audi


Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
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Sep 22, 2005
1,768
Atlanta
Audi R8 article in July Motor Trend

Motor Trend 's lengthy article states the 3583 lb R8 with 420 HP and 317 TQ will do 0-60 in 3.9 and the 1/4 in 12.5 @ 112 mph. :frown :frown I don't think so. How do "professional" auto journalists get away with printing physics defying garbage like this? IMO they would need another 100+ HP to achieve these numbers. Maybe they forgot to mention there was a 50 mph tailwind :banana :banana
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
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Sep 22, 2005
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Even with the real numbers it's a heck of a great car.
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
I can believe it. Obviously it's a best case scenario, but clearly the car is fast. July's Car and Driver has the R8 clobbering the 997 Turbo and AMV8 arond Willow Springs. It's markedly slower than the 997 in a straight line, but was over 3 seconds faster at the track. That's quite a difference.
 

sharp33

GT Owner
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Apr 19, 2006
346
Rochester, NY
Even with the real numbers it's a heck of a great car.

Nice to have an alternative to the 997tt for a daily driver. I hope they look better in the flesh than they do in the pictures.
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
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Sep 22, 2005
1,768
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Tungsten, in Atlanta, has one ordered for a DD, and was able to participate in a test drive. I believe he was much more impressed with the car than its power. The MT article mentioned every exotic on the West Coast including F430, Carrera and Ford GT's, Turbo Porsche, Lotus, MB and Veyron being in complete awe of the R8. :frown Audi brings alot to the table, and the R8 will be an instant hit on the track. I want to see one in person with the right color combiation and some additional HP and tourque numbers that will support their 0-60 performance claims of 3.9.
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
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Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
The car looks really nice in the flesh. I saw it at the Chicago Auto show and got a virtual tour. The problem is the color combinations that make it soooo weird looking. It does have a nuclear reactor light as noted on the forum here many months ago.
 

SYCO GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 9, 2006
4,974
California
It looks pretty nice in the flesh.

But the V8 looks small in the engine bay. It needs the V10 to look proper...

I saw it from afar at the Long Beach Grand Prix, and then up close at the local Cars and Coffee...

IMG_2599a.jpg


IMG_0513a.jpg
 

californiacuda

GT Owner
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Oct 21, 2005
919
Many high powered cars today are traction limited in lower gears with street tires. Is is possible, with the two front tires helping tire to road friction, that the car can generate surprising launch acceleration? Just a thought.
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
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Sep 22, 2005
1,768
Atlanta
Good thought. After all, if a 2 ton Jeep with the same approx HP can get to 60 in under 5 sec, maybe the R-8 can do it under 4 sec. I assume the R8 reaches 60 in 2nd gear, which adds to the sub 4 sec challenge, which I still believe has not been accomplished with a stock R8.
 

PILOTJPW1

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 22, 2005
908
Maryland
Is not the production very limited?

I thought the Audi head cheese said something like only 300 units for North America. If so they will be pretty scarce. I like the style and bet it will be a sweet driver.
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
Oddly enough I saw one of these this morning. We were facing each other from opposite sides merging onto a one way street. He ended up a car behind me getting onto the freeway but never managed to get anything but the front and 3/4 view before he got lost in traffic. Better looking on the road than I thought!
 

Neilda

GT Owner
Oct 19, 2005
3,559
London, UK
There's a fair bit of discussion on the R8 in Europe - with the Lamborghini V10 engine, it's going to be an interesting car.

I think the view ultimately is that 'it's an Audi' will probably rule it out of collectors garages. The rear looks great, the front a bit ordinary. Reminds me of a girl once....... :wink
 

californiacuda

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Oct 21, 2005
919
I saw an article about a German tuner putting a supercharger on a new RS4 and the author of the article wondered about the same mod to an R8. Sounds like they may be following in the footsteps of the Ford GT.
 

SYCO GT

GT Owner
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Sep 9, 2006
4,974
California
Here is what I mean about extra room in the engine bay...

