R8 TCC Drive the R8

[Deutsch]

2008 Audi R8

A sexy German beast that speaks Italian.
by Bengt Halvorson (2007-01-28)

Beginning later this year, an exotic-looking $130,000, mid-engine supercar will be coming to Audi showrooms. With an appeal based both on serious, track-ready performance, everyday-driving reliability, and a flavor that's a bit more exotic than what we've come to expect from Audi, the R8 will bring the brand a level of prestige the automaker has long deserved.

Or so that's what Audi is hoping. The German brand may be well-respected in Europe and elsewhere in the world, its models appearing alongside Mercedes-Benz and BMW competitors on shopping lists, but in all seriousness it has a ways to go yet here in the U.S. While the products meet or exceed the competition in nearly all ways, image remains the main issue. Past perceptions, along with a sales and service network that still leaves a lot to be desired compared with those other brands, continue to keep the brand from consistently being in that top tier.

But those issues are slated to change very soon, with more standalone dealer facilities on the way, and - perhaps even more important - this image-building flagship model for the brand.

The production R8, which we were recently allowed to drive, looks surprisingly similar to the Le Mans concept car, first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003. Even the extremely low front end, contrasting side panel beside the engine compartment, and LED driving lights and taillights been carried over into the production car (all-LED headlamps - claimed to be the first in any production vehicle - will be an option starting late this year). Also carried over from the show car is the rear glass that allows a view down, not into the luggage area but into the engine compartment, where the 420-hp, 4.2-liter direct-injection V-8 is presented like a museum piece.

The show car actually had a V-10 installed; it's on the way as well, but won't come until nearly a year after the V-8, which will begin arriving at dealerships this fall.

Kin to the Gallardo, though not by bloodline

The R8 bears a slight resemblance, if you squint really hard and look at only the profile, to the Lamborghini Gallardo, which is no coincidence. The Gallardo was engineered with a heavy hand from parent company Volkswagen, also Audi's parent company, and the two cars share the same platform, and some of the same componentry. Audi engineers claim that, even with powertrain components that have been carried over from the Gallardo, nearly everything has been reengineered, and although the two vehicles may have some similarities few if any parts are actually shared with the Lambo.

The influence of German engineers and designers can be seen throughout the vehicle. Versus the Gallardo, the R8 is about five inches longer and has a 3.5-inch longer wheelbase, with several inches of cabin length (and seat travel) to accommodate big and tall drivers, with larger footwells, too. It's also 3.4 inches taller, bringing more American (and German) standards of headroom.

They also redesigned the space frame itself, bringing torsional rigidity up compared with the Gallardo and adding more side impact protection for the fuel tank, which is in front of the engine and behind the seat. The R8's aluminum space frame body shell weighs only 462 pounds, and Audi claims the best ratio of body weight to torsional rigidity, relative to vehicle size. The entire vehicle weighs about only 3400 pounds.

The R8 is sized very closely with its chief competitor, the Porsche 911, though the two cars differ significantly in how they're proportioned. Versus the 911, the R8 is only an inch shorter and about four inches wider, though its wheelbase is a foot longer than the stalwart Porsche.

Performance to meet or beat the 911

Performance is also on par with the 911, especially the 911 Targa 4S and Carrera 4S. Audi claims, somewhat conservatively, a 0-62 mph time of 4.6 seconds, while top speed is 187 miles per hour.

Audi has also worked to improve airflow and cooling characteristics compared with the Gallardo. Engineers say that the R8 has more optimized underbody airflow, which is then channeled up to the engine compartment, serving a dual purpose of keeping it cool and also sucking the back end downward as speed increases.

Audi says that the R8 was engineered with an emphasis on day-to-day driving prowess, with a ride that - despite the performance extremes - isn't too punishing for commuter roads and an interior with plenty of creature comforts on board.

That's mostly the case, especially with the optional magnetic ride system. The system allows a softer setting for touring, which is still quite firm, while a seriously firm setting can be activated for high-performance driving. We found that to be uncomfortable on irregular surfaces, which means it would be downright punishing on Northeastern frost heaves, while turn-in and body motion remained sharp and controlled in the normal setting.

