Official Audi R8 Photos

[ekool]

Audi has just unveiled the 2008 R8 — its first ever mid-engine sports cars. Sales will begin in the first half of 2007 for the United States and Europe. The car has a 420 horsepower high-revving V8 engine and all-wheel-drive. It uses the mid-engine Lamborghini Gallardo platform, and will somewhere between $80,000 and $110,000 — positioning it squarely against the BMW M6, Porsche 911, and Aston Martin Vantage. It features LED headlamps surrounded by LED running lights and indicators. LEDs are also used in the engine bay to make the impressive V8 visible even at night. Claimed 0 to 62 mph time is 4.6 seconds, though this number is likely conservative. Gallery after the jump…

Via Leftlane News, Images here:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/09/...-r8-2007-2008/

[ekool]

Autoblog covered the photos and has a few additional ones I havent seen up here:

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/28/p...tro/2#c2275577

[Pete R8]

Bummer--I had hoped for much more. With the pointy nose it looks like a Porsche got rear-ended by a TT.

The performance is lackluster at best for a car of that price--I can get around faster in my SLK 55 and for about 50K less.

I was going to swap out the Merc, but now I see no reason to.

Also the Christmas lights it the headlamp assembly are a distraction.

Audi can do a better job--this is an expensive Aztec.

I really wanted to love this car.

[cooperr8]

i own an 06 rs4 and to be honest in terms of speed and be saying bye bye to you in your slk55 and the r8 is a lot less heavier than mine so performance should be alot quicker

[cooperr8]

if an rs4 does 0-100 in 10.5 what will the r8 do

[Pete R8]

I'll have to drive it first and check out actual road test specs. I was really hoping that it would be a sub 4 second car to 60. For the price of the R8, I can snag the faster Tesla, and save a ton in fuel costs too. The quattro is intriguing, because I can drive the Audi year-round. I love the Audi line--I've been through 4 of them and have two in my garage presently.

[cooperr8]

supposedly the v10 is the sub 4 second car

[Paul]

There really isn't much that will keep up with an '06 RS4 when the sport button is pushed and the revs are kept over 4,500rpm ... the throttle response is just electric and the amount of grip for cornering at speed is just staggering ... over a twisting undulating road the RS4 is simply mind blowingly fast.

For the RS4, Audis claimed time for 0-62mph (0-100kmh) was ... according to the nice hardback book you get when you order one ... 4.8 seconds. In reality many motoring reviews have timed it at anything up to three tenths quicker. I have read more than a couple of reviews where they have recorded times of 4.6 seconds and at least one review where they even managed 4.5 seconds.

With Audi claiming a 0-62mph figure of 4.6 seconds for the R8 I think it's fair to say that in reality it will comfotably hit that in under 4.5 seconds and where the RS4 will go on to 124mph 11.8seconds after hitting 62mph I would also expect the R8 to shave several tenths off this time.

How many cars are likely to hit 124 mph in less than 16 seconds, which the R8 will likely be capable of :?: ... turbo'd Porsches, some Ferraris, some Lambos, the odd AMG Merc ... any more :?:

But driving on the road quickly isn't all about straight line speed, which is why I'm not sure about the SLK55 being quicker out and about on the open road than the RS4 ... there are a set of lap times on the website of the UK car show called TopGear that show an AMG SL55 being slower than a BMW M3 when driven by their top test driver ... I know that doesn't conclusively mean the AMG SL55 is slower than the M3, but on a road it's probably likely that the M3 would prove the quicker car in real world driving ... [URL=http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/powerlaps.shtml]Lap Times[/B] ... so seeing as the R8 will be 90kg lighter than the RS4 I suspect it will be quicker round a track than the M3 as already head to head tests have shown the RS4 is quicker on a track than the M3.

Anyway, at the end of the day it's all about what each individual wants and what they prefer, be it looks, handling characteristics, outright straight line speed, sound, and numerous other things that influence each of us to choose different cars from one another when it's time to part with our hard earned cash.

[Paul]

Forgot to mention in my last post ... there is no sign (at present) that Audi will release a V10 powered sub four second version of the R8 ... which is what I think many people are looking for in a bi-turbo'd V10 uber-supercar version of the R8. Much as I'd like to see it, I think the likelyhood of a V10 version of the R8 that will be capable of truely beating the Gallardo is not too likely ... if they do produce a Gallardo beater that easily beats it, people will then expect them to squeeze a V12 into the R8 and make it quicker than the Murcielago

However, ... imho ... as Audi and Lamborghini are part and parcel of the same group of companies, I don't think they are likely to release a Gallardo beater. Historically Lamborghini acceleration times have been difficult to match, let alone better, so with the Gallardo being a 4.2 second 0-62mph car Audi appears to be keeping the R8 deliberately slower ... albeit on Audi paper ... than the Gallardo so as not to make it as too much of a rival for what is effectively a sister companies car.

[Pete R8]

All great posts and well-versed opinions--this is a good forum. I guess I'm just a geek for raw thrust. The SLK gets me to 60 in a scant 4.3 seconds, and that is just plain exhilarating on the way to work in the morning. The SLK is crude in the turns, but I'm not a good enough driver to know the difference anyway.

I'd love to see the next model year as they tweak the body and beef up the engine to get it down to Lambo numbers.