Wheels Australia - June 2018

110 whichcar.com.au/wheels

you’ll find yourself craning like a horny

Galapagos tortoise to sight a vanishing

point. Yet it’s the first car of the three

that you’ll feel comfortable driving to the

limit of adhesion, at which point the

steering chatters, and your bottom

describes a long, lazy arc around the

front axle. It’s huge fun.

After the AMG’s attempt at trying to

bludgeon physics into a pulpy mess, the

Audi feels altogether more balletic. It’s

still a bit of a porker, tipping the scales

at a big-boned 1720kg, but it disguises

its mass beautifully. The all-wheel-drive

chassis lets you pick up the throttle

early without troubling the ESC, and it’s

possible to smear the R8 out of a corner

under full power, with all four wheels in

a tiny attitude of yaw. In extremis, the

Audi’s latest software can direct up to 100

percent of torque to one axle, but most

of the time the multi-plate Haldex clutch,

located between the propshaft and front

diff, usually seems to be balancing drive

smartly between the two. With less tyre

on the road than the other pair, the Audi

can be pushed into this lovely neutrality

surprisingly easily, but your exit strategy

sometimes requires a bit of pre-planning,

because you’ll want to be plugged into

some meaningful torque.

It always feels faster than it actually is

thanks to that soundtrack but after the

others, there’s a slightly breathless quality to

the Audi’s torque response. That’s inevitable

really, given that it’s normally aspirated, but

you need to manage the R8’s revs in a way

that you don’t with the AMG or the Ferrari.

The steering’s not perfect either. There’s a

heavy caster effect whichever mode you’re

in, and it’s too light in Comfort and a little

gluey in Dynamic. Don’t feel tempted to tick

the options box marked ‘Dynamic Steering’,

however, which brings a weirdly inconsistent

variable ratio/torque setup. The Audi’s ride,

roadholding and handling buy it enough

credit such that you’ll forgive the fact that

its steering isn’t top drawer.

Having endured a locust plague and

a slightly panicked search for 98RON

juice, we arrive at the end of the road,

with sand marking our turnaround point.

There’s no decision to make as to which is

‘best’. All three present a strong case, but

it’s the car that’s arguably the most flawed

that comes across as the one with the

most soul. The R8 gets under your skin.

It feels the most authentic of the bunch,

with a delightfully harmonious fusion of

engine and dynamics.

The Ferrari is befuddlingly good at

almost everything but it’s hard to escape

the nagging feeling that it’s a little

synthetic; a Stepford Wife of a supercar.

Its styling lacks the organic, simple

curves of the 458 and its engine, while a

stupendous technical achievement, almost

feels Germanic in its relentless efficiency.

On virtually every objective basis, this is

the best car here and it excels at things

you probably wouldn’t expect, but it might

well be easier to admire than to love.

Turbo lag is imperceptible

in the 488; you just perceive

this monstrous muscularity

Spider versus the dunny seat

Let’s put the 488 Spider’s performance in some sort

of context. From 0-200km/h, through the quarter mile

and from 100-200km/h it’s quicker than a McLaren

F1. It obliterates all of the 458 Speciale’s acceleration

numbers and only the Lamborghini Aventador SV’s

all-wheel drive traction off the line saves Sant’Agata’s

blushes in a straight line blast. Don’t buy a McLaren 570S

Spider and think your $90K saving will let you keep up.

Unless you plough that budget into go-faster bits, you’ll

be left trailing in the 488 Spider’s wake. If you want a

significantly quicker open-top, you’re into the realm of

mega-money hypercars. It’s that rapid.