Car India – May 2019

AUDIR8

I

F THEMCLARENISARACECARCHASSISWITHA

prettyfunctional—if extremelypotent—powertrainalong

fortheride,theAudiisneatlythepolaropposite:an

astonishing,ragingcombustionengineina carsorefined,

comfortable,andnon-intimidatingit couldbea lower,widerA3.

Ora TTafterthemotherofallenginetransplants.Andthis,

dependingonmyriadfactors,fromtheweatherconditions,

throughwhatkindofupbringingyouhad,tohowmuchropeyou

liketoclimbwith(metaphoricallyspeaking),iseitherthegenius

ofAudi’sR8orthereasonyou’llbeboredofit indays.

CurtisMoldrich,who’sbeenintheAudia coupleofdays,is

eyes-wide-openwhenhepullsupaftera stintinthe570S.‘The

McLarenfeelslikea competitioncar,’hegushes.‘It’sincredibly

direct,witha precisionpowertrainanda super-firmbrakepedal

thatbuildsconfidence;stamponit tostopinstantlyorgraduate

yourpressureforrichfeelandfeedback.Whenit allclicks,it’slike

you’redoingyourthirdstintatLeMans,rawandaggressive,and

whenyouclimbout,yourwristsfeellikeyou’vebeenpneumatic

drillingfora coupleofhours.That,’hemutters,noddinginthe

Audi’sdirection,‘isa roadcar.’

Theironyoftheracecomparisonbeingmadeaboutthecarfrom

themarquethatdidn’tspendmostthelasttwodecadesutterly

dominatingLeMansisn’tlostoneitherofus,butthetruthis

undeniable:if,suddenly,youweretaskedwithjumpingintoonecar

fora 30-minutestintatSpa,you’dbepullingdowntheMcLaren’s

beautifullyweighteddriver’sdoorinseconds,beforescreaminginto

EauRougelikea carboncometwitha softhumancentre.

Butif,withthesamelackofnotice,youweretaskedwith

drivingtoSpa,ratherthanaroundit,sayovernight,andwithno

reststops,you’dgrabtheAudi.OnfirstimpressionstheR8’s

high-riseseating,sofa-specpaddinganddelectablywell-executed

cockpitareaswelcomeastheyareunderwhelming;welcome

becauseyou’reimmediatelyatease,underwhelmingbecause,well,

shouldn’ta £128,295(Rs1.15crore)mid-enginedperformancecar

intimidatea little?

Butit’dbewrongtosuggestthere’snofuntobehadhere.Like

theMcLaren,theAudi’senginecan’tabidelaziness.Wanta

thumpinthebackandaccelerationtoscalpanythingthatmoves?

Thenbloodywellputsomeeffortinandchoosetherightgear.

AfterthePorsche’sludicrouslytorqueyandflexibleflat-six

(compellingdrivefrom2,000rpm,anyone?),theAudi’spaucityof

low-revdriveisvaguelyalarming.WheretheMcLarenwakesat

The friendly

face of fury

3,500 rpm, the Audi needs 5,000 rpm —

5,000 rpm! — showing to do its best work.

Counter-intuitively, perhaps, it’s the

same story with the chassis. At the risk of

soundinglikeyourold primary school teacher, you get out what

youputin.WherethePorsche and McLaren are a tactile joy at

walkingpace,theAudi comes alive with a bit of effort.

GuardsRedPorsche in my mirrors, the Audi and I peel left and

dropdownhill,likea fighter jet suddenly coming off standby to

dropaltitude,gainsome speed, and engage. V10 screaming madly

behindme,a brilliantlittle sequence awaits: fast-ish left into

tighter,uphillcambered right.

Fumbleandyou’llundersteer, the Audi frustrated, and

frustrating,if you’veno weight on the nose and no engine revs to

playwith.Butona trailing throttle through the left, the R8 is fast,

grippy,andincrediblypliant, even in Dynamic. And the slower,

camberedright-hander is a joy: brake (via the ludicrously soft

pedal,particularlyafter the McLaren’s rock-hard set-up — the

PerformanceR8getsceramics), down to third to really tether your

rightfoottotheV10’spotency, then off the throttle, slug of lock,

backonthegas.

Momentarilyweightless, the R8’s rear helps pivot the car into

thecorner,whereupon the steadying effect of tapping back into

thepowerisimmediate and tangible, like suddenly freeze-framing

thecar’sentiremid-corner dynamic. And now, if you really wring

outtheV10,therearaxle will quite happily help tighten your line,

all-wheel-drivesystem notwithstanding. This, you smile, is more

likeit...

Butwhateveryoudo, the Audi’s nagging vagueness,

imprecisionandlifeless steering remain. To assume that Audi

wantedtheR8tobeas unrelentingly direct as the 570S and

somehowfailedtomanage it is, of course, preposterous. It could

havegonewayfurtherwith the incremental increase in focus that

underpinsthisrevisedR8 and once again dropped the powered

frontaxle(savingweight and boosting fun), as it did so

successfullywiththeRWS. But that’s not what Audi buyers, even

R8buyers,want,apparently. The question is, what do you want?

PRE-FLIGHTBRIEFING:AUDIR8

Whyisithere?

Justthetwoseats,

obviously,butif

you’reaftera

versatile,vaguely

practicalsupercar,

theAudiR8,just

givena facelift,has

tobeinyourlist.

Theupdaterunsto

sharperstylingfront

andrear,bigger

exhausts,recalibrated

steering(thiscar

doesn’thavethe

Dynamicsteering

option),and

marginallystiffer

suspensiontoaddress

theprimarycriticism

oftheprevious

version—thatit was

toopliant,refined,

and generally

agreeable to call itself

a proper sports car.

Any clever stuff?

What, apart from a

turbo-free 5.2-litre V10

able to breeze through

current noise and

emission regulations?

Well, there’s a new

carbon-fibre front

anti-roll bar and a

twin-clutch ’box

almost too refined for

its own good. The

drivetrain is all-wheel-

drive with an

electronically

controlled centre diff

shuffling the V10’s

might front/rear.

Which version is this?

This the 570-PS R8 (up

from 540 PS), not the

new flagship

“performance” (620

PS): the new name for

the artist formerly

known as the R8 V10

plus. (For now, there’s

no rear-drive RWS.)

(Left) Routinely

struggling for speed?

You’ll need the

Performance version

78 CAR INDIA May 2019 http://www.carindia.in