Audi has entered a joint engineering programme with Volkswagen Group sister company Porsche to develop a new range of turbocharged V6 and V8 petrol engines, Autocar can reveal.

The engines are based around a common 90deg architecture and are planned to feature a common 500cc individual cylinder capacity, giving the new V6 an overall displacement of 3.0 litres and the new V8 4.0 litres.

Set to replace Audi’s and Porsche’s current V6 and V8 petrol units, the engines will feature gas-driven turbochargers in the first stage of production. However, insiders have hinted that electric turbocharging may be introduced at a later date.

Tolerances built into the architecture of the new engines will allow them to be scaled in capacity, according to sources. It is suggested that Audi may introduce an entry-level 2.5-litre version of the V6 fitted with the same Atkinson-cycle combustion process, as seen on the company’s new 2.0-litre petrol engine in the A4 2.0 TFSI Ultra.

The new family of V6 and V8 engines, which go under the internal codename KoVoMo (a play on the German words Konzern Vee Otto Motoren), are destined to appear in future Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Volkswagen and possibly Lamborghini models.

Source: www.autocar.co.uk