Audi Nuvolari Could Be the Start of a New Era of Combustion Supercars

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

When the Audi R8 disappeared, it was easy to assume we had seen the last combustion-powered Audi supercar. Audi was pushing aggressively toward electrification, the glorious naturally aspirated V10 was gone, and another mid-engine exotic didn’t appear to be coming. The R8 era was over. But perhaps the Audi combustion supercar wasn’t.

The new Audi Nuvolari makes that abundantly clear. It has nearly 1,000 horsepower, three electric motors, and enough technology to make most EVs look relatively simple. Yet at its heart sits the thing affluent performance-car buyers apparently are not ready to give up: a big, loud V8 engine. And according to Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, that is not an accident.

“The higher the segment is, the more the enthusiast still loves the combustion engine,” Döllner told Automotive News Europe. “The lower the segment is, the more battery electric is accepted.”

That is a fascinating admission from a company that, not long ago, appeared headed toward an all-electric future. It also explains why the Nuvolari exists.

Limited to just 499 examples and costing roughly $700,000, the Nuvolari isn’t intended to replace the R8. It operates in a completely different stratosphere. This is Audi discovering that electrification and combustion don’t necessarily have to be opposing forces, especially when the customer has the means to demand both.

The electric motors and battery can provide instant torque, traction, and performance. But the V8 provides something much harder to quantify. Sound, vibration, drama, and a mechanical heartbeat. At this level of the market, those things apparently still matter. And Audi is paying attention.

Döllner indicated that additional low-volume combustion-powered models could follow the Nuvolari. That’s potentially huge news for Audi enthusiasts because it suggests the car isn’t merely an expensive farewell to the internal-combustion engine. It could instead establish a blueprint for future Audi halo cars.

What those cars might look like remains anyone’s guess. Another supercar? An extreme grand tourer? Something influenced by the Sport quattro or Audi’s enormous motorsport history? Nothing has been confirmed. But the philosophy behind them is becoming clearer.

Battery-electric vehicles will continue to become a larger part of Audi’s mainstream lineup. At the very top, however, Audi appears to recognize that its most passionate, and wealthiest, customers may still want something that makes noise when they press the accelerator. The end of the R8 felt like Audi closing the book on combustion-powered supercars. The Nuvolari suggests Audi may have simply turned the page.