UK Launch V10 Heaven -- Still Dizzy

[ozmunky]

Folks

Just got home now (11pm) from the V10 Launch this afternoon at Silverstone in the UK.

Weather was light rain and a bit cold and breezy.

Spent 1 hour driving the new V10, firstly 30 mins on a skid pan to check out ABS/ESP etc and then 30 mins around the track eventhough it was slippery.

First up there was a ceramic brake demo whereby your are the passenger and a racing driver drives at 120mph and then stops as fast as possible. My driver was a Czech racing GT3 driver and I have to say with the cars doing this all day with hardly stopping, without any problems is very impressive.

Next up there were about 30 cars (incl 3 spares) in all colours and mix of rtronic/6pd to choose from for the skid pan/stability course with my car being a r-tronic -- first time I have driven one. They had a LMS version there just for show of the V10.

Was a bit tentative in the wet to throw the car around at its limits -- but the r-tronic version of the V10 takes some getting used to. First gear when its floored doesnt do much but when it hits second, all power is unleashed and it really is a surprise -- incredibly powerful and really scary if you arent expecting it. Once the V10 gets going in the r-tronic hang on !

After a cup of tea, then its time for the track -- all cars are 6spd for this.

My god ,what a machine. During safety briefing head instructor describes them as "very rapid" -- what an understatement. Driving the 6spd in the rain is amazing with most of the time in 3rd in the wet conditions and managed to stay on the tarmac. Got to 5th grear at 6500rpm along the straight at 120 mph before the braking area.

My assessment:

The V10 is way way way smoother than the V8 at 5000rpm+ -- almost like a mazda rotary incredibly smooth -- it just wants to rev and with no harshess of the V8 at the top end. At 7000rpm its a gem.

Noise wise, I prefer the V8 under 5000rpm, after which the V10 wail is incredible.

Power comes on 1500rpm earlier then the V8 and the mid range 3500-7000rpm power delivery is *just sensational* and frightening.

Jury still out on transmission but when 2nd kicks in on the r-tronic at full throttle a new set of pants are needed. I just love the 6spd.

On the skid pan, its incredibly balanced without any bias towards the rear end. On the track, the instructor teaches you how to have balanced accelaration around the corners without brakes and the V10 is an absolute screamer --- power delivery is smooth and awsome with the instructor cutting my revs down at 8000rpm -- it was still surging then with no tailing off !

At the end of my track session I asked the boss if my instructor could take the wheel for 1 lap to show me hows its done in the rain -- holy **** !!! Sideways in 3rd throught the corners and 140mph at 7000rpm in 5th on the straight and in the rain.

LED headlights are interesting with the LED bulbs being at the back and a 3 inch air gap to a prism lens. When it got dark, I was able to test them and they work great.

I am hooked and need more, much much more. Driving home in the V8 thru central London from the track really shows the difference, like night and day.

Just got to figure out now when to upgrade.

Whoever has one on order is going to be knocked out bythe performance and technology -- make no mistake. Super car it is.

The folks in the US are just going to nuts when they get their hands on them -- holy Jesus .....

Cheers

-- Munky

[SDR8]

Thanks for the great description of your experience. I am glad to hear that you loved it. Too bad the weather is not better this weekend so people can really push it. I know driving in the rain can be fun, but it is also nice to see what it can do on a dry surface.

I can hardly wait for them to be available in the US. I heard they had a V10 on display at the Red Bull Air Races here in San Diego last weekend. I almost went to just see the car, but I had other plans...

[09R8]

ozmunky, thank you for taking the time to post your experience. Now, it's a waiting game.

[VidaMusic]

Munky man - cheers for the write up dude, very interesting read ;-)

[ozmunky]

Many Thanks for the comments.

Forgot to mention, the books Audi hand out arent bad either.

One of them is a very large (and heavy) coffee table 3 inch-thick book about 12 inch diagonal (comes in a massive sliding wallet) that has great photos of the building process of the cars and then has a wonderful set of photos of an R8 road trip across the mid-west of the US from LA to Alberquerque. It finishes with photos and writeup of Audi motor racng history.

Very interesting read even for those not into R8's.

Also could make a nasty weapon if your wife hits you with it.

Other books and stuff specific to the V10 are a must have for the techie.

The rest of the Audi "show bag" has all the usual stuff -- posters, pictures, drink coasters, metal models etc -- enough to set up a R8 bar at home.

Finally, of course, theres the UK price list/spec guide for the both models.

Been too scared to open that one yet.

-- Munky

[nile]

Thanks munky for the heads up, i was waiting for you to mention the freebees!!!

I love audi memorabilia

Veeten...maybe i'll catch up with you tomorrow

[Roy Skousen]

Wonderful description. I noticed not everyone gets the invite. What should one do to secure an invite to the U.S. role out of the 5.2? I had a horrible time with my dealer just to get the car, much less anything extra. They did give me a free sleeve of Audi golf balls. Woo Hoo!

[ozmunky]

Hi Roy

My advice would be to contact the Audi R8 team in Audi America -- the equivalent of Bev Holloway in the UK -- an extremely helpful and hard working lady.

Someone on their team will get you in on another dealers ticket if your original dealer isnt suitable.

I found they look after existing R8 owners here in the UK really well.

If you dont get any joy there -- why not email Bev herself and see if she knows anyone stateside who can help.

Make the effort to go -- you will be well rewarded, its a good show.

-- Munky

[R8 England]

Just back from the Saturday morning session.

I second everything Ozmunky said.

TRULY RAPID. The power difference with V8 is significant, and it will take getting used to on the road. A small squirt on the gas pedal and you are way over any road speed limits !!!

Oz, I used 5th for the long straight, but on the next lap my instructor ordered me to stay in 4th and hold the peddle on the floor. You just hit the rev limiter and around 140 mph before the braking cone, brake hard, then take the corner at 95 - 100.

Holy cow, it moves like sh*t off a shovel and corners as well as the V8 !!!!!!!!!

I had the German instructor on the ceramic brake demo. He got to 90-100, took his hands completely off the wheel, then slammed the brakes on.

It stopped very rapidly, and, incredibly, in a straight line.

Also, the ceramics were much better - more progressive - than the early V8 ones. But, they are an expensive option. All of the cars used on the track had standard brakes, so I think you only need ceramics if you are going to do a lot of track time.

The car is sensational. Not denegrating the V8 in any way. V10 just offers all that good about the V8, but with more power.

Thje most popular launch colours at the event were white and Sepang (all Sepang cars had optional Oxygen sideblades)

It's now just a waiting game. First UK customer cars arrive next month. Most of 2009 UK production has already been sold.


Oh, last point. Talking to the UK dealers, it appears the R8V8 used market is picking up and prices are in fact rising, which is good news.

[Nem]

What a fantastic day!

I was lucky enough to be involved in the evening session today, and even more lucky that the rain held off. I last remember seeing 143 on the dis before braking into Stowe which was just phenomenal.

The only shame was that for both the track and dynamic handling curcuit I had an R-Tronic car, even though they said all the track cars were manual. Having not had much experience of the R-Tronic system just meant I wasn't as confident to push the car as much on the track. Having said that though it was impressive to see the difference between the auto and sport mode if offers.

Just a couple of pictures which came out ok. The track cars, a couple of the ceramic demo in action and a pair of spare cars.









Nick