The speculated upcoming Porsche Ferrari 458 rival, or whatever it ends up being called, will apparently share the same platform as the upcoming Audi R8, under the Volkswagen Group umbrella. A large proportion of the new platform will be made from carbon fibre.
In December 2010, Volkswagen Group announced plans and tasks for each of the company’s brands; Audi would produce the medium-to-large luxury platforms, consisting mostly of sedans and SUVs (modular longitudinal matrix); Volkswagen would be in charge of the smaller platforms (modular transverse matrix); while Porsche covered the sports car layouts (modular standard matrix).
According to an Autocar report in the UK, that plan will change for the upcoming Porsche Ferrari 458 rival. The all-new model will sit in between the top-spec Porsche 911 GT2 and the upcoming Porsche 918 Spyder, in terms of performance and price.
Interestingly, the platform being developed for the next-generation Audi R8 will also underpin the next-generation Lamborghini Gallardo; a car that already rivals the Ferrari 458. So Volkswagen will, in effect, be rivalling itself.
Of course, the Porsche will separate itself from the Gallardo and the Audi R8 with its usual pedigree-inspired performance capabilities. Even so, in terms of platforms, all three cars will be similar.
Porsche boss Matthias Muller says that Porsche has been forced to adopt the Audi layout due to decisions made high up in the corporate rankings. They say the platform, which is said to be in final development stages, is that good, even Porsche will be impressed. But above this, using an interchangeable platform will save the company money in further development and production costs.
It doesn’t sound like the Porsche philosophy we all came to know and love though does it? A potential upshot is the Porsche Ferrari 458 rival might not have a price tag longer than the car. A market introduction date is yet to be sorted.
