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Audi India officials often go gaga about how some of the buyers of the R8 drive the super sports car around the most crowded, narrow streets of many Indian cities. That’s not too surprising given how easy to drive and comfortable this car can be even on bad roads.
But, put it on the track and it behaves like a completely different cat, one with remarkable agility and great grip. Though, even as it looks perfectly at home on the race track, the R8 doesn’t seem to be intimidating to drive. Instead, place the Lamborghini Gallardo 560-4 – other super sports car that shares the same engine, the same underpinnings and many of the cabin parts – and the intimidation level goes up considerably.
The new Lambo Gallardo was announced a few weeks ago and the new Porsche Cayman is due out soon. So, though they are all Volkswagen group companies, Audi had to join in with its own trump card. That card comes with a price tag of over Rs 2 crore and is the new Audi R8 V10 plus Coupé.
It’s different!
The launch of the new R8 V10 plus Coupé was done at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida near Delhi earlier this month.
Essentially a boosted, face lifted version of the R8 V10, the new version has some key modifications to mark its higher performance capabilities. On the outside, what strikes you is the increased use of CFRP – an abbreviation that is all over the diagram of the new R8 V10 plus that Audi officials put up as part of the presentation.
Essentially, carbon-fibre reinforced plastic has now been used for more parts. So you get exterior mirror housings, the famous and R8 trademark side blades, the engine cover, the rear diffuser and the front spoiler all made out of this material. There is more in the cabin too. Another R8 trademark – the Audi Singleframe side air intakes at the front and rear bumpers – get a new configuration and are coloured in matt Titanium Gray.
The new Audi R8 V10 plus Coupé is powered by the same 5.2-litre, V10 engine that the current R8 model sports. The difference is in the boost to its state of tune, essentially matching that of the Gallardo 550-2’s performance. The V10 FSI engine with its – up to 8,700 rpm – high-revving concept now manages 404 kW or 550 bhp of peak power at 8,000 rpm. Peak torque is delivered lower down the rpm range at 6,500 and that is also about 10 Nm more at 540 Nm (compared the current V10 variant). The engine is paired with the 7-speed S tronic transmission that is also now offered with larger manual shift paddles behind the steering wheel.
So what are the statistics that matter in the new R8 V10 plus. It has 18 kW more power than the standard V10, has a top speed of 317 kmph and is 0.1 seconds faster (now 3.5seconds) to 100 kmph than the standard V10. Fuel efficiency is now at 12.9 litres per 100 kms.
Track performance
On the race track, the new R8 V10 plus Coupé comes across as being more comfortable to drive thanks to Audi’s Quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. The positive impact of the Quattro system and the difference it makes to on-track confidence was felt even more because it was just a few weeks earlier that I had driven the Lamborghini Gallardo 550-2 on the same loop.
As part of the inauguration of the second edition of its Audi sportscar experience, the company had organised the test runs of the new R8 V10 plus and the course included high speeds laps, slalom sections and a brake test section. With its light and extremely stiff aluminium space frame body and the new sportier suspension the coupe feels more agile on the track. As you throw the car into the corners, the sporty new bucket seats hold nicely allowing the driver to point the steering better at the apex of every turn on the track.
The suspension has seen adjustments to the springs and damper tuning and there have been modifications to the camber values at the front axle for improved dynamics. The wave design brake discs with standard ceramic brakes make sure that all that additional power and agility is not at the cost of safety.
The new R8 V10 plus Coupé is now available at Audi showrooms and has been priced at Rs 2.06 crore (ex-Maharashtra).
muralidhar.s@thehindu.co.in
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