Blog Details

The most everyday of the everyday supercars. With a screaming, naturally-aspirated V10. Good.

The most everyday of the everyday supercars. Because it’s an Audi, because the cabin will contain 95th percentile people, because it’s ergonomically sound, because it’s reliable and well built and comes from a company that builds approximately 1.8 million other reliable, well built cars every year.

But also: screaming 8,700rpm V10. Unusual juxtaposition. Audi, righteous doyenne of the Waitrose class, being one of the last bastions of natural aspiration. When all others are downsizing and turbocharging (to the detriment of noise and response) the R8 persists with a free-breathing 5.2-litre V10. It won’t always be like this. We know a V6 hybrid is coming – in fact we’re almost surprised it’s not here yet – but for the time being the range begins and ends with V10.

Now with more power. As you can tell by the subtly edgier nose, the R8 has been facelifted. This is its mid-life revamp, a gentle boost to help it stay competitive and survive another four years or so on sale. Still a two model range, but with the Plus now renamed Performance. That’s received a boost from 604 to 614bhp, while the entry level model is up from 533 to 562bhp. A figure that puts it toe-to-toe with McLaren’s 570S. The rear drive-only RWS? That’s gone now.

Outwardly you’re looking at new, sharper bumpers at both ends, larger exhaust pipes and those three slots across the nose that hark back to the 1984 Sport Quattro Group B rally car. They’re also on the new A1. Elsewhere the plan has been to fractionally sharpen the driving experience by stiffening the suspension, fitting a new carbon anti-roll bar at the front (40 per cent lighter than the old steel one) and recalibrating the steering – especially the optional variable ratio Dynamic Steering.

Final pricing hasn’t yet been announced, but Audi has said it’ll start at around £128,000 – a rise of barely £2,000. First deliveries of the 4WD supercar will start early in 2019.

Driving

What is it like on the road?

It’s the R8’s duality that sets it apart from its rivals. Others – McLaren’s 570S, the AMG GT,Porsche 911 GT3 – are crisper, edgier and more exciting to drive. But none hits the high notes of everyday usability and trackday larks quite as completely as the Audi R8. In fact only one car, the Porsche 911 Turbo, does a better job of being a daily, and that, for all its speed and potency, doesn’t feel as special as the R8. Because make no mistake, a mid-mounted V10 is a very special thing.

But also quite a docile one. Always noisy at start up, yes, but this is a V10 of rare ability, so calm and tractable is it when just pottering, letting the engine warble to itself and the twin clutch gearbox self-select the ratios. If you want to maximise this side of its character, have the optional adaptive suspension, which really does soften off the ride around town, although it also brings in an odd porpoising over speedbumps. Personally I enjoy the more natural feel of the standard suspension. And I’d do without the optional Dynamic steering too.

Audi has persevered with this variable ratio system (a gear on the steering column allows the steering ratio to be changed, so you need less lock to go around corners). It used to be oddly artificial, but the latest version is much more convincing. But ultimately all it’s doing is saving a bit of armwork, and still robbing a bit of feel from what is otherwise a very good set-up. It’s another box we’d leave unticked.

The centre diff is electronically controlled, ensuring it’s a rear-drive car for agility unless it needs a dose of front-drive for security. Configure all these systems into their sportiest modes and the R8 gets super-reactive. It’s not a car you slide extravagantly, but you feel the small tyre-slip angles in vivid detail.

The main dynamic criticism of this second generation R8 was that it lacked a bit of bite on turn-in. The suspension adjustments have been targeted at improving that, and have partially succeeded. The nose feels a little keener and grippier, both in terms of steering response just off centre and the car reacting as the suspension compresses. Previously there was this fractional delay and a sense that the car was understeering even before it was. Now it’s slightly keener, if still not in the same league for adjustability and sharpness as the McLaren 570S.

Blame the weight. Despite using a hybrid carbon-aluminium chassis, the two-seat R8 weighs 1,660kg unladen – about 200kg more than the McLaren. Weight saving on the Performance version strips 65kg out of that. The R8 is very nicely balanced through and out of corners. Its preference is to understeer very slightly, but you need to think carefully about coming off the throttle if you’re running wide towards the exit – it can bite back.

