Lamborghini and Audi engineers fall out over inability to use the Gallardo's V10 engine in other less prestigious (German) models…
Dear 001,
At a recent trip to Santa Agata, Italy - the raging bulls home town - I discovered that Audi engineers are secretly very upset with their opposite numbers at Lamborghini as it becomes apparent that the glorious 500-bhp V10 in the new Gallardo WILL NOT FIT into the forthcoming Audi RS6 as the Germans had planned.
As some suspected, Audi did not spend millions of Euro's developing the motor just for Lamborghini, for it was destined to be used in Audi's possible supercar competition to the Gallardo and in the new RS6. However some people claim the bad packaging of the engine and its lack of compactness make those hopes impossible, with accusations flying around about whose fault it is.
This leaves the Germans with little option but to upgrade the current 4.2-litre V8 FSI engine with more capacity, bigger turbocharger and better engine management systems. However, the unit itself is incapable of endless expansion (max 4.7-litres apparently) and cylinder head design limitations mean the turbo can only deliver so much air. That’s not something the V10 has a problem with and incidentally, internal sources say it was designed to go to 6.0-litres and 600-bhp even in normally aspirated format.
On whichever astral plane the late company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini is currently on, I am sure he is quietly very content about this situation as many industry insiders thought there was always more in this acquisition for Audi than Lamborghini. Looks like it's not going as planned. Bummer!
More to come,
Dr. Venkman