Jump LinksThe Audi TTThe Audi R8What is an Audi R4?Is an Audi S4 a fast car?How much does an Audi RS4 cost?For a company that has focused mainly on practical cars that have advanced technology and efficiency on four wheels, Audi has a history of producing some stellar sports cars. From the TT to the R8, Audi has provided a credible challenge to the very best performance cars in their respective segments. Both have now sadly experienced their final deaths in the last few years, with no obvious replacement for either, but did you know that there could have been another sports car that was going to sit in between them, called the Audi R4, that never saw the light of day?It was supposed to demonstrate what was, at the time, Audi’s very latest battery-electric technology and share a platform with other Volkswagen Group brands. However, after teasing the production of this baby R8-looking car at multiple motor shows and a long “will they or won’t they” period, the project was quietly abandoned. We think this is a shame as a mini Audi supercar with the same engine placement as the R8, but a smaller size and a lower price tag could potentially have made a very appealing prospect. So why did it not become a reality?All information about the concept cars and any other Audi production models is sourced directly from the manufacturer and from credible reporting about any future releases that may or may not have come to pass. Audi Today And How The R4 Came Into Existence Audi Before we get onto the Audis that were and the Audi that never was, it is important to take stock of exactly where Audi finds itself today, and what its model lineup currently looks like. Go onto Audi’s website, and you will be greeted with a sea of SUVs, sedans, and coupe-SUVs, all of which cost over $40k, and have four doors. There has been a slimming down of Audi’s lineup recently, which has seen not only the loss of the R8 and the TT, but also the replacement of the old A4 and A5 with an A5 hatchback sedan, and the death of the A1 and the Q2 in Europe.All of this means that the A3 sedan is the smallest and cheapest car Audi makes, and the 912 horsepower RS e-tron GT performance is the most expensive model as well as being effectively the new halo performance car. Audi also faces some significant headwinds, with sales that declined by 2.9% last year, and a worrying exposure to the current administration’s policy of tariffs. Sports cars are typically not the money spinners for an automaker, but with all its big SUVs and sedans, does Audi maybe need something a bit more inspiring to draw people to the Brand like the TT and R8 did so successfully? Audi R4 In The Lineup: Siblings Or Rivals? The Audi TT The Audi TT arrived in 1998, three years after it initially left audiences agog at the Frankfurt Motor Show, with its smooth exterior lines and minimalist interior. Based on the same platform as the Volkswagen Golf of the time, it had a bumpy ride for the first year of production, with high-speed crashes that led to the need for a rear wing and electronic stability program to be fitted. Once this had been fixed, the TT began to win awards from 2000 onward.Audi The Audi TT would see a further two generations over the course of its life and the basic silhouette and design language would remain the same, as would the option to have rear- or all-wheel drive. The TT would become more spacious over the second two generations, which would also see a more aggressive TT-RS variant introduced. After initially being powered by VR6 engines, the third generation would be powered by four- or five-cylinder units. The Audi TT’s production ceased in 2023, with the legacy it has left behind being that of the design and also being a long-running sports car that occupied a middle ground between the smaller, cheaper Mazda MX-5 Miata and the more expensive Porsche Cayman and Boxster. The Audi R8 The Audi R8 made its debut in 2007, and stayed very true to the 2003 Le Mans Quattro Concept, which was good news, as it has gone on to be one of the most well-loved performance car designs of the 21st century. Based on the same platform as the Lamborghini Gallardo, it was initially powered by a 4.2-liter V8 producing 420 horsepower. It was a rival to the Porsche 911 Carrera, not only in terms of performance and its sports-car-like driving dynamics, but also its usability. It later received the same 5.2-liter V10 that was used in the Lamborghini, giving it the performance it needed to compete with the very best supercars.Audi Over the course of its nearly 20-year life, the Audi R8 only had two generations, the second of which arrived in 2015 and shared its platform with, surprise surprise, the Lamborghini Huracan. It also ditched the manual transmission, but by this point, it had a dual-clutch automatic transmission, which was far better than the previous paddle-shifter. Power in this generation ranged from 540 hp to 610 hp, and, unlike the first R8, this generation was available with rear-wheel drive as well as all-wheel drive. The last R8 finally rolled off the production line in 2024 and the legacy it left behind was one of a supercar that set new standards of every-day