Last week we got a chance to have a go in a brand new Audi R8. From the moment the car arrived and was parked just outside the garage, with the engine still running, we knew this would be a fabulous afternoon. On the way to Latem Motors it started to rain slightly and by the time we got there the road was quite wet. With most supercars this would mean we had to reschedule the testdrive, but not with the Audi; the quattro gave plenty of confidence even in really wet conditions. For those of you who rather have rear wheel drive then four wheel drive Audi allows the quattro to be set up with 80% of the traction on the rear wheels.

When we fired up the engine you could hear and feel the 420 impatient horses come to life from the 4.2 litre V8 engine mounted behind the two seats. But unlike many other supercars with the same specifications it was nothing overwhelming. When you close the doors it is even harder to imagine there’s a 4.2 litre V8 capable of doing 301 km/h just below your right foot. Although the car was roughly based on the Lamborghini Gallardo, and shares a lot of components with this Italian, the Audi R8 is so different. Inside the Audi has a lot more space then you would expect when you see it from the outside. Compared to the Gallardo and most other supercars for that matter it’s very comfortable and spacious, even tall people won’t feel cramped. Add the quality Audi satnav, hi-fi and climate control and there’s not much more to wish for… except maybe a backseat and somewhere to put the luggage, but for that occassion we rather have an Audi RS6.

The Audi R8 we drove had the six-speed manual instead of the six-speed R tronic that allows you to change gears with the pedals behind the steering wheel or for the lazy people drive in automatic mode. From what we heard though the R tronic is not completely flawless and that makes the manual gearbox the faster one. The most remarkable about this car is not the sheer power but the grip and speed through the corners. We haven’t had a chance to drive the R8 on dry surface but the grip must be phenomenal in perfect conditions. We were lucky to drive some of the rivals of the R8 over the year but no car is so easy to drive, especially in bad or changing weather conditions, as the Audi R8. No wonder Audi struggles to fulfill the demand for this car!

Last thing left to discuss are the looks. When we saw the first pictures of this car it didn’t impress us much, at the first carshow it appeared and we had a chance to see it for real it still didn’t impress us. But then there was this moment on the German autobahn on the way back from one of many business trips when suddenly an array of LEDs appeared in the rearview mirror, moments later it overtook us, suddenly showing the R8 in context, in it’s natural habitat, between the other cars on the German autobahn. In the rearview mirror the car looked very small, almost like a bullet, but from behind it’s aggressive and very wide like a proper supercar. Only then we realised the R8 is more then an Audi TT with some LEDs and a fat engine. Now that I’ve seen the Audi R8 a couple of times on the road and have had a chance to drive and play there’s only one more thing to say: ‘I want one!’

Video of the Audi R8:

We want to thank Mr. Schotte from Latem Motors for this opportunity!