8 recipe returns with a significantly higher level of performance – and price tag
Welcome to the fastest Audi road car in history – and not just by our usual parameters. evo was there to witness the covers being pulled from the brand-new Nuvolari supercar just 405 days after an ‘outstanding idea’ was first raised with CEO Gernot Döllner.
He quickly commissioned a joint design, engineering and aerodynamics team and the finished car – this is no mere concept – has just been shown to the public ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. You didn’t expect Audi to produce an ultra-high-performance hybrid and not link it to its shiny new Formula 1 programme, did you?
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Just don’t call it a reborn R8, even if it too shares fundamental components with a contemporary Lamborghini, in this case the Temerario. Limited to 499 units and priced from £500,000, the Nuvolari treads uncharted ground for Ingolstadt and sits much further apart from its Italian cousin than either of the mid-engined sports cars that preceded it.
Its rapid development is an example of the ‘think faster, act bolder’ mentality that Audi wants to blanket across its entire operation as its famed ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ philosophy returns to help fend off swelling Chinese competition. Calling upon decades of performance car expertise and applying the name of a legendary Auto Union racing driver to the resulting product is certainly one way to assert your heritage.
The aluminium spaceframe chassis and petrol-electric powertrain of the Temerario lie at the Nuvolari’s core but are enhanced and evolved for higher performance and – perhaps – fidelity. Its combination of 4-litre twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors produces 80bhp more than the Lambo, peaking at 987bhp (or 1001 PS) to tally exactly with the Bugatti Veyron of two decades ago. Its engine tune – 789bhp and 538lb ft alone – matches the Italians’ application, meaning the Nuvolari’s electrical elements are the source of its extra muscle. So we should anticipate the same 10,000rpm red line, too.
There are a host of boost and recuperation strategies integrated within its five drive modes. Utilise some of their accrued energy via Launch Control and you’ll achieve 0-62mph in 2.6sec (a tenth quicker than a Temerario) and 0-124mph in 6.8sec. Its top speed exceeds 217mph to underscore its position as Audi’s fastest road car yet, though keen stattos might point out the 2.5sec acceleration claim of the current RS e-tron GT Performance saloon. We suspect the process is a bit more thrilling in here…
Like the Lambo, there are two e-motors applying torque vectoring to the front axle, plus a third motor slotted between the engine and twin-clutch transmission. Here, they work arm-in-arm with a new, predictive quattro system that sees steering angle, yaw rate, grip and acceleration data fed continually to a control unit to keep the car alert and precise. Flicking through its five modes (E-Hybrid, Balanced, Dynamic, Dynamic+ and Track) increases the Nuvolari’s agility, with Track mode allowing you to dial back the traction control entirely should you wish.
Audi’s chief technical officer, Rouven Mohr, is familiar to evo for his work across numerous Lamborghinis. ‘It’s the first time we have traction control adjustable on the steering wheel,’ he tells me. ‘We have four different traction levels that the driver can choose from, adapting to the surface but also to achieve maximum agility and maximum driving fun. This was super important to us.’
The interior of the Nuvolari is billed as ‘a study in clarity and control’ where ‘everything supports the act of driving’, and our first sit inside reveals plenty of promise. Its carbon-backed seats drop your backside appropriately low, while ahead of you sits a big, central starter button. Long, metallic paddleshifters feel a decisive step on from the R8’s meeker items and are complemented by tactile metal dials on the Alcantara-rimmed wheel for toggling its drive and traction modes. The instruments are (of course) digital, but its large central rev counter goes all the way to 12.
There’s more metal for the air vents, which are operated by supremely satisfying sliders. Recognisable Volkswagen Group switchgear is notable by its almost complete absence. And don’t expect anything like the useability of an R8 on a long trip, with luggage space limited to whatever you can squeeze behind the seats and into the passenger footwell.