usability, and is perhaps one of the best examples of a halo car from a mainstream manufacturer. The Audi R4: Audi's Almost Supercar Audi Audi’s plans to build a mid-engined sports car between the TT and the R8 go back to 2009 at the Frankfurt motor show, where the e-tron concept was shown. It had many of the styling cues of the R8, particularly at the front and at the rear, but was smaller overall. The concept was powered by four electric motors, which, together, developed around 310 hp, and the batteries were located between the rear axle and the driver, meaning it was effectively mid-engined. There was another e-tron show car at the Detroit motor show the following year, and while that one was also electric, the technology was not yet advanced enough to put an electric sports car into production.Audi The concept did, however, provide a preview for the R4, a gas-powered but still mid-engined sports car with a power output between that of the TT and the R8. The idea was that it would share a platform with an affordable sports car from Volkswagen, based on its 2009 BlueSport concept, and possibly an entry-level Porsche sports car that would sit below its Cayman and Boxster cars. Whether the price of the Audi R4 would have been more in line with the "people's" car or an exotic sports car, we will never know. It was either going to be powered by a four or five-cylinder internal combustion engine, and would either have had an aluminum spaceframe, or a steel chassis, and production was slated for 2013.Audi We are not sure what happened between 2010 and 2013, but just a year after the Detroit e-tron concept was shown, it was reported that the R4 concept had been canceled, as had the Volkswagen BlueSport. For Volkswagen, there were cost concerns about how much money a sports car would make. For Porsche and Audi, the feeling was that another sports car would create conflict with their already established Cayman and TT models. We would also see later on that Audi’s priority for its e-tron brand was larger, more practical cars, and indeed, the first e-tron was an SUV. We think it’s a shame that we never got to see a baby R8 that had the same styling and engine placement as the supercar but a price point closer to the TT. Audi has gone from having more sports cars than it knows what to do with to having none, but that could be about to change... Audi Concept C: The Coming Audi Sports Car Revival? Audi While it might feel like the automaker has all but given up on two doors, the most recent concept vehicle Audi has produced appears to indicate otherwise. The Concept C, unveiled last year, previews a sports car that Audi has confirmed will go into production, and based on what various bosses have been saying, it sounds like the automaker means it this time. We expect it to be based on the same platform as the delayed, but still upcoming, electric 718 Cayman and Boxster, meaning it will feature an all-electric powertrain. Clearly, EV technology has progressed in such a way that a battery-powered sports car is possible, and Audi has confirmed that there will, in fact, be no ICE version.Audi The design, with its smooth lines and curves, is a welcome contrast to the sharper angles and hexagons more recent Audis have had, and it manages to be reminiscent of both the TT and the R8 at the same time. This could perhaps be deliberate, as, in terms of its price and performance, the car the Concept C becomes could end up occupying that middle ground. More expensive and lower volume than the TT, but not fast enough or exclusive enough to be an R8 replacement. Now they just have to build it. FAQs What is an Audi R4? The name Audi R4 refers to a car that would have been produced in the early 2010s and would have sat between the Audi TT and the R8, and the number 4 being half of 8 perfectly symbolizes the R4 sitting below the R8 in the hierarchy. Unfortunately, however, the Audi R4, in the end, never was, and with the upcoming Concept C being all electric, it is possible we might never get to see an mid-engined, gas-powered Audi sports car... Is an Audi S4 a fast car? By all but the most extreme serious driver standards, the Audi S4 is a fast car, being the high-performance version of the now defunct Audi A4 sedan. The S4 was never the hottest version of the A4, that being the RS4, but it had always won over European super sedan fans with its more usable, understated performance. With the new A5 replacing both the previous A4 and A5, the closest equivalent to the S4 would now be the Audi S5. How much does an Audi RS4 cost? The Audi RS4 has always been the most high-performance version of Audi's A4 compact sedan, designed to go toe-to-toe with the more brash alternatives like the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-AMG C63. Fans in the United States, however, have been pretty unlucky if they have wanted to get their hands on one, as only one generation of the RS4, the B7 was officially sold in the United States. Being 20 years old now does at least mean that they are cheap to buy, with examples usually being between $20k and $30k on the used market.Sources: Audi
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