Ingolstadt (Germany): Teasing its eager fans with a sneak peek, Audi unveiled the laser headlights of R8 on Monday. The luxury carmaker claims that R8 uses LED highlights which can be supplemented by a laser high‑beam lighting module as an option.
The media release of Audi states that each headlight contains one laser module that operates with four high‑intensity laser diodes.
The laser spot for the high‑beam light made its debut in the summer of 2014 in the Audi R8 LMX, a limited edition model of the previous R8 model series. Shortly before that, it was used in the Audi R18 e‑tron quattro race car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The laser spot is the latest production technology in a long line of lighting innovations.
The automotive light tunnel in Europe
Audi also introduced a new lighting competence centre at Ingolstadt. This 120-meters-long underground tunnel offers to avoid dazzling drivers of oncoming traffic and enhance safety.
The new lighting competence centre at the corporate headquarters of the Audi Group is the biggest lighting tunnel for vehicles in Europe. Inside the matt‑black‑painted tunnel, the development engineers test systems such as adaptive high beam and camera‑based lighting assistance systems.
The lighting competence centre and the laser lab under an eleven‑floor building presented a great challenge for the civil engineers because it had to do without supporting columns and required an interior height of up to nine meters. The floor surface is similar to a normal road. The Audi engineers there cooperate closely with the designers so that new ideas can be put onto the road even faster.