When the Volkswagen Group acquired ownership of Lamborghini and placed it under the auspices of the Audi division, some feared that the flamboyant and extroverted Italian brand would be watered down into a competent but soulless Audi clone.

The new Lamborghini Temerario has some compelling hybrid technology that its sibling Audi could borrow for a new R8 sports car.

Autocar claims to have knowledge that engineering on the vehicle is officially underway with the backing of Audi chairman Gernot Döllner. The details are theoretically similar in scope to the two previous generations of R8: take the important bits from Lamborghini; temper its character into something more Germanic; and wrap it all in Audi styling.