If you need proof that Audi has taken aim at Porsche with the R8 then look at these acceleration figures. To 30mph the R8 takes 1.7sec courtesy of its excellent mid-engine traction; the 911 Carrera S needs 1.8sec. To 60mph the R8 takes 4.4sec, the 911 4.6sec. Even at 150mph the two cars are virtually inseparable, the R8 taking 27.5sec, the 911 27.7sec.
Amazingly, and despite what you’d expect from a large capacity V8 engine, the R8 needs to be revved if it is to deliver its best results, but revving it properly is in no way a hardship because the higher you go, the better the noise and the smoother the V8 spins.
In fact, the Audi R8 has to be one of the easiest to drive supercars there has ever been. There are no secrets or skeletons in the R8’s closet; instead it delivers classic mid-engined handling (nicely weighted and extremely accurate steering, unimpeachable traction and big levels of grip) with almost none of the flaws normally associated with the layout.
With its ASR and traction controls systems engaged it’s hard to imagine how you could lose an R8 on the road, so secure does it feel even at high cornering rates. The basic balance is excellent, and when you do start to push further the R8 merely understeers gradually.
And the ride is similarly excellent which, again, is not always typical in a mid-engined sports car. Despite wearing sizeable 285 tyres, road noise is extremely well suppressed, so long as you stay well away from the “magnetic” sport button which stiffens the dampers, the ride itself is surprisingly comfortable and compliant.
There is one disappointing element to the R8’s performance and that’s its brakes. The pedal is poorly positioned and the action of the servo makes it hard to modulate lighter inputs. Neither are the brakes as powerful as the 911’s when you lean on them; at the test track the R8 needed 48.1 metres to stop from 70mph in the dry compared with 44.0m for the 911.
