after 1 month of driving some thoughts

[8rr8]

recently i just picked up the new audi r8 v8 R tronic. after drove it for a month this is some of my thoughts.

R8 is truely a sensational car to drive, the build quality and handling is sublime! i drive it every day on all sort of road and traffics,i could cruise in the car for days and night and not feeling tired, the audi engineers really spend they time on designing a car like this. inside the dash the previews year model use standard display, with the 2011 version they change it all to LED display in the dash just like the V10 version.

as for the styling. this car is really an eye candy, im only 26 driving a car like this around the town captures alot of attention. it get head tuners every where, any time of the day, i get people offer me 50 bucks on the street if i can take them for a spin. GIRLS with mini skirt getting in and out of this car it can be a very very good scenary to look at it one good things abt R-tronic tranmission you dont need to keep you hand on the gear box it can do all sort of naughty things:-D


R tronic gear box, this is the most controversy area to talk about, at the first, after i drove off from the dealer for a week, i would not recommend any R8 buyer to buy any spec of R8 with this gear box, i live in melbourne, i get alot of day to day traffic, driving this car in the auto mode is pain in the ass. at the red light i had to apply to pressure to the foot breaks, or else it goes into neutral. the neck snapping sluggish gear change is a joke, when i expect it to upshift it doesnt, it goes beyond 5000rpm at the first gear then it change to second gear. but sometimes it change after like 3000 rpms...

However after driving it for more than a month now, I start to get my head around its not an auto tranmission, its a manual transmission car but have a guy called Bob who steps on the clutch for you.., The gear box actually learns behaviour of the driver. i often switch into manual mode. the r tronic gear box seems trying to adapt to the way i drive in the manual mode. it gets better and better as i drive the car, the gear box become more smooth, and more responsive, maybe i got use to the gear change. maybe i got better control at the throttle. as for every day cruising i rarely get the neck snapping effect even in the auto mode. one of another reason that i went with the R-Tronic Gear box is that audi claim with the new 2011 V8 R8 it can do 0-100 in 3.9 seconds. i experienced my self its very easy to archieve that figure, and the auto rev matching is extrodinary fast. I have 0 regret on selecting this transmission.

conclusion, I was planning to spend about 175k on a C63 coupe, but instead spend about 220k on the R8, and is one of the BEST decision i had made in my life!

[Newspyderv10man]

Great analysis.

Glad you are happy with your R8 and the tranny!!

I personally like the 3 pedal version of the manual transmission but I am in the minority for sure.

Good Luck.

Don from Melbourne (FL)

(This city was named after the OZ city)

[M3R8]

You've made the right choice. The R8 is clearly the chick magnet you want it to be, vs the b-u-t-t ugly C63 that no chick would appreciate. It's a good thing you need to keep your hands on the steering wheel instead of overwhelming the young lady with your sweaty hands and instead concentrate on manually shifting gears.

[conm]

8rr8, Great decision great choice. The R tronic I only drive in manual mode. Operate it as a manual except without a clutch and your gear changes with be smoother than an auto with practice. It will become second nature to you.

ENJOY.........

[CPBRI]

conclusion, I was planning to spend about 175k on a C63 coupe

Ouch! Just bought a sedan for $63K. Congrats on the R8 and on making a great choice!

[AnOutsider]

Great analysis.

Glad you are happy with your R8 and the tranny!!

I personally like the 3 pedal version of the manual transmission but I am in the minority for sure.

Good Luck.

Don from Melbourne (FL)

(This city was named after the OZ city)

I like the R-Tronic, but if they go to all S-Tronic on future R8 models (and I actually buy another one), I'd probably go 6-speed. As much as I like the S-Tronic (and wanted it), the control that R-Tronic or 6-speed brings is too good to pass up.

[willyjp]

I like the R-Tronic, but if they go to all S-Tronic on future R8 models (and I actually buy another one), I'd probably go 6-speed. As much as I like the S-Tronic (and wanted it), the control that R-Tronic or 6-speed brings is too good to pass up.

Likely a "DSG", or two clutch system, would offer just as much driver control as R-Tronic. My humble VW TDI w. DSG offers complete manual shifting if you want to do it (I don't particularly) and don't mind using the stick (no paddles).

I have been recently persuaded (in these pages) that there's a "sportier" feel to the very brief interruption of power transmission with a single clutch box as compared to the more nearly continuous, almost torque converter like, ratio changing of the DSG type system. The "continuous" effect is nice with a low power diesel as there's no tendency to "fall off" the torque plateau when climbing hills, etc..

PS: the R8 related point being that, w. a 7 speed DSG's near "continuous" shifting, one should be fractionally more able to stay near the peak of your power curve during max. accel., albeit at the loss of the "kick-in-the-back" feel associated with the momentary interruption and re-assertion of power.

[timborama]

Waiting for the s-tronic to pull the trigger. As soon as they make the announcement, my order or place in queue will be done.