When automakers introduce a new GT3 car, we always wonder how much the racer shares in common with the road-going car it’s based on. In the case of the Audi R8 LMS Ultra, which is based around the all-new second-generation R8 supercar, it’s actually quite a lot, according to Motor Authority.
We already knew the R8 GT3 car shared its 5.2-liter V10 engine with the road car, albeit in a lower 500 horsepower state of tune to stay within VLN’s rules, but what else does it share with the cars that will spend most of their lives parked in Monaco’s casino square or in London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood?
The R8 LMS Ultra retains about 50% of the standard R8’s parts. The parts that differ include the fully adjustable race-specific suspension, “state of the art aerodynamics,” as Audi’s Romolo Liebchen puts it, and nearly every part in the stripped out and caged interior.
Apart from those components, however, the R8 GT3 and road car have a lot in common. So much so that they were developed along side one another, with development driving of the race car actually commencing about 2-3 weeks ahead of the road car.
If you needed proof the second-generation R8 is a huge improvement over the outgoing model, you don’t need to look much further than the GT3-spec LMS Ultra. The car won the Nurburgring 24 Hours, one of the most grueling endurance races around, on its first ever competition outing. And considering it shres 50 percent of its parts with the already massively successful race car, the car will likely possess more talent than the majority of consumers who pick one up.
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