Thoughts six weeks in

[randombloke]

Thought I'd share a few thoughts after 6 weeks ownership.

Pros:

The car handles beautifully:
There are no shortage of twisty roads around here (it's pretty much all there is), so the handling gets a real workout on most journeys. Being able to carry more speed into corners thanks to the balance, brakes and grip from the quattro means that it doesn't have to be balls out straight line speed that gives a thrill. This really is the heart of the car imo.

The sound:
I don't think I'm ever going to tire of hearing 4k+ revs (exhaust valves open) on trailing throttle with the windows down.

r-tronic at everything but slow speed
I love automated manuals, and the r-tronic in sport mode doesn't disappoint at speed - fast and precise changes with both hands firmly gripping the wheel, can't beat it. I know many don't like the paddle rotating with wheel thing, but for me that makes the most sense in normal fast road driving.

storage space
Surprised at how much can be fitted into the car, that space up front is deceptively large thanks to the depth.

Long distance comfort
It's no grand tourer like the m6, but I've done a couple of single day 7hr/300mile drives in it (including one yesterday) and not felt anywhere near as knackered as I thought I would.

3d view on satnav
Dealer told me it didn't do a perspective type view, but I've found the 3d type view to be ideal in getting a feel for the road ahead to help in planning safe overtaking.



Cons:

r-tronic at slow speeds
I don't really get much chance to sit in very slow/stationary traffic much, but on the few chances I have I have to say I can't believe how wrong audi have managed to get this given that bmw have had this sorted since at least the e46 m3.

The box going to manual on its own after a few seconds when not on the brakes/gas is never going to sit well with me - when turning on twisty roads with blind bends it's not always practical to sit on the brakes and incur the delay in moving from that to turning, likewise using the handbrake. Roundabouts are another instance where I find myself having a concern about it going into neutral at the wrong moment. Having to press the brake and move the stick/pull a paddle to engage a gear makes it even more annoying.

Also when creeping at very low speeds it doesn't feel as smooth as bmw boxes - I hope they improve on this with software ongoing.

partial clear bra paint protection
Not sure I'm going to be able to live with the horizontal line about a foot from the front of the bonnet. I wish I'd done more research on this before going for it as I would have done the full bonnet instead.

hillhold assist
I'm finding that the threshold angle for where this kicks in is too high - meaning that on some inclines that are just steep enough for the car to roll back it is not engaging so I'm still having to use the handbrake for certainty on anything other than an obviously steep incline.

water ingress into engine bay when washing
Not a biggie this, just wish there was an easy way to prevent water going in through the vents when jet washing it.




Other:

MPG/Range
Not that I'm bothered about the cost, but the fuel consumption (and more importantly range) is less than I expected. It takes a little while to warm up but when it is I am seeing about 16mpg on a long twisty b road run. On shorter runs it's not always getting past 14mpg. The range I'm getting from a full tank seems to equate to just over 300 miles. I was expecting more given I was getting an average 14.5mpg from the more powerful and heavier m6. The main reason the range is an issue is because of the lack of superunleaded petrol stations in this neck of the woods - and for me I can feel a difference on 95ron vs 97/98 with vpower making the car feel noticeably more responsive.

I think a part of it is because I'm tending to drive this in the higher rev bands for the noise rather than changing up as I might if I were bothered about mpg.

Attention/Reaction
This would be a pro or con depending on how you feel about it, but there's no getting away from the attention the car gets. No shortage of thumbs of from other drivers, bikers and pedestrians. I'm not a natural attention seeker so it's taking a bit of getting used to.

I've never known a car cause more people to pull over to let me past even though I'm not tailgating - which would be great if people didn't keep doing it just before blind bends.

Suspension on bad roads
This comes with the territory I know, but I was in stoke yesterday and I think the crashing around over the crap roads there would get real tiresome if I had to do that every day.

standard radio
I'm no audiophile and prefer listening to engine noise if I'm honest, but I've found the standard radio to be fine for me with the sd cards being really useful to the point that I've not bothered to use the cd autochanger at all and don't really think I will.

light package
Total waste of money for me, never going to use the engine bay light - not sure what I was thinking with this, but that's a personal taste/opportunity thing.

oil usage
Put a litre in at 1,111 (I kid you not), checked it tonight on 2k miles and it's still a good quarter to half inch into the "do not fill" section of the dipstick so I would expect it to be good for another 500-1k miles. The oil burning on startup is definitely getting less thankfully as the first few weeks that wasn't too pleasant doing a rave fog machine impression on cold startup.

