As part of the 2017 R8 press launch in Portimao, Portugal, last week,
Audi invited journalists to drive its updated supercar at night on the Algarve
International Circuit. The idea was to show off the R8's fancy new LED headlights with
laser spot technology. Instead, our laps in the dark proved to be equal parts
exhilarating and, well, terrifying.
The Algarve Circuit is a 2.9-mile road course with several
blind uphill corners that resolve into fast downhill stretches. In the daytime
it is a challenging, technical track. In the dark, it's scary, especially for
someone like me who had been around this track maybe eight times in total. That
didn't leave enough time for me to commit every curve and nuance of the track
to memory, so I had to rely on the headlights and the glowing cones that marked
the braking, turn-in, and apex points to define the edges of the track.
Audi claims its LED headlights with laser spot double the
range of normal high-beam headlights. Each headlights has four laser
diodes that generate a single blue laser beam. A phosphorous converter turns
the light white. The lasers are only active above 37.3 mph, and Audi employs an
intelligent camera-based sensor system to recognize oncoming traffic and adjust
the light pattern so it won't shine too harshly into the eyes of those drivers.
While this lighting system has definite benefits, I certainly didn't recognize
them while I was intently searching for the outline of the track. It probably
doesn't matter anyway because, for now, these lights don't comply to United
States regulations.
In the video above you can see how I dealt with
driving on a dark track at night. I certainly didn't hit every apex perfectly,
and I didn't carry as much speed as I would during the day, but I managed
fairly well. As for the effectiveness of the laser lights, hell, I don't even
know if the high beams were switched on. We'll have to wait for laser lights be
become legal in the U.S. to provide more insight into their effectiveness. In
the meantime, enjoy this crazy night-time racetracks romp in the 2017 Audi R8.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1099115_a-semi-terrifying-night-lap-in-the-2017-audi-r8
by Kirk Bell
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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