Audi R8
Confession time: I’m still gently smitten by the very first, 2007 R8.
Built to standards so high it made other supercars of the time appear victims of such dubious construction techniques as Birmingham nailing, it looked, and felt, engagingly compact, was elegant enough -with flair aplenty in such delicious touches as the carbon fibre ‘blade’ amidships- to wear the dread Audi Big Grille with at least some semblance of elan, and with V8 power harnessed by a Ferrari-aping, open-gated manual transmission and all-wheel drive, was a sheer delight to throw around. It was also, lest we forget, a doddle to live with in an era when rivals were, more often than not, um, not.
Today, however, as we approach with no little trepidation the tedious, mechanised hum of another, all-electric world, the latest and inevitably almost the last R8 is a very different kettle of metal. Except in the exquisitely detailed engine room, which is just about the only department in which things have actually improved…
We’ll get to that. But first, the undeniable fact that this R8 generation is nowhere near as pretty as the original. For starters, the nose is too big, and the composition of facetted grille elements unkindly corporate. For a mid-engined machine the front overhang is incomprehensibly long, at a stroke eradicating the compact side silhouette that was once so visually pleasing.
The profile cops a further ocular downgrade through the eradication of that sinuous blade, now so relegated to the residual that it’s notated by nothing more than panel gaps, and the painting black of the intake cover below the glasshouse. Sorry; as a detail this just doesn’t work. And even the rump is nowhere near as callipygous as in days of yore.
Happily, the cabin’s still a great place in which to go to work, offering first class ergonomics and comfort. But I remain unconvinced that replacing the crisp analogue dials of the driver’s instrument binnacle with digital facsimiles pleases anyone overmuch except the company bean-counters.
Anyway, press the starter button and pretty much all is forgiven because, for what little lifespan it has left, the R8’s conventionally aspirated 5.2 litre V10 remains one of the world’s most magnificent engines.
Interestingly, although this rear-wheel drive variant is billed ‘performance’, the wick has been turned down more than somewhat in comparison to the quattro R8; here mustering ‘only’ 562 bhp to the all-wheel drive car’s 612 bhp. Never mind, I hear you cry; in the absence of a propshaft, front driveshafts, and centre and front differentials, all that weight-saving must claw a deal back in the power-to-weight ratio stakes. Er… Nope; the RWD R8 actually weighs just 5kg less than the full fat quattro. Makes you wonder where the lead’s been fed.
In truth, none of this matters. This fabulous, hand assembled powerplant equips the R8 with the wherewithal to inhale the scenery with sufficient vim to hit 62 mph in well under four seconds and smear on to over 200 mph, all the while beguiling the driver with the most intoxicating, spine-tinglingly glorious range of noises off. It’s a seriously wonderful racket almost anywhere on the rev band…
Better yet, the seven-speed twin-clutch transmission is fantastic. How can anything change gear that fast -up or down the box- at the tug of a paddle? All that’s need is a proper pair of decent sized, metal paddles to replace the VW parts bin plastic offerings with their My Little Pony tactility levels.
No fancy suspension here, and no option to specify Audi’s trick adaptive damping either. And that’s a pity, because the RWD R8’s pottering speeds ride isn’t a patch on that of its quattro sibling. Audi’s Dynamic Steering, however, is standard across the range, and does the job admirably without ever really drawing you piecemeal into the helming experience -accuracy trumps engagement.
Fully plant the throttle and you can feel the rear of the car squirreling away in a manner entirely alien to the quattro-driven R8; disconcerting at first, but never alarming and, indeed, ultimately giving a pleasing feeling of being somewhat more engaged with proceedings that Audi’s ruthlessly efficient all-wheel drive technology will permit.
And this adds up to the sensation that the RWD R8 is somewhat more red in tooth and claw when it comes to covering ground quickly. Grip and traction levels remain suitably immense even with the front wheels relegated to the role of interested bystander, but you can’t take the liberties with this machine that a quattro equivalent will tolerate, especially on a soggy day.
AWD makes it all to easy to forget just how bloody quick the R8 is when you lean on that wonderful V10. RWD… not so much; the car feels less thoroughly planted at all times, keeping you on your toes at ramming speeds. And maybe that’s the way it should be… After all, fast should feel fast, shouldn’t it?