Audi R8 Full-LED Headlamp Pricing Announced

Available immediately
by Clinton Deacon
May 30, 2008 9:10 PM
Filed Under: Audi, German

The LED headlights featured on all new Audi models has become very much part of their front end signature styling, without them, it just wouldn't been an Audi. Recent models including the R8, TT, A4 and A3 have featured the daytime running lights but now the German's have gone one step further by introducing the first full-LED headlamp which will be available first on none-other than the R8.

The 54 high-performance LED lights provide lighting for both daytime and night-time driving and represents the pinnacles of Audi's lighting strategy. LED technology uses less power and other road users doesn't get those glaring bright spots in their eyes as with conventional lighting systems.

Audi first presented the full-LED headlamps in the Nuvolari quattro concept back at the Geneva Motor Show in 2003 and joins the line of technologies incorporated into the R8 along with the aluminium Audi Space Frame, ceramic brakes and the mid-mounted V8 engine with FSI technology.

The new option is available immediately and comes at a whopping price of €3,590.

Source: Audi AG
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Awesome.

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by Bremen_Koenigsegg | May 30, 2008 9:24 PM
wats the difference between these light and the lights on the normal R8?

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by fatt1 | May 30, 2008 9:54 PM
The sickeningly unjustifiable price....

They can keep it..

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by gorgonzola | May 30, 2008 10:00 PM
the new led`s are much brighter than the xenon headlights

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by audinick | May 30, 2008 10:04 PM
Actually, they're not yet. But they have the potential to be, and will be soon. Audi must find a more efficient way to cool them first.

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by benz_man | May 30, 2008 10:12 PM
this is state of the art technology so the price is normal for such

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by audinick | May 30, 2008 10:05 PM
lol LED being state of the art technology, what are we in the 50's? Yes I know they have never been as powerful as they are now, but I still find to much humour in stating how one of the oldest electric light forms is considered state of the art.

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by joe_limon | May 30, 2008 11:16 PM
A joe_limon you are wrong on this one, diodes are much older. From Wikipedia "Although the crystal diode was popularized before the thermionic diode, thermionic and solid state diodes were developed in parallel. The principle of operation of thermionic diodes was discovered by Frederick Guthrie in 1873.[1] The principle of operation of crystal diodes was discovered in 1874 by the German scientist, Karl Ferdinand Braun.[2]

Thermionic diode principles were rediscovered by Thomas Edison on February 13, 1880 and he was awarded a patent in 1883 (U.S. Patent 307,031 ), but developed the idea no further. Braun patented the crystal rectifier in 1899 [1]. Braun's discovery was further developed by Jagdish Chandra Bose into a useful device for radio detection.

The first radio receiver using a crystal diode was built around 1900 by Greenleaf Whittier Pickard. The first thermionic diode was patented in Britain by John Ambrose Fleming (scientific adviser to the Marconi Company and former Edison employee[2]) on November 16, 1904 (U.S. Patent 803,684 in November 1905). Pickard received a patent for a silicon crystal detector on November 20, 1906 [3] (U.S. Patent 836,531 ).

At the time of their invention, such devices were known as rectifiers. In 1919, William Henry Eccles coined the term diode from Greek roots; di means "two", and ode (from odos) means "path"."

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by out4ride | May 31, 2008 12:00 AM
yes they are much older, but ask yourself when was the biggest boom in the use of LED lights? probably starting in the 50's when it was used everywhere for switchboards. True it was around far before it, but there were no applications for the technology.

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by Joe_limon | May 31, 2008 1:21 AM
I agree. I guess I missed understood you.

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by out4ride | May 31, 2008 1:52 AM
What's another 3590eu on a 120,000eu car? If i had enough $ to buy the R8 i would fork out the extra cash for these headlights.

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by radmeister | May 31, 2008 2:54 AM
didn't you say that the average middle class income could afford an R8?

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by Joe_limon | May 31, 2008 4:21 AM
That extra cost added onto the lease would not make that much of a difference, maybe an extra 50$/mo.

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by radmeister | June 2, 2008 4:52 PM
hahahahahahahahahaha, an extra $50 a month, over what? a new maserati gran turismo? Seriously, $70,000 corvettes pop in over $1000 a month, $85,000 vipers charge in around $1500-$1800 a month, and the R8 $2100-$2600 a month. Thats about $25,000-$31,000 a year over 3 years. That is the wage of the average middle class american. If they did get a lease on this car, they wouldn't have money for food insurance housing.... or even the gas to fill it up. And when the end of the 3 years is up they still have to fork up $45000 on the spot to purchase the vehicle. Which they wouldn't have since every penny they earned went into leasing this car. So after 3 years of not being able to drive the car or afford anything else the leaser then has to give it back. Hahaha no middle class american's can't afford super cars.

