Romolo Liebchen, Head of Customer Sport at quattro GmbH, and his development team focused on several central areas.
New doors made of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) in combination with high-energy absorbing new crash foams not only help reduce the race car's weight even further, but also result in another increase in passive safety.
The new PS1 safety seat developed by Audi, which is now part of the standard equipment, serves this purpose as well.
It offers perfect protection and clearly surpasses the mandatory minimum requirements under extreme loads.
An updated transmission provides additional reserves on long-distance runs.
In the past season, the Audi R8 LMS had already made its mark as an excellent long-distance expert and achieved overall victories at the Bathurst (Australia) 12 Hours, the Spa and Zolder 24 Hours and GT3 class victory plus third place overall at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
A new exhaust system equipped with race catalytic converters helps improve the engine's characteristics.
The V10 mid-engine can draw on even higher torque at lower engine speeds.
The 5.2-litre unit delivers a power output of up to 419kW (570HP), depending on restrictor regulations.
It is still based on the production engine produced at Audi's plant in Györ, Hungary.
Mileages of up to 20,000km were certainly typical in customer operations before and continue to be easily achieved.
