New Audi R8 review, test drive

The second-generation Audi R8 has big shoes to fill. Is it a big step-up over the still impressive predecessor?

Published on Nov 02, 2015 08:00:00 AM

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The new car looks edgier and bolder in the flesh.

Headlamps get laser highbeam for great night vision.

More impressive than the numbers themselves, though, is the way in which this Audi goes about setting them. Tap the throttle and the R8 vaults off the blocks; thrust is immediate and very strong. The power delivered is explosive, and even short bursts of acceleration are addictive. Configure the gearbox, dampers and engine to sport-mode, and things get even more insane. Most remarkable of all, perhaps, is the speed with which the R8 builds its revs. The engine tears towards its rev limiter in first and you then need to be on high alert not to run it against that limiter by mistake. There is no hang, no lag. You ask of the throttle and the engine delivers in an utterly predictable, linear fashion. Contributing factor to its ferocity and speed is its dual-clutch automatic transmission. The seven-speed gearbox is lightning-quick with its shifts and, you can use it in manual mode, gears shifting up only when you pull the right paddle.

In the V10+ trim, the R8 now produces 602bhp.

Although at its heart, the new R8 has a V10 engine that thumps out 602bhp and 57.10kgm torque, it is its relative lack of weight which adds to its whole experience. At 1,454kg, this car is impressively light for a 4WD supercar. When you then align this with the V10 engine’s delicious soundtrack, the Audi really has all the ingredients to blow your mind.

Along with all that power, the R8 also possesses an eye-watering blend of grip, balance and composure, not to mention its steering and traction, both of which are excellent. And that’s to say nothing of the car’s most surprising feature – its ride comfort. The R8 V10+, even with its stiff dampers, felt comfortable and composed enough on some of the bumpy sections we encountered in Portugal. The way the R8 felt soothing and refined on a motorway, even in this hardcore V10+ variant, is testament to the achievement of its engineers.

If there is a criticism of the handling, it’s that when you really start to lean on the V10+ in a slow corner, the nose does have a tendency to run wide. A well-timed lift will make the nose tuck in, in essence, there’s a natural degree of understeer engineered into the chassis that mostly adds to the R8’s civility.