Saying farewell is an iconic legend, with the R8 making it through two generations before getting axed
When Tony Stark drove the first-generation V10 R8 across our screens over 15 years ago, every inch of our little-kid minds took flight into another dimension. Now, with an inevitable death looming, the R8 is better than ever before Audi sends it off to the slammer.
If one thought that the R8 would go quietly into the gentle night, they’re wrong. The V10 powered fuelaholic supercar isn’t one to play with. Packed in a crowded field with a dozen other finalists, our pick for the Performance Car of the Year wasn’t exactly an easy one. Joined in competition by the likes of the brand new Maserati MC20, the revered Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and the segment-shaking McLaren Artura, the R8 seemed like a solemn tune in a symphony of uniqueness.
The Beginning of the End
Usually a V10 sells well. The R8’s relatively decorated brother, the Huracan, whom the R8 shares a platform with, has give or take the same powertrain. The R8 is about to die, the Huracan is not. Dark analogies aside it’s clear that the vast majority of both’s target market prefers the Huracan to the German luxury automaker’s take on a supercar.
Audi has sent the R8 off with a seven gun salute, attempting to please the angry mobs outside Stuttgart with the R8 GT, an homage to the first-generation’s GT variant. Simply put, Audi couldn’t justify having the supercar in its lineup with dwindling sales numbers and tightening emissions regulations in the European Union.
Nevertheless, the R8 has lived up until now. With an honor bestowed upon it like King Arthur and the Knights of the Circle, the car has been dubbed in pop culture as the “Iron Man Car” due to its various appearances in… you guessed it, Iron Man movies. Whether Tony Stark himself could raise faltering consumer demand for supercars or not, we’d have to go out on a limb and admit, if a billionaire who has a flying suit likes it, we do too.
High Flyin’ Son of a Gun
Sex sells.
That’s it. In the world of exotic boutique vehicles, nothing flocks masses to the dealership other than attractive vehicles. Physically yes, spiritually, even more. No one cares about the soul of a Camry or if your Honda Civic speaks to you, yet consumers are mesmerized by a supercar’s personality. Attractiveness is the number one vehicle seller at this level, and the R8 is the Calvin Klein model who never got a shot.
With bold lines and striking angles syncing together, it’s hard to argue against the R8 being one of the most pleasing vehicles to date. The proportions connect, and you’d be pressed to find a single sore spot on the exterior. The dashing fascia fulfilled by the DRLs and the headlamp design create a menacing look, angled downwards like a pair of TV angry eyebrows. Pair that in tandem with a sexy flow of the vehicle and you get something that should’ve sold in droves.
And don’t forget the V10. A 5.2 liter 10-cylinder shared with the supposedly superior Lamborghini Huracan is the keystone of the R8, a unique value proposition that is increasingly hard to come by nowadays. Sans a plebeian Ford E-Series cargo van, the twins are the only production vehicles containing anything resembling a pair of inline-5’s and are the last of a dying breed.
If you wanted to cheap out, you could purchase the E-Series van, we wouldn’t blame you. Buyer beware however, a cargo van couldn’t get you from naught to 60 in 3.6 seconds. In fact, we cannot confirm with 100% certainty that the van could get you to sixty miles an hour. And we’re not even going to begin to attempt that without having to sign fifty different waivers. We’re all for fun, just not the type that ends in broken bones and court cases.
Keep going after the three and a half seconds and you’ll find that the R8 can easily top double centuries at 204 miles an hour. It may seem rather normal in the supercar realm. But we’ve found that not much can top the adrenaline felt at 200 miles an hour.
The world comes to a halt.
Gracefully, smoothly, and any whim of a worry melts away— in the right car of course. Be reckless and you suddenly find yourself face first into a wall with EMS and Allstate on the line. Plus, you’re on the hook for the press car you’ve thrashed. However, the R8 feels at home at high speeds. The silence of the cabin is confidence-inducing, throw in the planted body of the R8, and its sticky addiction to asphalt with near-perfect handling, and you’re yearning for more speed.
Living in an Eternal Shadow
The Audi R8’s polarizing brother tends to steal the show most of the time, paving the way for the R8 to be a special vehicle underneath its shadow. While the Audi might not have the glamor and the crazy design of the Huracan, it takes a minimalist approach, with quad-ring design ethos in mind.
Sharp, cutting angles are swapped out for softer, mellow lines which don’t scream, “I’m faster than you”, yet talk in a Robert de Niro voice, “I’m simply better than you”. Due to the Lambo taking most of the paparazzi’s attention, it’s commonplace to forget that these two vehicles have the same underpinnings, and in some cases nearly exact duplicates.
That serves as one of the primary reasons the R8 landed itself on our list, it’s not often that a car can be bought at a much cheaper price over a similar vehicle that in essence is the same. The R8 in our eyes can be seen to some extent as a fledgling Huracan. It’s important to note however that the term doesn’t mean inferior, but unique in its own way.
The Huracan can only be had in RWD format, while the R8 becomes the everyday supercar with its proven Quattro system. The AWD does wonders and has become one of our favorite systems to use. Its efficiency and flexibility are limitless, allowing the user to both drive like Ricky Bobby— skidding around corners and keeping you planted on the tarmac, yet at the same time enables the R8 to drive effortlessly on snowy roads in the dead of the Minnesota winter.
Clearance Sale Worthy
The R8 isn’t going on sale anytime soon, especially not with car prices still at relative highs. Although it seems fitting that the car heads to the clearance rack. At a bargain price of $148,700 for the last remaining V10, it’s hard to argue against a purchase price closer to a new Corvette Z06 rather than splurging on the attention factor of the Lamborghini.
The Audi has quickly become one of our favorite supercars to date, becoming a beholder of values that supercars tend to overlook. Value, efficiency, and practicality at the same time as upholding traditional ideals like handling, speed, and prowess. As the R8 waves farewell, it gave us an important two generations of valor, one which we have grown smitten with.
