Rivals: Porsche 911 Carrera 4s, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, BMW M6, Nissan GT-R
Engines: Petrol 4.2 V8 FSi, 5.2 V10 FSI,
Diesel, 6.0 V12 TDI
Gearbox: 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed R-Tronic Single Clutch Semi Automatic
Awards: Top Gear Car of the Year 2007
5th Gear Car of the Year and Best Fast Car 2007
World Car of the Year 2008 Best Design and World Best Performance Car
Playboy Magazine Car of the Year 2008
European Car of the Year 2008
This is far and away the best car we have ever tested for the Allparts Review!! I could not believe my ears when i answered the phone which went something like this; "Mr Conway would you be available next week to test drive the Audi R8" to which my reply was, after I picked myself up off the floor was "yes, yes I am"!!!
As I rolled up the The Radisson Hotel there she was in all her royal blue spectacle! The tell tale badge on the wing that let you know it was the 5.2l V10 520bhp beast glistening in the winter sunlight!
This is the much anticipated Audi R8!!! The car all the big car magazines were fighting over to get the 1st test drive!
The car is amazing to drive, as we pulled out slowly onto the carriage way, made sure the car was in a straight line as I did not want to fishtail out of control in the 1st 5 minutes, and gunned it!!! No feeling can describe it, the G-Forces pushed my stomach beyond my spine!! I just about had enough power left in my hands to reach the flappy paddles to change gear! The Gearbox is amazing, we had the 6speed semi-auto flappy paddle gear box and when your open the throttle the gear change is unbeatable! The noise and the sound of the gear changes is indescribable!!! As soon as you sit in this car and feel the bucket seat suck you in, there is an instant smile on your face!
Absolutely everything is in the right position in this car, from the red starter button on the steering wheel to the stereo and the air con! The R8 does share some chassis components, the flappy paddel gear box, and the revised V10 engine with its sister car the Lamborghini Gallardo, on which were still waiting on that phone call to go test!!!
This is a mid-engined, 4wd sports car, that also come in a diesel via the V12 TDI 500bhp unit with 738lb-ft of torque and it does 23miles to the gallon!!! Not bad for an oil burner!!!
I only had half an hour with this car! Which was no where near enough! All we can say is that it seems a very easy to live with sports car, compared to a lot of horror stories you do hear about old Ferraris or old Lambos.
Hopefully in 15-20 years or so, if the prices come down enough and petrol isn't €300 a liter, then we will have one, but for now, €150,000 is a tad out of our price range!
Gary
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