Mostly known as a maker of affordable family cars until the early 1990s, Audi made its entrance on the performance market in 1980 with Quattro. The legendary coupe was replaced by the 80-based S2 from 1991 until 1996. Audi didn’t offer another performance coupe until 2007, when the S5 was launched, but 1998 saw the release of the company’s first full-fledged sports car, the TT. The R8 supercar followed in 2006, giving Audi the proper weapon to compete against other high-end sports car manufacturers. With the R8 having been redesigned for 2015, word has it that Audi is now working on a new sports car to slot below the range-topping model and above the smaller TT.
Likely to break cover sometime in 2018, the new sports car will reportedly be called the R6 and will be developed under codename PO455. The news comes from German outlet Autobild, which also claims that the R6 will share underpinnings with the next-generation Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman. Both a coupe and a roadster are on the table, with the latter to sport an R6 Spyder badge. If these rumors prove to be accurate, the R6 will become the second Audi sports car to borrow its platform from other Volkswagen Group products. As you may already know, the R8 rides on the underpinnings Lamborghini developed for the Huracan.
The fact that Audi wants to build a "baby R8" isn’t exactly news. Rumors of a new sports car have been flying around for a quite a few years now, but the fact that the R6 could share underpinnings with the Porsche 718 gives this story more credibility. Unlike other brands from the Volkswagen Group, Porsche uses two unique platforms for the 911 and 718. By sharing the latter, Porsche will reduce development costs while Audi won’t have to spend a fortune to create one from scratch.
Also, the R6 wouldn’t be the first collaboration between Audi and Porsche. In the early 1990s, the two brands designed and built the RS2 Avant, a high-performance version of the Audi 80 wagon. Its 2.2-liter inline-five was heavily modified by Porsche, which also designed the braking and suspension systems.
Although Audi has yet to confirm the R6, we are confident that the German brand will soon launch its third sports car. With that in mind, we created a rendering of the "baby R8" to go with the speculative review below.
Continue reading to learn more about the upcoming Audi R6.
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