Edit: Apparently, there will be no such car…
Porsche and Audi jointly designed, built and are currently sharing a twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6. To answer your first question, no, Audi will more than likely not drop a normally aspirated V8 in the R8. Emissions and engine displacement taxes in many world markets make it an impractical option.
A small 2.9-litre V6, on the other hand, makes sense. This mill features prominently in the Porsche Panamera 4S, Cayenne S, and Audi RS4 and RS5. Respectively, it produces 440-horsepower and 406 lb.-ft. of torque or 444 ponies and 443 torquies. In an R8, it’ll put out more.
It is claimed that the 90-degree V6, with tweaking and boost, can produce upwards of 500-horsepower and equal torque. This V6 will power the base car but if you think back to the original R8, the V8 generated 420-horsepower while the V10 was good for 525. In other words, this next bottom rung R8 will probably be faster than the previous V10.
Quattro AWD is a given with the R8 however the recent introduction of the RWD RWS, the entry-level R8 might also be RWS… Time will tell.
