What is the only thing Audi R8 owners might think their car is missing? The obvious answer is a manual gearbox, but “and an extra 900PS” is perhaps less expected. But that is exactly what, self-proclaimed builder of the world’s fastest street-legal Lamborghinis, Underground Racing, has given an R8.
There’s finally a manual Audi R8
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Weirdly, twin-turbocharged 1,000PS+ Audi R8s aren’t front-page news. A second-generation car thusly equipped also featuring a manual gearbox swap – the first of its kind – is a bit more like it.
Needless to say, achieving over 1,500PS from an engine sold stock with 600 requires a little more than a couple of snails bolted on in order to be reliable. Much of the engine’s guts have been swapped or strengthened. Even the visible bits are entirely custom.
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Back in the day, manual Gallardos were more popular for high power builds due to the strength of the transmission over the tepid E-gear single-clutcher. The twin-clutch DSGs of today are a little more up to it but this Audi-sourced manual box – presumably intended for fitment to a last-generation car – is a nice callback to those heady days.
Completing the look on this black Decennium is a set of centre-lock wheels from a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Neat. Speaking of the R8’s Sant’ Agatan sibling, the bods at Underground encourage anyone who’s keen for a stick swap to send their R8s and indeed their Huracans down. Single-file, please…
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