The Software Makes The Difference
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| 2017 AUDI R8 V10 |
V-10 or V-10?
Buyers of this R8 will have far less choosing to do than before. The V-8 of the original has gone, along with the little-ticked option of the manual transmission and its glorious, gated gear lever. We mourn the passing of both, not least because it means the new car will be considerably more expensive in base form than its predecessor, even if far more powerful. A roadster version is a future certainty, and there eventually will be a smaller, turbocharged engine. For now, though, the decision is between the standard V10 coupe with 540 horsepower and the V10 Plus with 610 horses, both sharing the same 5.2-liter displacement and heady, 8700-rpm redline. There’s no official word on pricing, but we’re told to anticipate both sticking close to the market position of their predecessors. In other words, you can be fairly certain that, without at least $170,000 to spend, there won’t be an R8 for you.
Despite the almost countless man-years that Quattro GmbH’s engineers put into the new R8, its starring attraction remains the part that has been changed least, the V-10 engine. It’s worth the considerable price of admission in its own right, a high-revving masterpiece that stands as a glorious anachronism in a world where even Ferrari is downsizing and strapping on turbochargers. As in the Lamborghini, it has gained both port and direct injection and selective cylinder deactivation, but it is almost unchanged in character.
Revs are what the V-10 does best, but it’s no anemic weakling at lower rpm. There’s enough torque to keep it tractable when asked to trundle, and it’s quiet and refined even at the sort of rapid highway cruising speeds we hope the Portuguese Polícia will indulge a visiting supercar in. In the hills, it takes a good while to build up to using the full allocation of revs; even upshifting at 6500 rpm it feels sports-car fast, with a good two grand still to go before reaching the limiter. Cross the 7000-rpm line and you’re in definite supercar territory, the V-10 practically popping a can of spinach as it snarls its way to redline. Under hard use it feels almost as exciting as the Huracán, yet it’s equally adept when asked to be a well-mannered boulevard cruiser or a polished autobahn-stormer.
The transmission plays a vital part in this Jekyll-and-Hyde trick, with the seven-speed dual-clutch ’box having been tweaked—digitally, of course—to deliver faster and more forceful upshifts under hard use, along with some nifty rev-matching when you downshift. Yet left in drive in Comfort mode, it’s practically a 1970s-style waft-o-matic, shuffling its ratios both intelligently and seamlessly. The chassis coped with everything Portugal could throw at it with something close to disdain—the biggest bumps didn’t unsettle it, even with the adjustable dampers in their firmest setting—and yet it also was completely unruffled by both the low-quality urban streets and some high-speed cruising on the Autoestrada.
The biggest mechanical change between the first R8 and this one is the arrival of an electronically controlled clutch to divert torque to the front axle, in place of the previous viscous coupling. This is much faster-acting; Audi engineers claim it can go from fully free to locked in just a tenth of a second, and it is set up to divert torque to maximize traction and stability. The result is more adhesion—much more—but far less of the rear-driven feeling the first R8’s slower responses gave it, especially at low speed. Grip, like bacon, is something that some people earnestly believe you can’t have too much of, but at the sort of speeds you’re ever likely to see on public roads the R8 just grasps and goes, the driveline working to maximize traction all the time. It’s blisteringly fast—but definitely not as playful as its sometimes-wayward predecessor.
With the generosity that comes from having a PR budget to rival Greece’s national debt, Audi also booked exclusive use of the excellent Autódromo Internacional Algarve near Portimão—a circuit that, although little used for actual racing, can claim to be one of Europe’s finest for driving. Audi inhibits the stability-control switches of its cars on media launches, so we can’t regale you with stories of generous doses of opposite lock and heroic drifting, but the Performance mode’s most aggressive “Dry” setting allows enough slip to prove the chassis remains neutral even under heavier track loadings. It’s possible to make the rear slide under power, but the car will immediately divert torque to the front wheels to try to pull itself straight; it’s prepared to tighten its line a little on an eased throttle, like a Porsche, but the governing motto is always to keep everything on a tight leash.
The steering dealt with Portugal’s roads far better than it did the track at Le Mans. There’s never an abundance of feedback, but responses are keen and the ratio-tweaking is rarely noticeable. That said, we did spend most of our time in Dynamic mode, which we later found out locks the steering ratio at a fixed 13:1. Yet the steering is accurate and delivers instant response, whichever mode it’s in. It’s just a shame it has lost the voluble communication that made the first R8 such a chatty companion.
A final point: Don’t automatically assume that the Plus’s extra 70 horsepower makes it the one to plow your next lottery win into. After driving both the Plus and the standard car on the road, we really didn’t notice any significant performance advantage from the additional power. The Plus also brings fixed-back shell sports seats that will be too tight for many and has a fixed carbon-fiber rear wing in place of the standard V10’s more subtle pop-up one.
Siblings, But Not Rivals
Even knowing how similar the R8 and Huracán are beneath the surface, they don’t feel like rivals, a clever trick pulled off by their respective engineering teams. The Lamborghini is the more exciting car, no question—harder, angrier, and (we suspect) slightly faster, even though the engine in the R8 V10 Plus is in an identical state of tune. From an outsider’s perspective, the fact the Audi will do pretty much the same for what we’re estimating to be a $60,000 to $70,000 discount might look like a big problem, but Lamborghini’s marketing department is probably more concerned by the fact that the $241,000 Huracán has the legs on the $404,000 Aventador.
The R8 is definitely the better all-arounder, with a far greater range of talents than its Italian sister. It’s a viable everyday cruiser, as civilized at lower speeds as a TT or A5 coupe, yet it’s also a thrilling supercar-humbler in its own right. And it’s one with an engine that, somewhere in the electron-driven future that awaits us all, we likely will look back on as one of the all-time greats. If you’re looking for a do-anything sports car, the R8 is going to be hard to beat. Source by caranddriver.com
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