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Overview (****½)
For Audi this is anything but just another new car. Its importance extends far beyond even the significance of Audi competing in a corner of the market so distant from its traditional hunting grounds, it's a wonder it found the way. Despite the fact that, by Audi standards, very few R8s will be built, it is perhaps its single most significant car since the original Quattro in 1980.
This is the big step. This is Audi saying: 'From now on we're not content to battle it out with merely Mercedes and BMW. We're good enough to take on Porsche, Maserati and even Aston Martin. And here's the car that proves it.'
To gain some insight into what Audi is hoping to achieve here, consider that its two closest rivals are the £71,980 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S - the latest and one of the most lauded iterations of the world's most enduring sports car - and the £82,800 Aston V8 Vantage, a car with such looks and pedigree it could have had all the dynamic prowess of an overladen wheelie bin and still sold by the thousand. And you might fairly think that Audi going head-to-head with such sporting blue-bloods is akin to your neighbour's ginger tabby marching into a pit populated by Bengal Tigers and saying, 'Come on then, if you think you're hard enough.'
But Audi cannot be said to have come unprepared for this battle for, unlike many others in Audi's more populist ranges, the R8's looks don't write a cheque that the mechanicals underneath can't cash.
Its structure is a beautifully crafted aluminium spaceframe chassis, with forged aluminium suspension and all-aluminium body parts. As you might have guessed, Audi is big on aluminium. And it's right to be, because it knows that the secret to a successful small supercar is not just big power, but light weight. Counting against that is the provision of four-wheel drive, which Audi says improves the way the car drives: I'm inclined to see more as a marketing- than dynamics-led imperative.
And providing the whole with its forward thrust is the 420bhp, 4.2-litre V8 motor also found in the RS4 and modified only to provide dry sump lubrication, which not only keeps oil circulating the engine under very high g-loadings, but also allows the engine to be fitted as low as possible in the car.
Reliability and Quality (****)
The R8 is being built largely by hand, at the rate of no more than 20 per day and to a standard beyond that seen by any Audi to date. Given Audi's already strong reputation in this area, this should prove all the reassurance potential customers should need.
That said, there are still some question marks over the interior's quality in the context of a car costing over twice as much as Porsche Cayman. There's a panel gap big enough to lose your finger in where the interior door pull meets the dashboard and the pull's handle felt flimsy and insubstantial. Some of the switchgear and a few smooth, hard cabin plastics also felt less than commensurate with the car's price.
At least you should not have to worry about your R8 leaving you at the side of the road. The engine is a proven commodity while the six speed gearbox (available with either manual or, for an extra £5,200 'R-tronic' paddleshift operation) has already survived the still tougher test of life inside the Lamborghini Gallardo.
On the road (****½)
Driving
Can an Audi really be as good to drive as a Porsche 911? The short answer is 'no', the slightly longer one 'no, but it gets closer than you might ever imagine.'
Simply put, the R8 is a joy to put through its paces and so far and away the most dynamically capable Audi ever produced that further comparison is meaningless. It grips until you think your cheeks are going to ripple, resists rolling, heaving and pitching like a hydroplane in a light breeze and will not misbehave even if you turn all the safety systems off and treat it with unrealistic brutality.
All it lacks - and you'd say as much of the Aston Vantage - are those tiny nuances of feel that so distinguish the likes of the 911 and Cayman. This fractionally enhanced level of feedback may not sound like much but, in reality, it's the difference between directing the action and actually feeling part of it. In the R8 you are the director, in a 911 you're the above-title superstar. To most, this is likely to prove unimportant and maybe even irrelevant, but to the seriously appreciative enthusiast it spells the difference between a really good driver's car and a truly exceptional one.
Performance
Slotting a 420bhp engine into a car weighing barely more than a tonne and a half was always likely to produce dramatic results and the R8 does not disappoint.
It will hit 62mph in 4.6sec - so say 4.4sec to a British 60mph - while Audi has exempted the R8 from the 155mph speed restriction inflicted on all its other high-performance cars, meaning it will run unfettered all the way to 187mph. These are numbers not even the Porsche or Aston can approach.
