Car spotters came back with a lucky catch yesterday evening, having tracked down an odd Audi R8 test vehicle running on ice and snow with no camouflage on.
Note a cable that exits the window where the b-pillar meets the roof. There is another similar cable at the opposite side and an antenna glued to the glass. All of the above suggests collection of telemetric data, but it is far from being the main purpose of the test, by the look of it.
Have a good, close look at the side sills straight behind the front arches. See the snow? There is hardly any snow, unlike on the sills at the rear wheels. Had it been an AWD R8 coupe, the front sills would have been just as dirty. This car, on the contrary, seems to be RWD.
As we know for a fact, Audi did mention plans to release at least one special edition of the R8 before the model retires for good. It never revealed any details, but it seems like we now have a key to this mystery. Stay tuned for more spy shots and official information!