But all the time you’re playing tunes on this awesome V10. It emits a glorious, baleful warble that grows in intensity as it homes in on the 8,700rpm cut out. Its high-rev reactions are tack-sharp, epically forceful, and sounds like the opera of the Gods. It’s a real point of differentiation. Do you notice the extra power? The additional titanium valvetrain components? Of course not. You’re too occupied being blown away by what a great engine this is to be that analytical.

How long Audi will be able to carry on justifying its presence, especially when the V6 hybrid arrives, is anyone’s guess. Tough for a firm to fully, honestly claim to be behind the zero-emission revolution when it’s also selling a 300g/km, 23mpg supercar. Room for both, we say.

The brakes are unchanged – steel wave rotors on the standard R8, carbon ceramics for the Performance, but Audi is claiming a reduction in braking distance (by five metres from 124mph) due to a new compound for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

On the inside

Layout, finish and space

Perhaps the best supercar cabin of all. It’s spacious (check out the broad shelf behind the seats, the headroom and sense of space engendered by the far-off windscreen) and yet intimate. It draws you in, focuses your attention on the steering and fully digital dash to start with, and then teases your view outwards to such beautifully wrought details as the heating controls.

It’s the material execution and quality that really hits home, even above and beyond a Porsche 911. The tactility is masterfully done, the organisation of the controls is superb, the operation of the controls is just so. It’s a car you can spend a long time in, simply pressing buttons and moving switches. Driving position? You, like me, may want a bit of extra reach on the steering wheel, and we’d suggest avoiding the sportiest seats, which are too upright and thinly padded for comfort.

It’s not as easy to see out of as a McLaren Sports Series or 911, and it feels wide, but this is a design-led cabin that works on pretty much every level. Just be warned there’s not much load space under the nose – the 112-litre area limited by the presence of those front driveshafts. Make up for it by exploiting that 226-litre shelf.

Changes for the facelifted version are very modest: new silver and brown colour schemes inside, and the reversing camera now standard. Audi’s virtual display is still the benchmark digital dash for legibility and organisation of information.

Owning

Running costs and reliability

As we mentioned prices haven’t changed much, so you’re looking at a £128,000 entry for the 562bhp version, with the 614bhp Performance costing around £15,000 more. The Spyder is about £9,000 more. Residuals are good, running costs aren’t – pretty much the case for all supercars, but the drawback of that V10 is its economy and CO2. The exact figures for the facelift car aren’t out yet, but we’re looking at 22mpg and around 300g/km of CO2.

The costs won’t matter, the short stops between fill-ups (around every 250 miles) might. I know, you don’t think the R8 is a GT, but trust us, it is. It’s just as comfortable and capable of smashing through distance as an Aston Martin Vantage or DB11 for that matter. It is a very complete car.

And a good looking one, too. At least at the front – we’re not convinced by the blockier black venting at the rear – hints of old Lamborghini Gallardo, perhaps? Some of the wheels are a bit fussy, too. Spec carefully. And enjoy the now-standard all-LED lights. They’re awesome.

Its engine and huge breadth of ability make it feel increasingly special. A supercar that fully deserves its spot at the top table.

Audi’s persistence in sticking with a large capacity, naturally aspirated V10 is increasingly giving it a real point of differentiation when almost all its rivals are motivated by twin turbo V8s (or a flat six, obvs). The engine has only been very lightly tweaked for the facelift, the extra handful of horsepower barely noticeable, but this is still a stand-out, hands-down stunning engine.And it’s the centrepiece of what remains a very complete supercar. The visual changes have given the front end a sharpness that’s been copied by the mechanical alterations underneath. It’s still not as direct and precise as a McLaren Sports Series or Porsche GT3, but there’s added bite on turn-in and notably improved steering feel (we’ll now not blank you if you insist on having the variable ratio Dynamic Steering, either).

It’s easy to overlook the R8 amongst newer, fresher, more dynamic rivals with more exotic badges, but rather than feeling outdated, its engine and huge breadth of ability make it feel increasingly special. A supercar that fully deserves its spot at the top table.