When you crack the hood of a GT, it is definitely an impressive moment.

Not the same level with the Audi, gauging from the lack of crowd response...

IMG_2600.jpg
 

TEXAS GT

2006 Twin Turbo
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Here is what I mean about extra room in the engine bay...

When you crack the hood of a GT, it is definitely an impressive moment.

Not the same level with the Audi, gauging from the lack of crowd response...

IMG_2600.jpg

Looks like somebody set a lawnmower engine in their trunk.
 

BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
Size isn't everything. The engine bay has to be bigger than the engine, since they plan to put the V10 in it.
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 22, 2005
1,768
Atlanta
The magazine writers love the R8 so it must be special. The July Car & Driver evaluated it against the Astin V-8 Vantage and Porsche 911 Turbo and the lesser priced R8 was ranked 1st:thumbsup It's 0-60 was a more believable 4.3 sec. The article stated the R8's proportions look awkward from some angles which is probably why some of the pics are not real flattering. The R8 is going to be awesome when they fill up the engine bay.
 

STUNTS

FORD GT OWNER & LITTLE TIMMYS DAD!
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Apr 5, 2006
2,438
SoCal
when they do the 1/4, they are suppose to run it in both directions 2 to 3 times and average them out... that is the true/correct way to run a 1/4 mile for spec. calculations..... who knows how they did it.... and personally, I don't like it, I would rather have the 350 Z.... yep, I said it. Nissan 350 Z spec'd/option'd and track'd out..... I think they look they same.... mostly in the rear end but thats MHO....:cheers
 

Tungsten

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 22, 2006
275
Atlanta
R8 Test Drive

I had the good fortune of being invited to Las Vegas for two days of driving the R8. We spent the first several hours running the car through the area outside of Vegas. Canyon area? Anyway, great roads, great views, high speeds and a great car. The R8 lacks the brute force of the GT and other cars, but is very refined in the way it applies the power. Cornering and road handling were excellent. I thought it felt comparable to my 996TT, but again more refined in the way it handled the curves and applied the power.

The second session was at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where we ran the car on a short road course. Again, very impressive, but lacked power in my opinion. The car is wicked fast through the turns as someone already mentioned.

This is a great car. They told us that there would be a very small number in the US this year, one or two per dealer that was authorized at the announcement. They said that would make the US shipments in 2007 around
70 +/-. At the time of announce, many dealers had not signed up for the added requirements for the R8. Dedicated showroom, dedicated service space and people. Hard to justify for a small number of cars.

Their plan was to run the V8 this year. Expect Lambo to announce a bigger
V10 in 2008 and the current Lambo V10 to move to the Audi. I am on the list now for that car. Speculation from the Audi build team that they will also put the Audi racing diesel in the car as well in later years.

Some of the color combos are really striking. When we got there they had 50 of them lined up outside the hotel. They told you to pick your car and have fun. Personal preference is interesting, everyone walked to a different car, color combination. There was not a bad color in the lot. Half the cars were manual shift and half had the paddle shift. We switched between these halfway through.

Nice car, will be a rare car for the moment. They think the exotic market will decline over the next couple of years and then come back very strong. They definition of exotic market is Porsche, BMW, Mercedes.

Don:thumbsup
 

Neilda

GT Owner
Oct 19, 2005
3,559
London, UK
Interesting report there - thanks for that....

As I mentioned earlier, the V10 will be a very interesting partner for this chassis, I'm not convinced the R8 will ever be seen as a 'supercar' but it will certainly nudge into the Porsche, M3, AMG territory. I could be tempted.

Funny shot of the engine bay! Very sad to see that little lump in there and, as previously cited, the GT really does stand out in that department. I always thought my Murcielago engine bay was a bit disappointing - particularly when looking under the covers of Ferraris...

I wonder if they would make a stripped down R8 V10? You report that it's tight in the corners - it could make a fun track car.

Hmmm!