Audi R8 review
by Mike Grundon (27 April 2007)
"Dear God, we're going into the grass!" My cry of desperation was uttered silently from the passenger seat of Audi's new 187mph R8 being launched into the double corner at the back of the Paul Ricard circuit in Provence. One doesn't like to show a lack of faith in professional race instructors, but Michel was obviously mad. We were going to be integral parts of 80k worth of scrap metal. No question.
Suddenly, something happened on the video of life, The next thing I know is the horizon has changed and we're accelerating off down a mile of straight fading into the middle distance ahead of us. I couldn't believe we'd not only negotiated the bend at that speed, but we'd done it without any kind of skitter or drift.
This was a phenomenal feat which not only I thought beyond possible – a pal and racing driver on the same event also appeared baffled by the way this blisteringly quick car just held on and on and on to the road. There were grins all round when we got back to the paddock.
The R8 is simply one of the finest cars I have ever driven – a perfect blend of comfort and raw power with a supernatural ability to hold onto the road that's borne of its four-wheel drive quattro system and almost ideal front/rear weight distribution.
Standing still and burbling to itself in the early morning sun, it glowers at you through angry lights, rimmed by a string of pearl-like diodes that give a sci-fi look to the front end. Huge intakes prepare to gasp in the air it needs to breath while on the run. Massive 19" alloys with the merest smear of Pirelli rubber round the rim dominate the flanks, along with a contrasting colour "side blade" panel that skims more air in to feed the engine crouching under a glass observation window in the back.
From behind, as if the milled heads on the 4.2-litre V8 engine aren't intimidating enough, it points two double-barrelled exhaust ports at you through slots in the tail-skirt. Great muscular haunches hunker down to the tarmac as the rear window tapers in on what looks to be something akin to aerodynamic perfection. Not many people are going to see it from the rear though. It's just too quick.
It's available with two transmissions, but the 0-62 sprint times are identical at 4.6 seconds - up there with some supercars costing twice as much. Whatever transmission you opt for, the soundtrack is the same. On tickover the thing sounds throaty, just tooling along it hums like a Hoover, but when you stuff your foot into floor, all the heraldic trumpets of heaven open up behind you.
Rock solid and four-square, the beast leaps out. Trees and hills beside you blur and the next distant bend rushes up to meet you with indecent haste. The engine's peak 414bhp comes in at a frantic 7800rpm, just 450rpm short of the red line, so if you're pushing on a bit, everyone will know you're coming.
The main option on the R8 is the system of gearchange. The six-speed manual box has an open-gate selector, surrounded by shining steel and shifted with a milled knob of solid metal. It clicks securely and simply through all the cogs while showing no obvious signs of confusion. The Noddy-named "R tronic" semi-automatic box also has six gears which can be selected entirely by the car or by you as you slot sequentially through the box of cogs with a stick or paddles on the steering-wheel.
Another valuable option on the R8 is the magnetic ride damping system we've seen on the TT. It automatically tenses up the damping when it's worried about body roll, yet does clever things to iron out the bumps on the straight. At the flick of a switch it can also alter the stiffness setting from "firm" to "a bit firmer".
Indoors it's surprisingly roomy for the two occupants nestling back in the nappa leather upholstery. The dials and the switchgear are more functional than exotic, and some of the stems under the steering wheel even border on the prosaic, but who's looking at them when they're driving, and who else is going to condemn them when they're an integral part of this road-ripping projectile?
Outside, the detailing is sublime. When you see an R8 in the flesh, squat down beside one of the headlamps and look into its elegant, jewel-like depths. You will see suspended lenses and subtle monograms more reminiscent of watches than 187mph sports cars.
Despite all this, the R8 is actually a relatively practical car for the real world. I comfortably took it over road humps and ramps that would have scunnered and scraped many other supercars. One thing you had better be prepared for is the amount of public attention you'll get when you drive one.
I lost count of the number of times other road users got their cameras and videos out to grab a shot as we drove past. On two occasions, people actually pulled off a motorway behind us, purely to walk round the car a few times before driving on.
The basic prices are £76,825 in manual and £82,025 in automatic form. I'd guess the fuel consumption is pretty irrelevant on a car like this, but if you're interested it's an average of 19.3mpg for the manual and a slightly better 20.7 for the R tronic.
Any gripes then? Just one question of personal aesthetic taste. To my eye, those so-called "side blades" that appear in contrasting colours on most R8s look like a clumsy afterthought, a late addition to an otherwise magnificent and elegant motorcar. I very much want to like them because the rest of the car is so utterly excellent, but I'm afraid I don't.
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