All in all, I'm really impressed with this car - it's such a blast to drive and shows that there is more to enjoyment than just straight line speed.

[wedouglas]

How do you get a 3d view with the nav? Is it only a European nav feature?

I got mine 3 weeks ago and have 1100 miles on it and I loved every single one of them. I too haven't needed to top it off yet, but the dealer gave me a free quart for it, as I'm going to be making a 500 mile trip this weekend and didn't want to chance having to find oil in the middle of nowhere.

I leave my display on the miles left option, and it seems I get about 300 mi per tank as well. But like you, and the rest of the R8 owners, I'm not concerned with milage.

I don't find poor roads to be too unforgiving. I was surprised as to how well it managed. I expected worse. As for normal comfort, I must say, I'm very impressed. It rides extremely nice and is very spacious.

[randombloke]

Thinking about it, it might not be a 3d view - it's a a car direction orientated view of the road ahead. More of an overhead view really.

I'm not sure you appreciate quite how bad the roads I'm talking about are - but stoke roads are something to behold thanks to the numerous bodged repairs by numerous utility companies.

Agree about the spacious cabin too, it feels light and airy even with black interior.

[wedouglas]

I think we are in the same boat. My state has been been known to have the worst roads in the country. It's like driving over a bombed out battlefield down a major road by me. Not all roads are terrible, but I'm used to dodging potholes that look to be several inches deep. Winter is a nightmare for them due to the expanding of water in cracks. I honestly can figure out how the roads gets so warped.

Though I never been extremely perceptible to poor roads. I've probably gotten used to it. I just know that a 5 inch hole isn't going to do wonders for the R8 wheels.

[randombloke]

The problem here in the uk is the roads are so narrow, if theres a car in the other lane theres nowhere to go to avoid the craters.

[SFR8]

randombloke - thanks for the great write up! Mine will come in August. I am thinking about "other cars" during the mean time to divert my attention and lessen the anxiety.

[swansailor]

This is a really great summary; my own experiences are quite similar.

I echo your comments about the rtronic at low speeds and when doing stop-start driving so I hope that there may be some SW changes coming in the future; it certainly takes some getting used to, especially when pulling away from being stationary. Once on the move, however, I love the rtronic and I think that the paddles should be fixed to the wheel as they are (always in the correct place if you keep your hands on the wheel when turning ...just look at how race-car drivers do it).

I have done about 2500 miles and averaged 16 miles per US gallon on my last tank (a mix of 40:60 city and highway driving); this seems quite a bit better than your mileage (assuming you are using imperial gallons). I have not yet put in any oil but the level is getting close to the fill mark.

I am still amazed at the attention I get when driving this car; the people who chase me and then weave back and forth to get a good look are a bit scary

[randombloke]

I have done about 2500 miles and averaged 16 miles per US gallon on my last tank (a mix of 40:60 city and highway driving); this seems quite a bit better than your mileage (assuming you are using imperial gallons).

I am using imperial gallons so, if my math is correct, your 16 mpg us equates to about 19mpg imperial.

The mpg does seem ultra sensitive to driving style in the r8 so I think that it's down to the nature of the roads I'm driving on - they're fast (when the traffic is light), very twisty roads so theres a huge amount of speed changes and low gear/high rev acceleration out of the corners all chipping away at the mpg.

I've seen the mpg get as high as the low 20's for me when I did a longish stint on a straight a-road in 6th - but that kind of driving is pretty rare for me. It's usually fourth gear max on the twistier backroads, and even the arterial a-roads are twisty enough to mean changing between 4th and 5th rather than being able to settle in a high gear for any great length of time.

I've added the hillhold assist to the cons above, thats something else I hope they could sort out with a software update.

[imclueless]

The average I am getting since I had the car (if the onboard info is to correct) is 18.4 (Imperial)

[wedouglas]

The average I am getting since I had the car (if the onboard info is to correct) is 18.4 (Imperial)

18.4? Really? Do you cruise at 65 all day? When I put in a full tank, the display says I have about 300 miles till empty and it never goes up.