Teamspeed First Drive: Audi R8 V10 Plus
De-cluttered R8 goes for broke
by Peter Burgess – Teamspeed European Editor

What is it? The 2013 R8 gets a mild cosmetic makeover, with new lights seemingly the major telltale sign. But the new V10 Plus is a de-specced bombshell that will frighten the children.

Why do I care? If you’ve always liked the idea of an Audi R8, but wished it had more of a 911 GT3 attitude, this is your car

How fast is it? 5,204 V10, 550hp@8,000rpm, 398lb ft@6,500rpm, 0-62mph 3.3sec, 195mph vmax

How much is it? From $170,545

It wasn’t until Saturday that I got a fresh perspective on the Audi R8 V10 Plus, four days and several hundred miles after I’d been handed the keys. We were driving into central London for a visit to the theatre and I reckoned the R8 was the way to go.

My wife complained in a way I can’t previously remember. The key issue was the ride. Sure, it’s pretty firm, but I had already decided that it was a compromise that was a million times more acceptable that my bête noir, the Porsche 996 RS. Helped by some decently padded seats, Audi has got it right with this more focussed R8.

Yet in London with its bumps and holes in the road, it became very hard going indeed. Especially as the new S tronic automatic transmission still snatches as it takes up drive from rest. It was just as well I didn’t go anywhere near the Sports mode.

The 2014 Audi R8
It’s five years since Audi launched the original R8, to strong acclaim. Here was a car that had the credentials of a Ferrari F430 yet cost a good 30% less and had Audi build quality.

2013 sees the mid-life makeover. Cosmetically there are redesigned LED headlights and some fancy rear indicators that strobe across the lenses in the direction of the turn. More significantly, that tiresome automated manual transmission has been replaced by a seven-speed dual-clutch unit that promises vastly smoother gear changes.

The new-to-the range R8 V10 Plus is a more focused, sporting R8, not quite along the lines of an RS 911 but heading in that direction. It gets an additional 25hp, now 550hp, and ceramic brakes as standard.

To save weight there are new seats with manual rather than electric adjustment and, controversially, the magnetic ride adaptive suspension has been junked in favour of straightforward springs.

The London launch
Audi had invited the editors of 10 key motoring titles in the UK to lunch at the newly refurbished St Pancras Hotel, and then to take away a R8 for the week. It was a hell of a sight, all ten lined up in the hotel forecourt and a bunch of YouTubers waiting with their iPhones to capture the departure.

As I drive north, through the city, then suburbs to the freeway, one thing is immediately clear. The new double clutch S tronic transmission is light years ahead of the previous R tronic. It slips through the seven gears with easy smoothness, with rarely the jerkiness that plagued the old system.

Flick the lovely aluminium paddles behind the wheel to default into manual mode and there’s much of the involvement of the full manual box. Or leave it in Auto but depress the Sport button behind the new gearshift lever.

Then the other side of this R8’s character emerges. Drive the Plus in Sport Auto mode only after serious consideration. In the city it downshifts at the merest hint that your foot is heading towards the brake pedal. And it does so with a blood-curdling blip of the throttle that will cause seizures in those nearby with a weak heart.

Sport mode is, you have to conclude, only for the wide-open road or test track, unless you really want to draw attention to yourself. There is a compromise position though. You can get increased throttle pedal response and extra noise if you choose Sport with full manual operation through the paddles. You’ll feel more in control too.

Whatever the transmission setting you select the R8 Plus is eye-wateringly fast. It reaches 60mph in around 3.5 seconds which is only 0.3 seconds short of the Pagani Huayra that’s more expensive by a factor of six!

Of course, it’s child’s play to get close to the factory figures too. The combination of quattro four-wheel-drive, new transmission and launch control means it’s simply a matter of flooring the pedal and hanging in as long as you dare. 197mph is the top speed, give or take…. The ceramic brakes knock off the speed with impressive efficiency, though I can’t recall a car with brakes so snatchy at low speeds.

I like the new seats with their high-level wrap-around support. They look the part for a super sporting model and they still have a modicum of electric adjustment that increases the squeeze around your thighs and back.

There’s an argument that rear-wheel-drive is de rigueur in a mid-engined supercar. My experience of the 458 in both coupe and Spider forms is that the harder you push this Ferrari, the more it involves you in the whole dynamic. The Manettino helps.

The R8 Plus is friendlier, more manageable, with fewer driver options to worry about. Simply point, squirt and wait for the traction/stability systems to cut in when you overstep the mark.

That’s not to say there isn’t the chance of the heart-stopping moment. The rear wheels will loose traction first, especially when the road surface is anything but perfectly dry, and the tail will step sideways couple of inches before “systems” take control and straighten you out. It’s the safer way of supercar driving.

Audi considers the R8 a success. Sales are still solid and this facelift should see it through a few more years until the next one comes along. It will be interesting to see if that car is more radical. Take away the side blades and the profile of the R8 is similar – too similar – to the housewives’ favourite Audi TT. Inside the facia simply takes great chunks of dials and instruments from other, cheaper Audis. Great quality, certainly, but predictable too.

But then the R8 is conspicuously good value compared with Ferrari and McLaren, and provides base-line thrills that are very little short of the thoroughbreds. You can’t knock the engineering either. Your major decision, if you are thus far convinced, it whether to go for the full Plus option. After much thought, I’d opt for a regular R8 simply to get the magic suspension. It’s always important to keep your wife happy.

 

Very cool article.. Can't wait to test this car

 

Anyone order the new R8 yet here?

 

The new 2014 V10 spyder doesn't count, right?

 

^^^helz ya it does! Did you take delivery yet??!

 

Ta da!

(Sorry for crappy iphone pic...)

 

Great looking car - congrats!

 

Drove it and fell in love with this GT! Unreal experience.

 

AoA tossed me the keys to a 2014 RS8 Spyder for the weekend, very enjoyable car to drive and sadly they have limited me to only 150 miles.