We Took the New Audi R8 on an Adrenaline-Charged Joyride

Matt Bubbers February 9, 2016

That poor bird had no idea how fast Audi’s new R8 is. It must’ve thought it had ample time to take off. It waddled out from roadside shrubbery, spread its wings slowly, and eased its unlikely frame into the air one last time.

It was a beautiful sunset that night, somewhere in southern Portugal. Purple, red, yellow and orange striations reached across the sky.

In third gear, in the middle of its rev range, the Audi’s V10 engine was just about to hit its stride. The car whipped around the corner and into the sunset.

The trajectories of the brown bird and red car intersected at windshield height. It was no contest. Nature lost to the machine. In the rearview the bird lay in the lane, permanently grounded. The car was unharmed. Not even a scratch.

To the bird, I’m sorry.

To the car, well, it feels nothing. Only now it seems to have a taste for blood. Audi has created a monster with this all-new R8.

You may recognize the Audi R8 from such films as: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, and The Avengers: Age of Ulton. Basically, it is Tony Stark’s supercar of choice when he’s not saving the world or exchanging screwball banter with Pepper Potts.

This impressive marketing tie-in has made the Audi R8 instantly recognizable; it’s a household name and an undeniable object of desire for millions of kids and adults alike.

Not an easy act to follow up. Since 2007, Audi has put some 27,000 R8s on roads all over the world. That’s a lot for a six-figure, mid-engine sports car with only two seats and not much trunk space. But it’s eight years old now, ready to be retired, and so follow-up Audi must.

Preserving the recognition the R8 had built up was key; the overall shape of the new second-generation car isn’t that different.

In person you immediately see it’s wider, lower, more hunkered down. Where before it looked like the ultimate evolution of Audi’s TT coupe, now it looks like a bona fide supercar — a design that’s unique in the Audi lineup, standing above the rest as undisputed flagship.

The race track in Portimao is a gigantic, spotlessly clean facility: towering grand- stands, perfect tarmac, white pit boxes.

The cabin of the R8 is similarly clean. But it’s an unfamiliar place. It’s unlike any other sports car, not even like the old R8. The instruments float above the dash, jutting out towards the driver in their own carbon-fibre pod. Inside resides a single digital screen, housing navigation, rpm and speed gauges, as well as other high-priority information. Audi calls this the Virtual Cockpit. It’s the same set-up you’ll find in a Lamborghini Huracan — a car that also shares its chassis and engine with the new R8, though the Audi has more power.

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Down at the driver’s right hand is the gear lever — controlling a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Just above are the floating, jewel-like dials to control the cabin atmosphere.

The V10 engine sits behind a little glass window over the driver’s right shoulder. Press the start button on the steering wheel, and watch as the massive motor shudders and vibrates as it crackles to life. In the automotive world, a sight like this was previously exclusive to exotics double the price of the Audi.

After a predictably impressive, thrilling few laps of the track, we head out to the empty country roads at sunset.

The car is calm — incredibly calm given its credentials: 610 horsepower, 413 lb-ft of torque, 8,700 rpm redline, 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds (in this range-topping V10 Plus model).

It trundles down narrow, cobbled streets, threading between buildings comfortably. Here it’s an Audi — luxurious and well-mannered. This is what made the old R8 so beloved by critics. It was a sports car you could realistically drive every day. The new one is, too. And Quattro all-wheel-drive means you can drive it all year. It’s got heated seats.

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Outside the little towns, on open road, the new R8 feels sharp. Chalk that up to its lighter weight and stiffer chassis made of carbon-fibre and aluminium. It reacts quickly to your steering inputs, darting into corners, no body roll. You’ve got to push this car hard to make it break a sweat.

The V10 engine is best when it’s singing above 6,000 rpm. It’s not like the turbo-charged sledgehammer motors in most of the R8’s rivals. This thing needs to be driven and, even though there’s enough torque to just leave it in fourth gear the whole time, you’ll find yourself flicking the paddle shifters often. When you get everything right and push the V10 right to its limit, it’s incredibly rewarding.

Actually, it’s hypnotic. You find a rhythm, charging out of a corner, braking late, and powering through the next bend. The naturally aspirated V10 gives this otherwise cutting-edge car a welcome old-school character.

But don’t be lulled by its friendliness. In the old R8, friendly was its default mode but it would allow you to have fun at silly speed. In the old R8, that bird would probably still be flapping around the hills of Portimao. The new R8 is a more exciting machine. It’s a cold-blooded killer, putting on a friendly face when it needs to. Tony Stark might need to find a new car.

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