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Originally Posted by Boss330
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Which is why Nitschke is retiring. The guy still has years left in him and tons of vision so it might be because he is feeling internal pressure to fall in line with AMG and Audi S with their AWD lineups, which is something I don't get the impression he would respond well to. It will be interesting to see what direction ///M GmbH heads under Van Meel who was kicked to the curb by Quattro for not getting the R8 E-Tron on the road.
I think the problem with the idea of an M8 based upon the i8 platform is that the two vehicles are at odds with each other from an philosophical standpoint (Driveline, driving dynamics, ect). There was only ever one M vehicle to use an automatic transmission : The E36 M3 (SMG/DCT notwithstanding). ///M Would have to find a way to integrate a DCT transmission at the very least to even consider bringing the i8 in house for development. However, the fact that Van Meel was in charge of the R8 E-Tron might mean that could be in the pipeline... and sooner than we think.