Audi finally revealed the 2014 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro to the public on the streets of Le Mans, ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The unveiling took place at the Place des Jaobins where Tom Kristensen drove the new racer from the city center to the race track. The new Audi R18 e-tron quattro will take on the newly updated Toyota TS030 Hybrid and the new Porsche 919 Hybrid in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
At the centre of the 2014 Audi R18 e-Tron Quattro is a new V6 TDI diesel engine which sends power to the rear wheels. The new R18 e-Tron Quattro utilises two hybrid systems. One of those systems dubbed Energy Recovery System Heat (ERS-H) stores energy converted from heat while the second system is a more traditional KERS system which Audi calls ERS-K. This system stores energy created under braking and the power from these two hybrids is then stored in an improved flywheel energy storage system.
While the car may look identical to last year’s model, the 2014 Audi R18 e-Tron Quattro is actually 100 mm narrower and 20 mm higher. When you combine these increased dimensions with a larger cockpit, the result is slightly less downforce when compared to the previous R18 e-Tron Quattro. The most important improvement for the 2014 model is that it can achieve lap times similar to those of previous models but use 30 per cent less fuel.
