Audi V8 and about lighter Mercedes 190, BMW M3, and slightly smaller Opel Omega 3000. None of those cars was equipped with a V8 engine or 4-wheel drive. Audi V8 The Audi V8 ("Typ" 4C) is a four-door, full-size luxury sedan, built by Audi in Germany from 1988 to 1993, as the company's flagship model. It was the first car from Audi to use a V8 engine, and also the first Audi to combine a quattro system with an automatic transmission. Early cars used 3.6-litre V8s, while later cars featured a 4.2-litre version of the engine. The Audi V8 was replaced by
Audi R8R engine, allowing it to hit in 1999 at Le Mans (the original claims were that the car could go ). Audi R8R The Audi R8R was a Le Mans Prototype built by Audi for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a predecessor to the dominant Audi R8 which debuted in 2000. It was raced alongside the British built closed-cockpit Audi R8C. The R8R project began in 1997, when Audi began research into entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first prototype was displayed in 1998, showing an open cockpit car which featured many Audi styling cues, yet