With the New Year comes all things new and great.  This is particularly true when referring to the new serving from the people over at Audi, who just recently displayed one of many car lease specials headed in your direction. We are talking about the new Audi R8 V12 TDI. Spotted at the recent Detroit Motor Show, this has got to be one of the most extreme machines ever built by any manufacturer. It’s the worlds first Super Car that runs on diesel and do not be fooled; it’s rumored to be a lot faster than many petrol powered cars in its class.

The twin-turbo, 6 liter V12 monster belts out 439 horsepower and this is only one of the most thrilling developments. It can hit 0 to 62 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds, much faster than its gas powered sibling and this is the surprise because, remember, it does run on diesel. In fact, the diesel feature is what ultimately stole the show.

There are numerous benefits of this car running on diesel, the first being that there is a definite change in emission, a dramatic decrease to be more specific. The R8 sports a common-rail fuel injection, and a catalytic converter that injects AdBlue into the exhaust which decreases the emission of nitrous oxide. This is definitely a car from out of the future as it goes on to meet various emission rules that haven’t even been put into place in Europe and the Americas.

Looks are not something to be scoffed at either. This future of car lease specials looks even more aggressive than ever before, even more than the production version. Expect a deeper front bumper, side skirts with carefully placed notches or holes for cooling, a rooftop glass panel that gives you a panoramic view of everything above, and an NACA duct that literally feeds air to the engine. Inside, the R8 has a 3-armed steering wheel that houses the start-stop button and Drive Select switch that Audi is known for; now this switch is particularly important as it allows drivers to choose between 3 modes. These are Dynamic, Sport or Race modes which are used for the engine, transmission and magnetic dampers.

Unfortunately, the Audi R8 V12 TDI is not out in the market just yet and there have been no official announcements of when it will be available to the public. There are rumors that the car lease specials on this baby will most probably see the market in 2009. But before that, one can sit and dream about the marvel of a machine that it is. And did we mention that it runs on diesel?

Check out this video on the Audi R9 V12 TDI.