Overview

If you’d like a model to bridge the gap between a sports car and a super car, the Audi R8 has always made sense. It’s long presented itself as the everyday supercar – the kind you can live with and drive on a daily basis without much fuss to get in the way. In that, it’s always been eminent among the rest of its peers, eclipsing the Italian wing of the class in comfort and drivability especially. 

At low rpm it feels like any other Audi – simple to drive, easy to park, and reliable, too. Only when you really open the taps will its 5.2-litre V10 party piece come alive, and with a sonorous tone to put almost anything else strapped to four wheels to shame. 

When it was on sale, the R8 was up against some serious machinery in its money bracket. First up is the Porsche 911, another crazy speedy car that’s easy to live with day-to-day. Then there was the Mercedes-AMG GT, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin Vantage.

It’s about time we got to some figures. Rear-wheel drive (RWD) models pump out 570hp for a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.7 seconds. Four-wheel drive (4WD) models (quattro in Audi speak) received a 50hp power hike which brought the 0-62mph sprint time down to 3.1 seconds. A limited run RWD GT edition was produced right at the model’s death. Its tuned up V10 produces slightly more power at 620hp, along with 565Nm of torque for a 0-62mph time of 3.4 seconds.

In terms of trim levels, Audi kept things simple. Both RWD and 4WD models came in standard and Edition spec, the latter costing more as it came with more bits.

You can read more about the driving in the engine section, but rest assured that the R8 feels as fast as the figures suggest. It’s really rapid and has an engine and exhaust note to die for. You’ll not grow tired of the deep rumble from the engine that transitions into a high wail as you explore the upper extremes of the rev range.

For a supercar it has reasonable storage space, but it’s still hugely impractical compared to most other cars. It has a small front boot, seating for two, a couple of cup holders, and not much else.

Over the next five pages we’ll be looking back on the Audi R8 in detail. You’ll find out what it was like to drive, how comfortable and how practical it wass, as well as whether we’d recommend buying one.