Otherwise inside, the seats are amply apportioned, very supportive, and adjustable for a wide range of sizes, and the steering tilts and telescopes to a range that should satisfy everyone. Headroom is decent, though you have to watch the roof, which lips downward into the door, requiring a duck of the head on entry and exit for tall folks. Doors are long, and open and close with strong detents and a heft that's characteristically German. The interior is race-inspired and set up like a cockpit, centered around the driver (an executive called it a 1+1), while Audi's Multi-Media Interface (MMI) system in middle of the dash lends a familiar dose of modernity, as does the high-end sound system, which accepts MP3 files on handy SD memory cards instead of always-fussy discs (why don't more automakers do this?). The cabin and seating area in general feels airy and spacious.

Interior roomy, cargo cramped

That is, until you start cramming things behind the seats. Audi boasts that two golf bags can be fit back there, but the two that they demonstrated with were very lightly packed. With a normal number of clubs and kit, expect to obstruct your rearward vision a bit.

Don't count on bringing much along when you're touring in the R8. While the 911 has just enough storage space - particularly as a Targa - to be a formidable weekend road-trip vehicle, the R8's cargo volume comes in well behind the 911, and its storage spaces aren't so usable either. The hood pops to reveal a space that's about as large (though perhaps not as deep for grocery bags) as that in the Porsche 911, but the 911's rear-engine layout allows additional space behind the seats while the R8 has only a small cargo shelf. The R8 lacks tie-downs or cargo nets - either would do wonders.

We were challenged where to put a small camera during the drive where it wouldn't be thrown around. The door pockets are tight and shallow, the glovebox isn't for much more than gloves, there's a miniscule ashtray, and a small center-console compartment is barely large enough for a PDA.

And the front air skirt hangs very low, making slight contact on even half-height speed bumps and requiring attention at every driveway ramp. You'll have to do a little route planning to avoid the full-height speed bumps that seem especially popular in many West Coast cities.

These gripes are worth mentioning, but a little beside the point. You can't expect an exotic to be very practical. Audi says that the R8 is a comfortable daily driver, and we see that being true.

Oh the joys - driving, of course!

The driving experience is, of course, where the R8 shines, from the moment you turn the key and fire up the V-8, which, by the way, sounds quite different than in the RS4 even though it's essentially the same engine, with dry-sump lubrication for high-g cornering, and an improved cooling system. In the R8, it has more of an exposed mechanical character, even at idle, possibly from the direct injection and lack of sound insulation. The idle compares to the purr of a Corvette, matched with the velvety, snorting midrange and trumpeting upper end of a mid-engine Ferrari, while there's a snorty howl on engine braking.

And stepping out to glance down through the glass at the engine thrumming away never got old either.

With a 420-hp engine in the middle, only 3400 pounds, and a 56/44-percent rear-biased weight distribution, you might suspect the tail to be a little eager to step out. But the R8 is surprisingly neutral easy to drive fast. The car was designed, according to engineers, with carefully chosen suspension geometry and different-size tires front and back, for a neutral handling feel at the limit with just the slightest tendency toward oversteer.

An excellent stability control system helps, too. It can completely be deactivated, and there's also a performance mode that allows controlled mild slides. As was exhibited in a handling course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, when people turned off the traction control and got too far out of hand, the tail does step out and rotate. However, with the stability control in either the normal mode or the 'Sport' mode which allows slightly more enthusiastic driving, the sports car never felt out of hand.

As we put the R8 through the paces on the sweeping curves of the desert and mountain roads near Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam, we found the steering quick yet not at all twitchy, matched with super-sharp turn-in that gave the car an extremely precise feel in corners and at speed. You don't see the front of the car as it's so low, but there's a racecar feel as if you're in the middle of the car and that the nose is just in front of your feet. There seems to be no need to talk about body control, because the body just stays sucked down to the road through the corners, with little if any perceptible loading and unloading. What's more, the gas pedal has a rather long range of travel and is also precisely calibrated and linear in feel - no ripping away by accident. The V-8 doesn't have gobs of power just off idle, but it builds power steadily, nearly all the way up to its 8250-rpm redline.