Braking is by wire, allied to ‘Audi Ceramic Pro’ with enormous 420mm discs up front (410mm rear) clamped by ten-piston calipers (four-piston rear). Audi claims the system’s energy absorption capacity of 2.8 megawatts is aligned with current F1 car abilities. The brakes are cooled through vents beside the slim headlights and sit behind staggered 20/21-inch forged wheels with Audi-first centre locks.
Helping distance it further from the Temerario are its active aerodynamics. There’s an S-duct at the front feeding a rear wing that adjusts automatically through three positions on the move (and as you explore drive modes), while a manually activated DRS mode sits on the wheel for a tangible link to F1. Mohr claims over 400kg of downforce and points to the fully flush, milled aluminium Audi rings embedded into the carbon rear wing, which ensure a bit of design chutzpah doesn’t come at the cost of clean airflow.
Another bold claim over the Lambo is its entirely carbon body. Its panels are fitted by CPC Group in Modena as the Nuvolari’s final assembly process – and the point at which its wealthy buyers can go and greet their car at the end of its production. While carbon construction has helped speed up the car’s development process, it doesn’t notably chip away at the car’s weight, Audi claiming ‘sub 1750kg’ dry (versus 1690kg for the Temerario). The artful detailing of the Nuvolari hardly screams of a car that’s pursued extreme dieting; the single-piece metal grille at its rear tings beautifully when you run your finger across it, though its multiple slats play a vital cooling role. The tailpipes are positioned higher for clean underbody aero.
You can specify the body panels in visible carbon, though this launch car is painted in Audi’s new signature Titanium hue, one also worn by its F1 competitor and the recent Concept C – a car which the Nuvolari pips to become the first production example of chief creative officer Massimo Frascella’s new design direction. He promises that every design element here carries a function. ‘The perfect example is the vertical frame on the front,’ he says. ‘Those 64 tiles are precisely angled to help the air flow all the way back to the wing.’
The reimagined sideblades, a knowing nod to the first-gen R8, were carved by CFD and play a vital aerodynamic role by allowing Frascella to mould similarly nostalgic rear haunches. ‘It's not about looking back to be retrospective,’ he affirms. ‘It's about looking back to understand where you're coming from, where you belong.’ The blades aren’t as deft as those which inspired them and their appearance borders on the brutal as they swing outwards, solidly fixed to the doors. The drama of slotting in your hand to pull their hidden handle feels like genuine supercar theatre, however.
Can we thank Audi’s F1 venture for enabling a project of this ambition? ‘It could stand on its own without Formula 1,’ says CEO Döllner, though once the race team was established ‘there was an internal feeling that we have to do a sports car,’ he admits. Both of Audi’s F1 drivers have assisted with the development programme, including suspension work at Nardo. ‘Testing with Gabriel Bortoleto was fruitful,’ says Döllner. ‘Whenever I speak to him he always wants less understeer; he said this is the first car he couldn't make understeer. Isn't that great?’
Döllner is happy to credit the Nuvolari’s established Lamborghini core for assisting the speed of its development. ‘I don't have to use the phrase “China speed” anymore,’ he smiles. ‘From now on I can say we’ll do the next project at Audi speed.’
Production begins in early 2027 ahead of deliveries in the first half of the year. The Nuvolari brings a new, more bespoke customer experience to match its price tag and it’s an approach Audi hopes to establish beyond this 499 run. It’s easy to imagine Döllner’s team assessing the feasibility of a Nuvolari Spyder next.
Following in short order from the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door and Ferrari Luce, the Audi Nuvolari sets a different tone for a plug-in halo product – not least for its rudimentary 10 miles of electric range. Its name is highly emotive, too. The victories of Tazio Nuvolari helped pioneer Auto Union’s radical mid-engined racing cars and he was once described by Ferdinand Porsche as ‘the greatest driver of the past, the present and the future’.
‘In some fields, history or legacy is a burden,’ concludes Döllner, ‘but there are areas where it’s very, very strong. Tazio Nuvolari was known for his fearlessness, his ingenuity and his will to succeed. When we looked closer at his story, we found that it’s the perfect name for this car.’
Wonder what he’d make of it?
