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The 2016 Audi R8 V10 Plus moves the game forward with an all-new chassis, more power, and sophistication everywhere.
WHAT IS IT? Audi’s mid-engined performance flagship, organ donor to the supremely successful R8 GT3 LMS race car.
WHY WE’RE TESTING IT The 2016 model represents the first full generation change for the Audi R8. Effectively all-new, it leaves behind any Lamborghini legacy and aims to be a better car for both the road and the racetrack. Oh, it’s also the fastest production Audi. Ever.
THE WHEELS VERDICT Meaningful improvement on an already great car, striking possibly the best balance of track day titan and streetable supercar.
PLUS: quick, responsive steering, at last; stable chassis; torrential acceleration; V10 sound MINUS: styling not crass enough, responses not crude enough, interior not OTT-opulent enough for some
Especially this circuit, which had hosted the Bathurst 12 Hour for GT cars just a day earlier.
Normally, race circuits humble even very good road cars. But the new R8 V10 Plus was clearly in its element.
That speedo reading I saw – with possibly another 10-15km/h to add before Caltex Chase – makes the R8 road car as quick on Conrod as its R8 LMS racing equivalent – perhaps quicker. (The race car’s speed-penalising aero more than compensates everywhere else).
All R8s feature a seven-speed S-Tronic and – unless you’re lining up for a LMS racer – quattro all-wheel drive.
Then there’s the V10 Plus, expected to add about $30K to the base car’s estimated $370K (prices are announced mid-February). The Plus chuffs out 449kW and 560Nm and with a 40kg lighter kerb weight (1555kg) covers 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds, three-tenths quicker than the stocker. The Plus’ power gains come solely via software, the weight through features like forged 20-inch wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes.
Romolo Liebchen has nothing to do with Audi’s road cars. Except that, as head of Audi Sport’s customer racing division, he had a hand in this R8 almost from the beginning.
Liebchen explained that the first-generation R8 (2007) was all but completed by the time Audi Sport initiated its customer program. “You remember the movie, I Robot? The rear of that car [Audi RSQ concept] was the preferred design. But it created too much rear lift for racing, so we were able to influence that.”
The biggest hardship inside is having to adjust the steering column manually. The cockpit is supremely comfortable, with the purposeful feel of a GTi more than a snooty supercar.
With the chassis electronics set in Dynamic (one of four modes), the glorious, roaring V10 gives a gorilla-sized shove. The low-three standing quarter club is a fairly tight one, but few other members are so unfussed about it.
The racetrack doesn’t hobble this car’s capabilities; it highlights them. The R8 is so obviously sharper, more intuitive and more stable than before. The steering has become comfortably quick without a hint of nervousness. Turn-in confidence and overall grip are amazing, yet when heat build-up knocks the edge off the grip after five hard laps, it only underlines the predictable responses of the chassis, with gentle understeer into the Cutting and the Dipper, and subtle signals from the tail in the downhill direction changes of the Esses.
I can’t right now think of another car that was this easy to drive this fast. Certainly, the aero-steroided R8 GT3 LMS isn’t.
The R8 V10 Plus will do everything expected of a hard-edged supercar, without risk of regular laceration from those hard edges. And it seems to offer the docility and road-going comfort of a GT, without the need for a bladder-stop and a lie-down after a few hard laps on a racetrack.
SPECS Model: Audi R8 V10 Plus Engine: 5204cc 10cyl, dohc, 40v Max power: 449kW @ 8250rpm Max torque: 560Nm @ 6500rpm Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch Weight: 1630kg 0-100km/h: 3.2sec Fuel economy: 12.3 L/100km (EU) Price: $400,000 (est.)
