Audi R8 brings in a new era with all-LED headlamps that also reduce fuel consumption

The order book opened in Britain for the V10-engined Audi R8. The range-topping R8 is the first car in the world to be equipped with all-LED (light emitting diode) headlamps. For the first time the high intensity diodes have been used for low beam and high beam settings, as well as for daytime running lights and indicators.

The LED headlamp of the Audi R8 reduces CO2 emissions. An interior light package including LED footwell lighting, light and rain sensors and LED engine compartment lighting also comes as standard on the 196mph “supercar”. The first all-LED headlights represent the triumph of an idea for Audi. Dr Wolfgang Huhn, Head of the Light and Visibility Department at Audi, explains: “A lot of people initially viewed this development as a mere marketing gimmick. Yet everyone who has seen these lights in action is not only astonished by the excellent output but also thrilled with the homogeneous distribution of light and the agreeable, daylight-esque colour of the light.”

Today’s xenon and LED headlights are four times more energy efficient than halogen headlights. By 2018, LED technology should be about eight times more efficient. LEDs excel due to their practically indefinite service life and react up to ten times quicker than traditional incandescent bulbs. They also reduce fuel consumption. When daytime running lights become mandatory in the European Union in May 2011, Audi models will be ahead of the competition.

In Italy, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, and Sweden, drivers already use their lights during the day. As a result, just one vehicle’s conventional low-beam headlights, tail lights, and licence-plate illumination consume 200 watts, which the alternator must constantly generate. By comparison, a mere 15 watts is required to power the new Audi A4’s modern LED daytime running lights, which have far better visibility for other road users. This equates to a decrease of about 0.2 litres of fuel per 100km and about 4gm lesser CO2 emission per kilometre.