Audi R8 4.2 Review

The pitter-patter of the rain drops struck the roof unforgivingly, but the sound was muffled out nicely somehow.

And so was the little voice from outside.

"Look Dad! It's an Audi R8!"

At that instant, my heart skipped a beat. Images flashed in my mind - me as a young boy, gazing in awe at the beauty of the supercars plastered all over my wall.

Yes, the heartfelt excitement was audible in the tone of that voice. I looked up and saw a boy, about seven or eight years old, face beaming like he had just been given the keys to a real R8. He hopped about, barely able to contain his enthusiasm, and played deaf when his father called out to him.

Now, being seated in one of these iconic models and remembering how I felt when I was his age, I nearly teared. It isn't just a car; it never was.

These pieces of art were meant to stir up emotions of yearning. And pretty often, the people who loved these machines would almost always describe a certain sense of special affinity with them.

The stuff legends are made of

When Audi created the R8, the fact that they had chosen to name it after the uber-dominant R8 Le Mans race car already strongly hinted at the kind of car they wanted this to be. No, it wasn't going to be a stripped down, bare-knuckle hard core super sports car.

It was probably more of the fact that that they knew the enormity of the task at hand the road car had to accomplish - which was to be as stunning and put up the same stellar performance in the consumer market as it did in the 24-hour race series. Giving it such a title would be the equivalent of Ferrari naming a new model the "F2004" (the Formula One car which destroyed its competition that year).

And it has.

It's a daring move by the boys from Ingolstadt, but the gamble's paid off well. It's been touted by many as the car of the year, and that when placed beside the Carrera - its biggest rival - the latter just seems rather lackluster in comparison.

The "R8" model name it carries was previously used on a Le Mans racing car. Five out of seven years in the 24 hour series it had comfortably taken victories, so this new one has a huge reputation to uphold.

Giving that name to a road-going production model could only mean that they believe their new toy is that darn good. It's as if Ferrari named their new car the "F2004" (also the year when they dominated the Grand Prix).

Smooth Oper8tor

You can rightly expect this new R8 to carry Audi's technology which gave them their proudest moments. It has an all-wheel drive system, but only ever sending between 10 and 35 percent of its power to the front wheels, thus allowing the added traction but also retaining a rear-wheel drive characteristic.

Combined with a weight distribution of 44:56 (front-to-rear), it all sounds like a brilliant recipe for a brilliant handling car.

And having all four wheels being driven is a good thing when you suddenly get reminded that your family name isn't Schumacher, given that it has 420 steeds sitting in the middle, ready to rage the moment its dry-sump 4.2-litre FSI engine hits 7,800 rpm. With 430 Nm available to spin with, it reaches 100 km/h from standstill in just 4.6 seconds.

Keep the pedal down and you will see 200 km/h in 14.9 seconds. To put it into perspective, if you floored it alongside a say, Chery QQ, you will hit that speed quicker than it takes the Chinese clone to get to 100 km/h.

Impressive? That's just the tip of the iceberg.
There's so much more about it to swoon over. Like the rear underbody diffuser and the spoiler which flips up at 100 km/h and retracts when it slows below 35 km/h.

Once you get your hands on the details, things get even more exciting. Its entire body shell weighs just 210 kilogrammes and the R-tronic gearbox shifts as quickly as a skilled human would.

It swaps cogs fast enough to match the 0-100 km/h times for the manual transmission. Of course, not everyone does sprinting starts all the time - what's more enticing is the presence of paddle-shifters behind the steering wheel. Bearing in mind that there is a wonderfully sonorous V8 in the back, you wouldn't need Einstein to tell you what usually happens.

I'm not professionally trained in psychiatry, but I can tell you that if you find yourself tugging the paddle to downshift at the strangest moments, such as when traveling in a perfectly straight and normal road, you don't need to be alarmed - you're not suffering from any illness; it's really the sound of that V8 you're after.


Working art

The attention to detail in the R8 is immense. Like earlier mentioned, there's so much about it to swoon over.

One of the things that has to be done, when one is in possession of such a mechanical marvel, is to open the engine hood and admire the magnificent heart of the beast. It is gently lit by three LEDs on each side and displayed with such grandiosity - the whole bay is copiously carpeted with carbon fibre. If this doesn't tingle your spine, then you had better seek medical help.

As you walk to the cabin, there's more of that black gold. Huge panels, called "Sideblades", also help to direct airflow into the engine bay area for cooling. In fact, they're also part of define the division between the cockpit and the powerplant at the back.

When you arrive at the door, getting yourself inside without looking like a circus elephant is as much of a skill as getting seated in an authentic Japanese restaurant. Have your bum enter first while you face away from the side of the car, lower yourself till you are on the seat, then turn inward to get your feet in. Getting this right is especially crucial for ladies.

But it really isn't as difficult as it sounds. Compared to Lotus Exige for example, where you would need to clamber into it like you were trying to get into one of your kid's little playhouses, the R8 has lots of room for allowing dignified entry and exits.

