Ground Clearance

[rmclachlan]

Any R8 owners had any problems with ground clearance i.e. speed bumps or parking garage ramps as yet?

I wonder whether there is enough clearance at the front as it seem to be one of the lowest ( and longest) front overhang I have seen on a car as yet.

[R8driver]

Yes

First day driving home I bottomed it on the uneven road near home, I went straight to my dealer put it up on the ramp to see what had hit, it has some plastic skid blocks either side at the front which it had scuffed,so no damage. Also I overheard the staff at Crawley mention one of the other cars sold was brought back in for a check as the owner caught the underneath attempting to drive up a steep driveway.

[elliot]

Yes

First day driving home I bottomed it on the uneven road near home, I went straight to my dealer put it up on the ramp to see what had hit, it has some plastic skid blocks either side at the front which it had scuffed,so no damage. Also I overheard the staff at Crawley mention one of the other cars sold was brought back in for a check as the owner caught the underneath attempting to drive up a steep driveway.

I was just posting about this in the test drive thread. I personally think its too low for our roads, especially with the long overhang and long wheelbase, especially for an 'everyday' sportscar.

It would be fine if it had the hydraulic lift option that i had on my lambo, negates any worries and looks awesome in the process!!

[Yph]

Yes

First day driving home I bottomed it on the uneven road near home, I went straight to my dealer put it up on the ramp to see what had hit, it has some plastic skid blocks either side at the front which it had scuffed,so no damage. Also I overheard the staff at Crawley mention one of the other cars sold was brought back in for a check as the owner caught the underneath attempting to drive up a steep driveway.

This appears very worrisome...

Ive not seen the r8 in the flesh.... How does the clearance compare to AMV8, GT3 or Elise. These seem to enter the ramps in my office building fine...

Any owners out there with exact dimensions? much appreciated

[rmclachlan]

I was just posting about this in the test drive thread. I personally think its too low for our roads, especially with the long overhang and long wheelbase, especially for an 'everyday' sportscar.

It would be fine if it had the hydraulic lift option that i had on my lambo, negates any worries and looks awesome in the process!!

How does the hydraulic lift option work, could it be retrofitted?

[elliot]

Basically there is a button on the dash board that lifts the front end of the car by about an extra 6 inches. This could be activated at up to 50mph and dropped down automatically if you went over that speed, it was great for when you new where speed bumps etc were as you could activate it on route and then just zoom over them no probs

It was an approx £1500 Lambo option but could not be retrofitted, i think its very short sighted of Audi not to offer this when the problem is even worse on the R8 than the Gallardo due to the longer wheel base and front overhang.

There is going to be a hell of a lot of wincing going on in car parks around the country!

[imclueless]

The first thing I did was check it on my drive. Close but ok.

I agree it should have a jacking system ala Lambo

[r8rob]

The official ground clearance stated by Audi is 110mm from ground to the R8's lowest point.

The front of the R8's lowest point is the front bumper at 140mm,

The rear of the R8's lowest point is 110mm

The floor pan of the R8 sits at 130mm

There are strategically placed "scrape points" on the front and on the rear that sit...

Front = 120mm
Rear = 110mm

[Guilty]

My R8 bottoms also, but mainly on bad roads with some short bumps in it. I do not have any problems with larger speedbumps. Very rarely the smaller ones.

The odd thing is that it bottoms when I do not expect it and mainly driving between 20 and 35 miles per hour (30 - 50 km/h).

I checked for damage, but couldn't find any.

[rmclachlan]

The official ground clearance stated by Audi is 110mm from ground to the R8's lowest point.

The front of the R8's lowest point is the front bumper at 140mm,

The rear of the R8's lowest point is 110mm

The floor pan of the R8 sits at 130mm

There are strategically placed "scrape points" on the front and on the rear that sit...

Front = 120mm
Rear = 110mm

Is the plastic undertray below the front overhang designed to be a disposable/easily replaceble part?

My main concern is coming down ramps in car parks and those steep brick traffic bumps. I assume that the plastic undertray is designed to be a sacrifical part. Is there any danger of the R8 getting stuck?