2013 Audi R16 comparison renders

By Johan Laubscher

In the last few days a collection of 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra and 2013 Audi R8 GRAND-AM renders have been released by Audi Sport Media/Communications. Today they released two more renders showing both versions of the 2013 R16 cars next to each other. These two images allow a great opportunity to compare the two versions.  

2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra (left) and 2013 Audi R8 GRAND-AM (right)

Using the Audi R8 LMS ultra (silver car) as the baseline, the main area of difference is the aerodynamic set up of the two cars. On the Audi R8 GRAND-AM (blue car) the front splitter and rear diffuser are both much less pronounced than that of the ultra. The rear wing on the GRAND-AM is a standardised Grand-Am rear wing which is much smaller than the ultra which has a large swan-neck mounted rear wing. The R8 GRAND-AM also has a much thicker roll cage and three support struts in the windscreen. From the rear the new ultra is very different to the R8 GRAND AM which has a rear similar to that of the older 2012 ultra. The new ultra has a much more aggressive rear diffuser and a new centralised exhaust position. The major visual differences are limited to the ones listed above, however there are various performance differences under the skin. Most notably the R8 GRAND-Am is restricted to less power than that in the ultra. 

2013 Audi R8 GRAND-AM (left) and 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra (right)

Renders by Audi Sport Media.