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Originally Posted by gwyllion
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Probably no worse than the Pug would if they were at full song and certinaly no worse than the R15s did at Sebring--they smoked a lot at low speed, namely during the pace laps and from either a dead stop or going from minimal load to full load in a short period.
Of course, that sooty exhaust smoke was proof positive of how much power the old 908s were making at full rich.
And it's interesting that Baretzky doesn't have a hugely high opinion on KERS, but Audi Sport themselves have said in attitude, if not words, that the R18 was designed for KERS at some stage, possibly late this year depending on when/how they test it. You don't have that short engine and a fairly long wheelbase without having plans to put something back there soon (wheelbase is more to control weight distribution than anything else on the current cars).
And Pruett in his early write up about the R18 said that Baretzky wasn't a fan of the V6 layout either, but was convinced to have faith in it, and has also brought about the discussion of the turbo/turbos in the V induction arrangement. Of course, Marshall also said that the R15 would run wider wheels and tires at Sebring, which that appears to have not happened.
Also in the video, the R18s seemed at times to be louder than in the other videos posted here, but then again, you can clearly hear the cars bouncing off the curbs and engine noises from presumably the HPD ARX-01 in the distance even when the R18 was close by.
And it does seem to be cornering quite a bit faster than we've seen the R15 or the old 908 do at times as well, even with less downforce.
Of course, I'm still waiting for the Fourtitude write up and additional videos that they've gotten. But since they've only posted a link to their long awaited '10 LM24 review (though it's not up on their site yet, nor have they updated their incomplete race gallery), it may be a while before they get all their R18 stuff up.