High-speed cruising is a strength. The steering feel stays comfortable, and it feels perfectly comfortable and rather hushed cruising long distances at the 100 mark - and less choppy and tossed-around than the 911. As you pass 110 on the speedo, the cabin gets considerably louder, but a quick blast up to 130 revealed that the steering still felt solid and confident. At high speed, the R8 has an unexpected feeling of heft that adds more confidence.

The permanent all-wheel drive system is biased toward the rear wheels during normal driving but can send up to 35 percent of torque to the front wheels as needed for traction or handling balance. We never managed to get the Pirelli P Zeros loose, even on several aggressive launches.

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If your left foot is lazy, you can still enjoy it

There are two very distinct ways to run the R8 through the paces. There's a conventional six-speed manual transmission, with a double-plate clutch, quite light clutch pedal, and a showy, Italianate metal shift gate to clink through, from gear to gear; or as an alternative, there's R tronic, an automated, sequential shifting system with the same ratios as the manual, and the same system that Lamborghini calls eGear. With R tronic, there's an automatic mode or you can command shifts yourself. In short, the speed of shifts varies with engine speed, while clutch engagement smoothness varies with throttle position. The system "shifts faster than even very practiced drivers," said an Audi official. The automaker expects well over half of the U.S.-bound R8s to be sold with R tronic.

Most of the time, R tronic works very well, but there are exceptions. In leisurely acceleration, Rtronic could sometimes feel clumsy, with rough shifts from first to second especially, when it would sometimes complete a leisurely shift and engage the clutch with a 'clunk'. The more aggressively we drove, the smoother and more precise the shifts seemed to be. Even mid-corner downshifts involve a rapid throttle blip and smooth clutch engagement that doesn't upset the car's balance. The bottom line is that R tronic is our preference for the racetrack, while the regular six-speed is our overall preference for everyday driving. R tronic doesn't replace an automatic transmission like DSG (or S tronic, as it's now called), but if you wanted one, this probably wouldn't be your car anyway.

Italian exotics are known for their expensive wearable items like clutches and gaskets, but the R8's clutch, with either option, was designed for a long service life similar to Audi's mainstream models and the engine requires no costly early service intervals.

Audi hasn't yet announced U.S. pricing for the R8, but in Europe where it goes on sale this summer, it will start at 104,400 euros, roughly equivalent to $135,000. It's estimated that the R8 will start at a slightly lower price in the U.S. , but not substantially.

The R8 will be built in a special area of the automaker's plant in Neckarsulm , Germany . Vehicle construction is configured as a craft workshop rather than an assembly line, with a high level of individual scrutiny. With the plant's eventual limit of 20 cars per day, no more than 4000 per year could be produced, probably far fewer.

Whether the R8 justifies that price tag or not is up to a finicky market; what we can be sure of is that the R8 provides the driving experience of an exotic car, with the support and engineering expertise of a main-line manufacturer. The R8 may be cross-shopped with Porsches, AMG Mercedes, Aston Martins, Jaguars, Ferraris, or even Lamborghinis, but what counts is that it really does have a character of its own, with a feel that's more like exotics that cost more. Whether the R8 is practical enough is up to the buyer, but it sure is one sexy beast.


2008 Audi R8
Base price: est. $130,000
Engine: 4.2-liter V-8, 420 hp/317 lb-ft
Transmission: Six-speed manual or six-speed sequential automated gearbox, all-wheel drive
Length x width x height: 174.4 x 75.0 x 49.3 in
Wheelbase: 104.3 in
Curb weight: 3432 lb
Fuel economy (EPA city/hwy): N/A
Major standard features: All-wheel drive; bi-xenon headlights; LED running lights; automatic climate control; heated power seats; adjustable steering column; Multi-Media Interface; DVD-based navigation
Safety features: Anti-lock brakes, stability control; dual front and side airbags
Warranty: Four years/50,000 miles (est.)

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