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by joe_limon | June 4, 2008 6:26 PM
Those LED's in R8 are different from the 50's. Just like the first diesel with todays commonrail diesel tech, or the early gasoline engines with 20L displacement producing only 26HP, and today's 1.5L producing 109HP

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by st_efano | May 31, 2008 7:48 AM
The down side is that these lights only lasts for about 50 hours, then they start dimming, that was the reason why BMW opted for the corona rings rather to ensure surability.

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by Freude | May 31, 2008 8:21 PM
What! 3000Pound sterling plus on a pair of headlights with LED lights, come on now, aren't these the same Osram brightees one buys from these Builders warehouses. This is such a big acheivement Audi - i still can't find my chin on the floor...

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by Wisp | June 1, 2008 12:04 AM
As usual it seems with you, another stupid comment. The same thing happened when xenon headlamps were introduced (they were very expensive at first), now many cars use them because they are superior to halogens. This heralds the introduction of LED lights for all cars which will inevitably start in expensive cars and then work their way down as all technologies do. If someone doesn't try to push the boundaries of technology then we will just stagnate. If it were up to you we would probably still be cavemen pushing cars around like in the Flintstones. I know its hard Wisp but try to use what little brain power you have before you type.

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by xenomorph | June 1, 2008 4:46 PM
xenomorph, i second that...he will never say anything positive about Audis no matter what they do, if this technology was on a bmw he will say "i love it! finally bmw took the step further!"

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by kevoluetion | June 2, 2008 2:28 AM
audi needs eye shadow to attract customers.. all the best

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by michelin901 | June 2, 2008 5:01 AM
Do u think they need to?

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by kevoluetion | June 2, 2008 8:27 AM
oh yes they need to.

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by michelin901 | June 2, 2008 9:26 PM
Then I guess its working really well.....how many design awards did Audi win?

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by kevoluetion | June 3, 2008 2:07 AM
Every time I see comparisons the Audi has come out on top. I guess you are reading off BMW forums or daydreaming. Didn't you hear, World performance car of the Year - Audi (which had 2 out of the 3 final positions FYI) and World design car of the year + many others that would take forever to type out.

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by xenomorph | June 3, 2008 5:50 PM
are u actually tryin to convince others tat bmw n merc are inferior to audi in everythin n haven won comparsions? this is so funny

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by michelin901 | June 4, 2008 4:17 AM
Yawwnn...whatever mate...do u know how much it cost to turn a non coloured Porsche badge to a coloured one on the set of GT3 rims? If you can justify that, you can justify the LEDs. Talking about spinner wheels, look whose got 30" on the 6 series on the other forum, hmm. Just wait and see how long it takes for other brands to have LED lights...

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by kevoluetion | June 2, 2008 4:18 PM
Is that why BMW came up with the oranged spanner crab M1? As a desperate response to the R8?

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by kevoluetion | June 2, 2008 4:19 PM
well said wisp. bmw dont need desperate responses to audi. theyr way ahead. how many comparisons have thr been bw d 3 marques whr audi has come out on top?? none.

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by michelin901 | June 2, 2008 9:29 PM
As long as you think so

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by kevoluetion | June 3, 2008 2:11 AM
i didnt think the comparisons, i saw em. y dont u chek em out too?

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by michelin901 | June 3, 2008 4:52 AM
Expensive technologies do not always filter down to smaller production cars. By now we would have seen Carbon fibre used in production cars as in F1 cars, We would have also seen ceramic brakes being used alot more but that is also restricted to expensive cars. The point is people are faced with opportunity costs every day. One would rather spend money on whats neccesary. LED is not that neccesary except to distract people or rather atrract their attention. LED's are as irrelevant as having big mag rims that keep on spinning when you come to a stop, LED's are a rip of at that price. If i want better vision at night i'll take Mercs night vision infra any time now tha's an invention you can hoot and lay claim to being a marvel. Is Audi really trying to re-invent the wheel? Fools gold.

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by Wisp | June 2, 2008 1:41 PM
Maybe Audis should paint their cars orange from now on?

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by kevoluetion | June 3, 2008 2:10 AM
Let me put this whole R8 LED price option issue into perspective for you wisp. If you buy a hotdog for $1.20 and then sauce is 5cents more, would you say no to that? That?s what these LEDs are on the R8 to the consumers who are able to buy them, they have money to spare and undoubtedly will order these LEDs. They are the "sauce" on the hotdog so to speak. You've got to remember that this car is only for the elite, and they have power and money to spare.

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by xenomorph | June 3, 2008 5:57 PM
Read the comments, my thoughts exactly.http://www.wheels24.co.za/Wheels24/News/General_News/0,,1369-1372-2094_2332048,00.html

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by Wisp | June 2, 2008 2:03 PM

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