FastFleet
HOULDA 611BHPMID-ENGINEDSUPERCAR
make a good track car? Reading that back
it sounds like a contenderfor the easiest
question asked since‘Is F1 more interested in the
minutiaeofthe rules than the racing?’
KY19 NLFhas,to date,proved to be a mixed bag
on track.Its time has,as I write,been restricted to
the firstevotrack evening ofthe season at Bedford
Autodrome,but the changeable conditionsprovided
the perfect canvas for the R8 to paint me a detailed
dynamicpicture.
The first half-dozen laps were on a wet track and
it took two laps oftheAutodrome’s 3.8-mileGT
circuit before the first strokes offeedback appeared,
allowing me to pick out more detail on what was
going on beneath me.Whichon a greasy track and
a set ofMichelinPilot Sport4 S tyres strugglingto
generate any heat, wasn’t a great deal.
Entry to low-speed turns had the front end
strugglingto find any grip, the steering taking on a
lightness that mimicked the City steering setting on
a 1999 Fiat Punto.And yet the R8’s quattro drivetrain
doesn’t struggleon the exit when you start to feed
in theV10’s power – unless you’re reckless with the
throttle,that is,then there’s plenty ofshufflingand
slippingto manage,althoughthis isn’t too muchof
an issue because the R8 comes to you when it starts
to get squirmy.
Mid-speed corners in the same conditions
eradicate a large portionofthe front-end vagueness
on entry, but the transitionfrom grip to slip and back
to grip mid-cornerisn’t as clearly telegraphed as you
would hope for in a car with a 5.2-litreV10 positioned
between the bulkhead and rearbumper. It takes a
steady throttle and Guinness-smoothsteering inputs
to avoid a spiky mess ofslip when you’d muchprefer
to be parallel to the circuit’s edge.
It all comes togetherin the high-speed stuff.
Whichis reassuring.Whenyou need the utmost
commitmentfrom the R8’s front end,you get it,the
Pilot Sports findingpurchase through the layer of
grease, the steering coming back to you,the chassis
chatting away.Whenyou need the full processing
power ofAudi Sport’s engineers,the R8 delivers
terabytes ofdata to yourpalms and backside.
As conditionsdry, the R8’s low- and mid-speed
performance up theirgame,but strangely on the
driersurface,at higherspeeds,withina handful
oflaps you feel you’ve experienced everything
the R8 has to offer. It feels a little synthesised, a
sensation that could be down to ourcar’s optional
DynamicSteering and adaptive dampers,two
components that have proved themselves to be
great companionson the road.This sounds like a
perfect excuse for me to try a non-Performance R8
withoutsuch features on track,as perthe example
that triumphed in our911 group test in issue 262.
Away from the track,the R8’s ability to switch from
a supercar that will force youreyeballs out oftheir
sockets when you use as muchofits performance
as you dare,to a car that could rival a Continental GT
for suppleness, refinementand comfort, is showing
it to be more at homeon the road.
Stuart Gallagher(@stuartg9 17 )
It’s a superstar supercar on the road, but how does the R8 fare on track?
AudiR8V10Performance
S
Date acquiredApril 2019Total mileage
4423 Mileage this month 1075 Costs this
month£0mpg this month18.7