Audi's new flagship supercar, the Nuvolari, has been driven in anger for the first time, and Hagerty's reviewer came away calling it "utterly involving." The first drive took place at the Circuito Permanente del Jarama outside Madrid, a circuit that hosted Formula 1 races between 1968 and 1981. Hagerty published its assessment on November 9, 2026.
The Nuvolari is a mid-engine, two-door, two-seat coupe with all-wheel drive. It pairs a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 with three electric motors for a combined 1,001 horsepower and 663 lb-ft of torque, sent through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Audi quotes a 0–60 mph time of 2.6 seconds and a dry weight of 3,838 pounds.
Why it matters
The Nuvolari is the car Audi is positioning as the spiritual successor to the R8, and several outlets have framed it as a new direction for the brand. MotorTrend called it both the R8's spiritual successor and a radical shift for the company. It is also closely related to the Lamborghini Temerario, and Audi's performance team is presenting it as the less ferocious, more usable take on that shared platform.
Commercially, the car is already gone. According to Hagerty, all 499 examples have been spoken for despite a base price of €607,000 in Germany — roughly $679,700 before taxes and options. Hagerty notes that export pricing and the options list have not yet been released.
What the powertrain does
The combustion engine alone produces 800 hp between 9,000 and 9,750 rpm, with peak torque of 538 lb-ft available from 4,000 to 7,000 rpm, and it redlines at 10,000 rpm. Each of the three electric motors is rated at 150 hp and 258 lb-ft. Hagerty describes the V-8's note as loud and rowdy rather than tuneful, and reports that because the supplier of the exhaust sound processor went bankrupt months ago, concealed speakers now stand in for it inside the cabin.
Hagerty's reviewer worked through the car's driving modes with Victor Underberg, Audi's performance manager for sports cars, riding along. Five settings are available — Hybrid, Balanced, Dynamic, Dynamic Plus and Track — and Track mode unlocks a second steering-wheel dial with Wet, Dry, Race and TC Off sub-settings. Underberg, who spent five years at Lamborghini helping develop the Temerario, recommended Race.
On track, Hagerty reports that the car's stability control keeps the rear in check even under heavy overboost, and that breakaway is gradual rather than sudden. The reviewer found the car would not be provoked into a long slide and would not bite back after a mid-corner lift. Steering weight can be set to three levels, which Hagerty characterized as slightly too light, about right, and a little heavy.
Underberg recorded an indicated 187 mph before braking; the reviewer managed about 10 mph less. Hagerty puts the car's top speed at 219 mph, higher than any Ferrari, Porsche or McLaren currently on sale, according to the outlet.
Predictive Ride and the Temerario comparison
Audi's new chief technical officer, Rouven Mohr, formerly head of R&D at Lamborghini, told Hagerty that drivers of the Temerario can feel as though they are riding a bull, while the Nuvolari is less extreme but equally rewarding. He credited a newly introduced system called Predictive Ride with sharper handling and better control at the limit.
According to Mohr, Predictive Ride draws on real-time wheel-selective data — six longitudinal and rotational acceleration forces plus steering angle — to work out the best combination of speed, traction and grip, and can engage all-wheel drive, braking and active aerodynamics before traction is lost. He told Hagerty that a future step could use AI to modulate torque distribution to help less accomplished drivers, extending the safety role of quattro all-wheel drive.
Hagerty also noted a quirk of the test day: the pace car, an Audi e-tron GT RS Performance, accelerated harder and delivered more torque than the hybrid supercar, which only closed the gap on the long start-finish straight — named, like the car, after Italian racer Tazio Nuvolari.
Hagerty lists the Lamborghini Temerario, Ferrari 296 Speciale and McLaren Artura as competitors. EPA fuel economy figures have not been published.
What to watch: Audi has not released export pricing or the options list, and with the 499-car run accounted for, the next question is whether the Predictive Ride technology and the broader approach behind the Nuvolari spread to the rest of the lineup.
