Whatever may be the reason, this is a most unfortunate event. No one likes to see supercars (or cars for that matter) getting gutted like this.

Some of us have suggested that revving the engine hard might be a probable cause!

These supercars are meant to be driven at relatively high RPMs for extended periods of time. So come on, let's not get carried away and lose our reason here!

It will be premature on our part to pass any judgment on the cause of the fire before a full investigation is carried out. Right now let Audi and the authorities first get to the bottom of this - whether it was down to unreliability, aftermarket mods or even poor maintenance. No point jumping the gun and speculating before that. If it comes out that Audi is indeed to blame, we can always draw our swords later.

What I find fishy is though is that, Audi has jumped in to offer a replacement to the owner, without ascertaining the exact cause of the fire. I wonder if this tidbit of news is authentic. Are they trying to milk some good PR out of this?

Thanks for clearing some of the doubts Abhi! This was a result of everything that you've mentioned and the traffic scenario only made it worse for the R8.

Having said that, the traffic made it worse for almost every other participating car as well - there were times where even our ride (911 Carrera) was going over the normal temp with waring lights suggesting that we stop and let it cool (especially after we came down the slope after the teen-batti traffic mess!!) - not to mention the smell of burnt clutch, fuel etc... I guess the owner must have ignored any such tell-tale signs.

Comparing these cars to M800 etc is just wrong and doesn't make any sense and/or does not add any value to this thread. Nor do speculations based on hear-say.

These cars are not tested in / on Indian roads and nor are any modifications. Indian traffic scenarios are enough to break any vehicle - The reason most of these cars have massive intakes / vents etc are to make sure that there is enough supply of cold / clean air to feed the engine and cool components to function the way they're supposed to. Prolonged crawling at 5kmph in traffic for over an hour doesn't not help this. This coupled with revving the car time and again to please the crowds (an/or otherwise) only adds to the stress levels these cars go through...

Over-revving does damage to the motor - Period!! I don't see why this is so hard to believe?? F1 engines are built to last around 400kms... They blow! American oval racing (stock cars) are built to last 500 miles - they blow... Top fuel drag cars are built to last least than a couple of miles - they blow... Endurance races (24 hours races like Le Mans have are really a good example as well that are based on these cars in question and they blow) all these engines are revving at redline for a prolonged period of time with the best R&D and maintenance available... Couple this with dust etc clogging the workings of the motor and traffic... you have a blown engine with enough and more combustible parts in the engine bay.

Will any of you willing to risk revving your cars to its redline in peak traffic conditions for a good 1 hour or more?? - I doubt it!

It was just a mix of a few things and luckily NO ONE WAS HURT... Also thanks to some of the members in convoy that made enough and more efforts (and endangering their own safety) to make sure that the driver of the R8 was out of the vehicle, the crowds around the R8 were controlled, other participants around the R8 and passing cars were asked to stop at a safe distance and away from the burning car to avoid any more collateral damage!

It was a good event barring the traffic scenario and this R8 incident.

Cheers!

I know for a fact that the R8 was totally stock with absolutely no modifications what so ever.

What I found shocking watching the video was the cars were still moving even while the R8 was in smoke. I agree the actual fire didnt start - but there was smoke.
I could see some supercars passing the R8 in that condition, there was one Superb and a Red Punto - add to that CNG taxis from other side of the divider. Why was not all traffic stopped right when everyone saw smoke? Or were they waiting to see if its just a gimmick or actual fire would start. Shocking.

We would all surely want to know the actual problem without putting our own theories.

Without getting into argument of what went wrong and who was wrong, my view is the images and videos have made a huge impact on the readers and viewers.

My daughter who was watching TV at that time commented, "Daddy, we will never buy Audi, it catches fire".

Audi can give all the explanations they can, can do all the PR exercise they can, but will not be able to remove the perception and image that it has created on many viewers and readers.

How can a V8 4200cc engine be compared to a humble 3 Cylinder 800cc? The cooling requirements aren't even remotely similar.
If that was the case, even a CBR250R heats up more than a Pulsar, yes? Why? Why give the Bugatti 10 radiators then? Those vents and intakes are not just for show and these cars need to be driving at reasonable speeds to get enough air into those vents to keep the engine cool, revving it to glory at crawling speeds is not the way to go. Not taking away anything from the M800, but implying that a M800 and an Audi R8 suffer equally in traffic is just unacceptable. Anyway, I don't wish to start an argument here. I'm dropping this topic right now. Sorry for the sentiments I seem to have hurt.

Just glad the passengers escaped unhurt. Unfortunate to see such a lovely car being reduced to ashes. Got this sorry picture from quickdraw_46's twitter account.

Heart goes out to see such a fine car burning away to ashes.....and full condolences to the owner too.

I've heard from reliable sources that this car didn't have any such serious modifications that could have resulted in such a fire. Whatever the issue was, it was a mechanical one.

Also, from what I heard, Audi hasn't "gifted" him a new R8 just like that.

On the topic of "over-revving", please note that "high-revving" isn't the same as "over-revving". Over-revving is mechanically exceeding the max rpm limit set by the manufacturer (i.e. the revv limiter). The only way to do this is to downshift too low at too high a speed.

While I agree that the R8 owner should have stopped when he was warned about the smoke earlier, there is no way he is at fault just for high-revving. If that's the case, all the other Super Cars present should have caught fire too.

Just a case of bad luck and not paying heed to the warning signs (i.e. smoke) earlier.

I doubt this has happened. If Audi does so, it must be a temporary replacement car.

Yes sports cars are meant to rev hard but not when they are stationary. Hence they have massive air ducts all over the place to allow air to pass through them which is directed to the radiator / engine. So the harder you rev, the faster you go and the more the cooling efficiency. But when this is done stationary there is only heat build up but no efficient cooling which can cause the engine to over heat and catch fire. Similar case with F1 cars.


You will be surprised at the extent of what super car owners go to to modify their cars further. I believe there is thread on TBHP or another forum of an owner with an after market exhaust for his Lambo.

Done.

+
Thats still not a good reason for a fire.


This is recommended for various other reasons - but preventing fire definitely isn't one of them!


Video from the very start of the flames (credit: Ninad Chichkar):


Another view (credit: Aditya Ghadi):


Rear view (credit: VersionDreams):


cya
R

Audi has given replacements for far more trivial reasons - Remember the Tracker incident ? So why not this?

My theory is that this could be because he kept on reving the engine at a stand still and the oil pressure was soo much the oil filter could of came off spilling some hot oil on some of the plastics of the engine bay causing a fire. These 4.2 v8s are known to burn alot of oil. This had happened in my friends e92 m3 once which uses a similar v8 to the one in the audi. Very close design. Luckily he realized this and shut the car off and took care if the smoke.

Just came across this article on NDTV. GS has clarified


"Gautam Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director of Raymond Limited, who hosts the car show, said, "The car wasn't a participant nor was the driver associated with the Super Car Club. My team rescued the people inside the car."

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/a...om=home-cities

Regards,

Some people are saying the car was modified...nitrous backfire?

Thanks for sharing the videos Rehaan!

Here's another close up shot

The Audi has already appeared in Wrecked Exotics, see following links
http://www.wreckedexotics.com/newpho...-r8-6890.shtml

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/newpho...-r8-6889.shtml

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/newpho...-v8-6884.shtml

The guy laughing was certainly not the owner!

Cheers harit