Which brings me to my next point - practicality.
One might imagine that a car like this probably would be quite useless for daily drives. Too hard to climb in and out of, scraping the underside at every speed bump, difficulties seeing out of it, useless for carrying anything and maybe even too powerful that it becomes out of place in city traffic.

Well, here's your answer: it's none of that.

It had first pleasantly surprised me when I took it grocery shopping. I returned with a number of bags and only then remembered that it wasn't a normal saloon and had no rear seats. Darn. But almost spontaneously, I reached for the seat lever, pushed it forwards, neatly stacked the bags on the mini-luggage area, reclined the seat back. Voila!

Casually, I cruised out of the car park, easily crossing a few speed bumps along the way. The nose is high enough for that, and so is the rear diffuser. Even when faced with the sloping terrors of multi-story car parks, the car remain unfazed and got through everything with poise and grace; no embarrassing three-point turns at any bend or heart-wrenching scratching sounds when going over humps.

And now I was ready to pretend that there was an urgent, life-saving delivery to be made and gun it all the way home. Actually, I was just famished and wanted to start cooking asap, so that probably would count.

There is 100 litres of luggage space beneath the front bonnet, and another 90 where I had stacked my shopping. Visibly, golfers can put their golf bag behind the seats. However, Audi claims that it is large enough to accommodate two.


The R8 - It gives you the midnight runs

If I were to encounter a situation where one night, my wife woke up wanting some nibblies but the fridge was empty, I wouldn't hesitate to offer to drop by the shops to buy some chips and ice cream. It would be a beautiful win-win situation - she thinking "what a sweet husband", while I would only be too happy to jump into the R8 for a midnight blast.

That's the marvellous thing about this car. Driving it in itself is an occasion every time, even though there's no need to start a battery, prime the fuel pump, charge up the ignition before starting it up, it gives a sensation of complete satisfaction always.

Especially after you gas it hard.

Very rarely in the world of motoring journalism would one see a car as widely praised as this for handling, or even as a whole. In fact, the last one I can think of which was so well-received by every one was the Bugatti Veyron. Barely any complaint of anything - something which the Audi has achieved as well.

Clever magnetic suspension systems keep the R8 stable and under control. You hardly get any hint of understeer and it grips so hard that it seems impossible. Dancing the car about with delicate inputs of the throttle, however, is possible.
The steering keeps you feeling directly in charge and the response is never a tantrum; you're fed with lots of information but even mid-corner bumps won't cause you to pull a muscle in fright if you weren't careful. The result is an endless amount of fun because the car seems to have endless amounts of abilities and yet, when it looks like it has run out, it still feels manageable - it's as if you've entered a higher state of nirvana.

Chances are though, that the driver will run out of steam before it does, and will then resort to turning off the sports mode, sports suspension and nudge the gear knob to "A" for fully automatic mode. And instantly, it transforms from a growling beast into a playful little puppy. It can still dive into corners enthusiastically, just without as much pin-point precision as when the Sport button is lit.

But now, you would rather relax and appreciate how well this car can settle down and manoeuvre through traffic with a great level of calm and composure - an unusual characteristic of such cars.

It's well-kitted, too. There are twelve Bang & Olufsen speakers to add to the aural pleasure, as if the eight cylinders weren't enough, there is satellite navigation, although without the Singapore map, and also Audi's very intuitive Multi-Media Interface (MMI). It works and doesn't require an IQ of the same number of its top speed, 301 km/h, before you can operate it.


Should you get one?

Every thing essential that one can imagine which makes the whole driving experience pleasant is there - from top-of-the-line speakers, satellite navigation, a parking camera (which also works perfectly), practical storage space that isn't just some crevice large enough for a bag of chips, excellent all-round visibility, jaw-dropping handling and performance; all that one could think of for a flawless supercar is there.

It doesn't brag and shout like a Lamborghini or a Zonda, but it still would attract favourable attention, despite its rather humble looks. And it certainly is more useable than either of those.

Buyers have to prepare about half-a-million dollars for this gem, and perhaps more if your fingers get trigger-happy with the options list checkbox.

Despite the higher price tag, it's more exclusive than a Carrera, there's an aura of compelling attraction to it and it is more visually stunning. Especially when most people have to wait for a Porsche to drive past, catch the badging, then shout the model name it claims to be (they're not easy to differentiate because they're all identical).

Besides, it would be most heart-wrenching when you decide to save that few extra grand, buy the less-costly Carrera, only to meet an R8 at the traffic lights and realise later that you were drooling at it.

And it sounds better.

Seldom has the world seen a new supercar receiving so much praise and hardly anything about it to disagree on. And that basically sums up the reputation of this car - as good as perfect. So much that even that kid hopping about in the rain knew better than his father.

What would I do if I had to choose a car at that price? I would think about the poster I would rather have up on my wall if I were eight, smile, and sign on the dotted line for the Audi.