Each year, the Austrian Wörthersee lake is the site of a very large meeting of gearheads as over 140.000 VW and Audi fans head to the scenic site to celebrate their favorite makes.
This year’s meeting ended a few hours ago and the Audi booth had something very interesting in store for sim racers. The Ingolstadt-make did not just show off their new Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro but also gave visitors the chance to try a virtual version of the car in Need for Speed World, using a Fanatec simulator.
While all that isn’t very unusual, Fantec’s rig used a never before seen Audi wheel that is modelled after the real A1 Clubsport Quattro wheel. But not just the wheel itself is new, it also uses a completely new (and seemingly much bigger) base that looks very different to what has been used on their Porsche wheels.
It remains to be seen whether or not this wheel is intended to go into mass production, a extension of their Porsche-centered product portfolio to include Audi wheels would make a lot of sense as both makes are now owned by the same company.
Update: Fanatec’s Thomas Jackermeier confirms that the wheel rim has been specifically made for this simulator by Audi engineers, costing 17.000€ to produce. While this rim will most likely not make it to a mass market product, the new wheel base is the prototype of what will used for a yet-unannounced upcoming Fanatec high-end wheel.
Via GOAPR / Fourtitude
