Features

The extensive exposed carbon fibre that clads the engine bay belies the truth of the materials used in this car's construction. The body panels are all sculpted from aluminium, sitting over an aluminium spaceframe.

With a kerb weight of 1,560kg, imagine 414bhp in a base Mondeo to know just what's coming. The 0-62mph benchmark passes in 4.6 seconds; quick, but there remain much faster supercars out there.

Beneath that aluminium skin, elements of the R8 are pinched from its Italian cousin, the Gallardo. Alongside the standard six-speed manual gearbox, there's an optional six-speed sequential paddle-shift transmission that is an update of the Gallardo's e-Gear 'box, renamed 'R tronic' in Audi speak.

The R8's four-wheel-drive system is an evolution of the Gallardo's too, with a similar 30-per-cent front to 70-per-cent rear default torque split factored in.

Skimpy forged aluminium double wishbones are to be found all round, matched to the added cost option of magnetorheological adaptive dampers, not unlike those used on the Ferrari 599 GTB; these are filled with a fluid that increases in viscosity when exposed to an electromagnetic field, quickly reacting to changes in driving style and variations in the road surface.

There'll be switchable modes for road and track too - think hard, and harder.

Two last reminders of the Gallardo await inside, in the shape of a small flat-bottomed steering wheel and, in the regular manual version, a de rigueur exposed-alloy shift gate, mounted high up on the transmission tunnel.

Otherwise there's much of what you'd expect from, well, a big TT - tidy switches, polished alloy highlights for the steering wheel spokes and instrument surrounds, and a choice of carbon fibre or piano-black trim swooping down from the door surrounds and crossing the edges of the instrument binnacle.

The options don't end there. Those controversial 'side blades, as they're termed, on the R8's flanks can be had in any of eight colour combinations, or even in the same shade as the rest of the bodywork, should sanity briefly return.

Prepare to rack the total cost up with the availability of ceramic brake discs, a pair of even more deeply winged bucket seats, full hide trim in a range of colours limited only by the boundaries of the customer's taste, a wide-screen satnav monitor and a bespoke 12-speaker, 465 watt Bang & Olufsen sound system.

One last option (due to be made available within six months of the R8's launch next May) takes the form of a set of ultra-high intensity projector headlamps, the first in a production car to feature LEDs alone.

The concept of a Porsche 911-rivalling Audi supercar is one thing, but the real leap of faith comes with the R8's price tag. The starting point is destined to push £77,000, with the R tronic version expected to cost a steep £82,000.

Is the R8 really a dramatic enough, visually characterful enough creation to beg the same asking price as an Aston V8 Vantage, never mind a previously enjoyed Gallardo? And yet, Audi's ambitions are unlikely to halt here. The rumours of a still-dearer, V10-powered R8 show no sign of fading away.

Peter Grunert


Read Audi R8 Car Review

Audi R8 road tests
Clarkson on the R8 - September 20, 2007