So I was lucky enough to spend 3 days riding laps in an Audi R8 this past weekend at Pueblo Motorsports Park. While I didn't drive it on track I figured I would share some thoughts for those of you that might be interested.

The primary way I would describe it is no-drama (the owner completely agrees). It's incredibly smooth around the track, it doesn't dive in when you jump on the breaks and it doesn't lean over in the corners. You get tons and tons of grip and the low end torque is amazing. The first sessions we did we're still in the break-in period as he'd only owned the car for 6 days. So our first few laps we did the entire track in fourth gear. Not one downshift, not in turn 7, not up on the straight into fifth. The low end tourqe wrenches you out of the corners even at very low revs. And even in 4th gear we were doing 1:52 lap times. And it was just gliding around the track, no tire squeal, no understeer. Just grip.

The AWD system is very impressive, sending no more than 30% of the power to the front. That gives you just enough control to push right to the edge of oversteer. When it does let go you can throttle steer it wonderfully. We only got it sideways once coming around turn 10 and it was pretty thrilling.

This is one of those cars that I think looks much better in person than the pictures (I think the GT-R is the same way). Seeing the piece of art that is the engine under the glass hood is amazing. However it's not half as amazing as the sound it makes, a wonderfully low and guttural groan. If you've ever heard and RS-4 you know the sound, if you've heard a Z06 Vette you've gotten pretty close. Hearing it go around the track was like a small course of tubas playing the march of speed. Just thunderous.

The interior styling is as you would expect in a $140,000 car - impressive. However I think this is the weakest piece in the R8, while it's extremely nice it's not very flashy or techie feeling. The Audi MMI nav/media system is pretty impressive on the feature side but can be a little difficult to use. His has the upgraded B&O stereo system that has been hailed in the press as amazing. Honestly I wasn't that impressed, it sounded great but no better than the high end stereo in the later Z's. The instrument cluster is nice and it all works very well - it's just not exotic enough for my tastes. Then again I drive a Japanese car not a German one right?

We spent three days at the track and while Mike didn't drive it much he did get past the break in period and was able to open it up. Without pushing it he was turning 1:46 second lap times very consistently. He's an exceptional driver so I'm looking forward to seeing what it can really do once it's more than 7 days old. He's planning on coming to the mid-July NASA event at PMP, I'll be the guy with the Z staring at his car all day!

Easily the most amazing car I've ever been in, he was very popular all weekend. As Ferris Bueller said "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up"

A few pictures:

 

You lucky lucky man. I do love that car very much. Still like the R8 V12 TDI more however, but beggers cant be choosers.

 

I thought the R8 was the absolute star of last year's Denver Auto Show when it first debuted. Great presence and 'Audiness' draped all over the engineering and styling of the car.

I've always wondered what it would be like to drive one at the racetrack, but don't imagine that I'll ever get the chance. On the other hand, I've had the opportunity to sample the GT-R at Reno-Fernley and Estoril and have a hard time imagining the R8 could be any quicker!