Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 - (Page 31)

FEATURE DRIVING NOTES: AUDI R8 The 4.2-liter dry sump engine in the R8 behaves like a crossbreed between a high-torque American engine and a high-revving Italian power plant. With a redline at 8000 RPM and peak torque starting around 3000, the R8 will pull from about 2000 right up to the rev limiter. Surprisingly, it has a forgiving throttle. Unlike some exotics, you can drive the R8 around town in perfect comfort, but if you put the spurs to her, she’ll pin your head to the seatback. The R-Tronic transmission takes a bit of getting used to, but when you’ve got the knack you won’t miss that third pedal. Forget about Automatic mode — shifts are balky until you hit 50 MPH or so. But if you modulate your throttle like a manual, you can paddle or ratchet-shift the R8 as smooth as you please. Of course, Audi will sell you an R8 with a 6-speed manual box as well, and since the RTronic costs an extra $9,000 before you add leather or anything else, we like that option. Inside, the Audi is as comfortable as your living room. The widebody design gives ample elbow room for driver and passenger, and the mid-engine design (and microscopic trunk) offer plenty of leg- room in the cab. Audi builds its seats for real normal-sized men, so there’s no bolster making meat paste out of your kidneys as you drive. Your seats are leather, heated, and offer excellent side support for vigorous driving. Our particular R8 came equipped with all the goodies, so we had satellite radio and navigation to distract us on our drive. The R8 is easy to drive — the fact is, it just goes where you point it. In a week of hard driving, it never put a toe out of line. The Quattro system just eats up gravel and wet and whatever you drive on. Even with the 10/90 front/rear torque split, the R8 drives like it’s painted on the asphalt. The paddle shifters mean you never take your hands off the wheel, and visibility is better than you’d expect when you look at the car. Handling at the limit is neutral — neither pushing nor getting any tail action. Of course, you can get all you ever wanted of that other kind of “tail” action when you’re out with this car. When we stopped for coffee, one random honey strolling by dropped some pretty unsubtle hints on us about how the car made her feel. But we were on a mission and there were witnesses, so we thanked her kindly for her interest and headed on out to the testing area. SUBIESPORT MAGAZINE 31 http://www.rallyarmor.com http://www.rallyarmor.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008

Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 Features Contents Editor Letters Readers' Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 Impreza WRX East Meets West Shoebox Sleeper Bettering the Breed ...Even the Kitchen Sink WRC Rally Greace WRC Rally Turkey Rally America: New England Rally America: STPR 2008 STI Open Class GCRallyX R4 Where to Buy Subiesport ICY Racing E85 & Methanol Rebuild Your Heads Budget Building Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008

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