Traction on wet roads

[bluesatin]

I have now had my R8 V10 for 3 months after moving from 997tt. I love the car, the exhaust noise and the feeling I have when driving. One question concerns me (and please correct me if I am wrong) is the low level of traction the car has. It will spin in 1st and second gear happily all day and I never feel the drive going to the front and pulling the spin out before the TC kicks in. The Porsche spun in 1st and then a little in 2nd but then not anything like the Audi. Has others flet this ( I am runnig Pirelli and thinking Michelin could help). Also what can i do to the LED's to make them shine further (adjustments etc) they are useless for fast driving.

Thanks for the advice

[harrison]

Where are you from? A cold section of planet ,my guess. All tires do this when cold. Try a winter tire if you are using the summer tires.

[peterh]

I cant confirm this, but it seems the traction control/ESP systems are a bit less invasive in the V10 compared to the V8. In the V8 version, with all the electronics turned on, its pretty hard to spin the wheels. In my track day in the V10, I was suprised how much "play" there was before the traction systems kicked in. Add the extra hp and I am guessing this is the nature of this car.

My feeling is that in the V8, you can drive (on track) with the traction turned off and its still very manageble. In the V10, with the extra hp and torque, I think they made it possible to get a little wheel spin/drift in the car so that you are not wanting to take off the first level of electronics. From what I heard from the instuctors at the Audi school, the V10 without the traction is almost too much to handle.

[randombloke]

reminds me of this video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXsW0iXpjZk[/ame]

remember the r8 can only send a maximum of 30% power to the front wheels.

[harrison]

This video reminds me, I don't need to go out in those conditions ! LOTS of damage. He was probably Texting at the time!

[SDR8]

It that video, I would guess that he hit a puddle of water in a turn and hydroplaned. The wide tires are good at that.

[Garyhun]

I'd also guess he was going a tad too fast

To the OP... see my post of a few weeks ago on "So sure footed". I find the car awesome in the wet and can only imagine your spinning the wheels due to a very heavy right foot and aggressive clutch work.

[ozmunky]

In the UK, there is a show on TV called the gadget show and on it they had the Audi R8 V10 with *ALL* electronic systems turned off -- they showed the boffins from Audi switching them off.

They drove the car (with amateur at the wheel) normally with systems on and then with the systems off.

The V10 is almost undrivable by mere mortals at high speed with all systems off. (I think the video is on here posted somewhere ..)

Bit like the Euro fighter jet aircraft without the computers -- it cant fly.

I am amazed at the technology of the R8 !

Cheers

Munky

[wedouglas]

I've heard the systems are less intrusive, but the loss of traction is probably not due to the car, but due to conditions and power. Anyone can break traction in any car if they give it too much gas. Spinning the V8 is really easy if that's what you're trying to do.

[Bodhii]

the loss of traction is probably not due to the car, but due to conditions and power. Anyone can break traction in any car if they give it too much gas

bluesatin, I agree with the above. And I think that the Audi traction control is significantly less dominate than the Porsche design. ( It doesn't need to be). I have both and I drive very hard at tracks always with traction control turned off...

My VF supercharge R8 has equal (or maybe a little more) horsepower than the V10, and it really is easy to break loose at anytime, wet or dry. Especially when the tires are cold. And I use softer tires than the Pirelli or Michelin. The R8 changes a bit when you have 500+ HP. It is no longer the easy drive, well mannered, all of the time car while on city streets, and then becoming a wild, yet controllable beast child when on the track. With the higher HP, the "Beast Child" personality is there always,... lurking all of the time now. Growling softly, waiting impatiently...

I would recommend trying the better grip Toyo R888's if you are NOT in a rainy environment,( Toyo R888's are dangerous and ineffective on rainy roads) or maybe at least Michelin Cups? Other than that, all I can say is have fun with the extra HP, and remember that the old days of always responding with "Pedal to the Metal," are over.