Audi R8
Audi's sports car flagship features an aluminium chassis and the choice of a powerful V8 or V10 engine to deliver incredible performance. Two models are offered - a coupé and open-topped Spyder - and all cars are four-wheel drive with the choice of manual or automatic gearboxes.
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- pros:
- Beautiful, capable and fun
- Fast, easy to drive and useable
- Relatively painless ownership experience
- cons:
- Impractical
- High fuel consumption
- Automatic transmission is clumsy
The R8 Coupé is a beautifully designed mid-engined sports car that has got the performance, looks and quality to rival exotic machines from established sports and supercar firms like Ferrari and Porsche. Offered with either 4.2-litre V8 or 5.2-litre V10 petrol engines with quattro four-wheel drive, the R8 is hugely fast, but crucially, it's also an approachable, easy car to drive. It's not very practical, but if you can afford the R8 you can afford something to do the shopping in - or have it delivered!
- pros:
- Glorious sounding engines
- Fast, easy to drive and useable
- Adds another, even more exotic level, to R8 ownership
- cons:
- Hugely impractical
- Fuel consumption is poor
- Automatic transmission is clumsy
The R8 Spyder takes all the performance of its closed coupé relative and adds some glamour thanks to its folding canvas roof. It's no less practical than the coupé, and dropping the top allows you to better enjoy the sonorous note from either the V8 or V10 engines. Better still for the UK's weather, the rear window slides down, meaning aural treats even in the rain. Gorgeous inside and out, the R8 Spyder looks a million dollars but costs significantly less.