But the R8 is better, even than this. The engine is a fabulous tool, pulling strongly from 3,500rpm to 8,250rpm and making a noise that would make you want to rip out the optional (£1,200) Bang & Olufsen stereo and leave it at the side of the road if only it were a little louder. But the manual gearbox, with its exposed gate, is better still. Not even Ferraris slice through their shifts as reliably and cleanly as this and were the clutch just a shade more progressive, the transmission would approach perfection. The R-tronic is capable of swapping the cogs swiftly and smoothly at the touch of a paddle, especially if you blip the throttle, but is less satisfactory if you leave it to make the changes itself. In sport mode it kicks down magnificently when you floor the throttle, but it tends to hold on to a low gear too long if you're in less of a rush; in normal mode it's too keen to change up to sixth as soon as possible.
Only the optional, and as yet unpriced, ceramic brakes on the test car were a disappointment. Not only were they overassisted, but they were also needlessly grabby in traffic, making you appear a mechanically unsympathetic amateur to your passenger. The standard steel brakes are still too light but much more progressive. Owners will probably be best served by sticking to the standard kit unless planning to use the car extensively on race tracks.
Safety and Security (****)
It may be some time before Euro NCAP gets around to crash testing a car with a build of just 3,000 units per year, so independent safety data on the R8 is thin on the ground.
However, Audi did provide a full cutaway model of the R8 and I can vouch for the immense solidity of its construction. There are, of course, four airbags on board and considerable side impact protection in the doors.
Running Costs (***)
The official figures show that the R8 will do no more than 19.3mpg on the combined cycle, making it fractionally more frugal than the very thirsty Aston Vantage, but substantially more juicy than the lighter, less powerful 911 Carrera 4S.
Depreciation projections of47% after three years show the R8 comparing favourably with rivals such as the BMW M6 and 911 Carrera 4S.
Comfort and Equipment (***½)
For a car of such sporting intent, the R8 is a fantastically quiet and comfortable cruiser. The ride quality is notably smooth on most surfaces and if you take up the £1,350 magnetic suspension option, even very rough roads appear to resurface themselves as they flow under the car. In all but the hardest use the engine is quiet - too quiet for my liking - and save a disappointing level of tyre noise on coarse coverings, the R8 will make a superb long distance weapon.
The driving position is terrific for drivers of all shapes and sizes and the instruments as clearly labelled and easy to read, as you'd expect from Audi. It's a shame then that the boot is smaller even than a Porsche 911's - which at least has rear seats to act as extra luggage space - let alone a front-engined car like the Aston Vantage. There is some room behind the R8's seats, but not much. In the cockpit the glovebox is small and opportunities for stowing more than a couple of cans of drink few and far between.
The bigger blot on this copybook concerns the view out. Cars built with aluminium chassis often have to have thick pillars to provide the necessary roll-over protection, and this one is no exception. The A-pillars notably restrict your peripheral vision, over-the-shoulder visibility is limited when parking and there's a massive blindspot between the interior and exterior mirrors more than capable of concealing a Renault Espace, let alone a scooter.
Equipment levels are adequate for the money but no more. If you want full leather upholstery Audi will leave you £2,500 poorer, while if you want navigation (which you will if you're ever to have a hope of selling it on, that's a further £1,800. Electric front seats will set you back a further £630 while even cruise control is a £215 option. Parking bleepers may seem like a waste of £630 until you realise just how difficult it is to see out of the back of an R8. It's no surprise, then to learn that the average UK customer is spending more than £10,000 over the list price loading the car with goodies.
Used Value (****½)
Summary of the Audi R8 (2007-)
Price Range: £76,825 to £76,825
Assets
Purposeful, modern appearance, convincing performance, excellent ride/handling balance.
Drawbacks
Not quite as involving as it should be, poor visibility, lack of storage space.
Verdict
Audi has scored a direct hit on the supercar establishment with its first shot. Not perfect, but exceptionally capable and very, very desirable.
****½
Audi R8 (2007-) | Road Test Review | 4car | channel4.com
