Audi R8 5.2 V10 FSI

 

What‘s it? This is actually the Audi R8 5. 2 V10 FSI - baldly, an Audi R8 having a 5. 2-litre V10 motor beneath the engine cover. More specifically it’s the quickest and the majority expensive production Audi ever, the very first proficient at a sub-4sec 0-62mph time and also a car which was a scheduled to carry a six figure price tag until Mr Darling’s VAT cut. Comparisons involving the Audi R8 V10 and also the Lamborghini LP560-4 are inevitable, not least because, internally, the engines are identical, right right all the way down to their uneven 54 and 90deg firing intervals.

 But different intakes and exhausts means the Audi is restricted to some mere 517bhp, the better-breathing Lambo manages 552bhp. Still, inside a car weighing just 1635kg (only 60kg more when compared to a V8 R8 despite a considerably higher spec, this still leads for an impressive 316bhp per tonne power to weight ratio to the Audi R8 V10, superior even to that of the 911 Turbo, the car which when it comes to price and pitch it probably most closely resembles. Interestingly, as the Audi R8 V10 has received a good deal of attention in certain areas due to its 100bhp-plus power gain – its springs are 20 per cent stiffer in the front and 22 per cent stiffer in the rear, it features a thicker rear roll bar and also a fresh group of suspension bushes – in others it’s barely been touched. Whether you specify steel or carbon ceramic brakes they’ll be a similar which you find on the Audi R8 V8, the tyres are no different as well as one‘s body has needed no further stiffening to manage the performance potential. The six-speed manual and semi-automatic gearboxes happen to be left untouched, with only a raised final drive ratio to support a high speed that rises from 187mph to 196mph. Visually you’ll spot an Audi R8 V10 by its badging, intricate ten-spoke 19in wheels, wider sills, enlarged air intakes and different exhausts while, inside you’ll got to spot the now-standard Nappa leather as well as little ‘V10’ badge upon the tacho.

The Audi R8 V10 is likewise the very first production car to possess wholly LED lighting front and rear. But when this all sounds a little too forensic, the presence of a relatively enormous V10 beneath the transparent engine cover is a thing of the giveaway too. What’s it like? Expect the Audi R8 V10 to become towards the standard R8 exactly what a 911 Turbo is to some standard 911 and you’re likely going to be disappointed. As the turbo Porsche is and always is an entirely different proposition to its normally aspirated sister, a V10 R8 is basically rather similar to some V8 R8, just with measurable performance points re-established on the higher level. And were the eight-pot Audi R8 lower than one among our very favourite cars of any description, this might come as something of the let down. In case it’s like being given not only the keys towards the chocolate factory however the deeds also. All of the superficially mundane qualities that actually result in the Audi R8 so special – it’s ride and refinement, the functionality of their interior and simple use – have survived the transition intact. Perhaps greater than other supercar, whenever you think in an Audi R8 You Think That not simply how great It‘s to drive, but just simply the amount greater even than it should be to own and endure day by day.

And also the V10 shows you are able to have all this, complete with truly epic performance to not mention a howling V10 soundtrack and an 8700rpm rev-limit. No, it’s almost so unhinged like the Lamborghini LP560 (and for the blame its extra 225kg around any power deficit ), however the gap is narrower compared to the £40, 000 price gulf between them would suggest. Best of Audi has stuck to its decision not to allow greater than 35 per cent of available torque be delivered with the front wheels so it effectively feels more rear-wheel drive than ever, while its ultra-long wheelbase and dazzlingly well-controlled suspension with magnetic adaptive damping means its handling can be as benign as ever. Should I buy one? Some people, some people included, predicted the Audi R8 V10 would prove a step too far. The V8 car never felt lacking in performance and had this type of delicious think that it seem inevitable that whatever the V10 brought in extra performance could be greater than offset by actually lost in balance and delicacy. This appears not as being case, by pricing the Audi R8 V10 so near the R8 V8 (once you’ve added the Nappa leather, sat-nav, carbon side panels, LED lights and magnetic ride there’s lower than ten grand inside it ), It‘s produced a good more desirable and better-value version of one among our favourite cars from the 21st century. No wonder Audi thinks 70 per cent of R8 sales will now be V10s. There probably hasn’t been a worse time for them to sink one hundred grand into your supercar, but when there is one available worthy of that a commitment, it’s hard to consider another more deserving than this.