► Audi R8 drift car on video
► Gymkhana car created for TV
► R8 V8 converted to rear-drive
Audi’s original R8 is renowned as one of the most versatile supercars of the lot, and as if to prove the point National Geographic show Supercar Megabuild has turned a 2008 R8 V8 Coupe into a Gymnkhana-spec drift car.
Originally a mint-looking silver car with a manual gearbox (seems a bit of a shame to have stripped it…), the car is converted to competition spec and driven by former boyband crooner, now pro drifter, Shane Lynch.
Mods to the original car (pictured above) include:
- Converted from all-wheel-drive to rear-wheel-drive
- Hydraulic ‘wand’ handbrake to get the car sideways, and pivot around checkpoints
- Upgraded locking differential, to keep it sideways
- Removed silencers for maximum noise
- Giant wing – more for cosmetics than for sub-30mph aerodynamic performance, presumably
- A loud lick of orange paint
Watch the slide-ified R8 in action in the video above.
Slide show: Supercar Megabuild starts Thursday at 8pm on National Geographic
Click here to read CAR’s adventure drive to Morocco in the original Audi R8
