Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives

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This is how the fastest Audi of all time drives

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-generation

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In 2007 the first generation of the Audi R8 came on the market, five years later there was a minor facelift, and now Audi is bringing the second generation of its sports car.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-audi

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However, the design of the new R8 was only changed very carefully. If you look closely, you will see that the typical sideblades are now divided into two parts.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-generation

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So far, the R8 has been available in three different engines: an eight-cylinder with 430 hp and two ten-cylinders with 525 and 550 hp, respectively. They have an eight-cylinder …Developers dispensed with the second generation, instead there are two ten-cylinder units; the standard version develops 540 hp, the R8 plus 610 hp.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-second

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The performance of the "small" R8 is already more than decent. It only takes 3.5 seconds to accelerate from zero to 100 km / h. The R8 plus does it in 3.2 seconds, …In 9.9 seconds it is already at 200 km / h. Incidentally, the top speed is 330 km / h.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-generation

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Audi developed the new R8 in parallel with the LMS racing version, which won the Nurburgring 24 Hours when it was first used. Thanks to the close cooperation with the R…ennprofis managed to improve inconsistencies in driving behavior.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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The new body structure, a mix of aluminum and carbon, makes a very important contribution to precise handling; it is 15 percent lighter and 40 percent st…more zealous than the previous generation.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-second

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A high-tech extra on the Audi R8 is the laser spot high beam with double the range. For this, however, you have to pay an extra charge of 3200 euros.

Source: Stefan Anker

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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The R8 is not cheap anyway. You have to pay at least 165,000 euros for the standard version, the R8 plus is available from 187,400 euros.

Source: Stefan Anker

With the new R8, Audi occupies a double special position in the sports car segment: They insist on an engine principle that many others are saying goodbye to. And you win races with it.

Turbo, turbo, turbo – turbochargers are used everywhere. Not necessarily to make the cars faster, but above all to optimize the torque curve and thus the consumption. Now that the Ferrari 488 GTB with turbo engine has even appeared and Porsche is presenting the revised 911 with a new turbo engine at the IAA, only a few top sports cars still honor the classic naturally aspirated engine. One of them is the new Audi R8.

As a cool 911 alternative, the first large Audi sports car came onto the market in 2007, and the 27,000 copies sold since then evidently encouraged the launch of a second generation. Even if the R8 does not sell as well as the Porsche, of course. "It would also be presumptuous to expect that," says Heinz Hollerweger, who, as the head of Quattro GmbH, is responsible for the R8. "But we were absolutely on schedule."

The Targa is the most beautiful current Porsche

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-audi

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Open, close, open, close, open, close – the normal reflex in a Porsche 911 is actually “get in and drive off”. But whoever has the key to the new 911 Targa i…If you hold your hands, he’s deaf to the lure of the six-cylinder and immune to the charm of the lawn. That’s because …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-test

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… the roof construction, which folds in in a spectacle of 19 seconds and then spreads out again as if following a classic ballet choreography.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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As soon as the spectacle with the glass dome that folds back, the two self-opening half-shells on the roll bar and the Z-shaped roof panels are over, b…there is a fascinating design that …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-second

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… with the return of the aluminum-colored bracket over the top of the head …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-test

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… including the classic Targa lettering is closer to the original from 1965 than ever before.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-audi

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The unusual roof construction must be worth a lot of money. The cheapest variant, the 3.4 Targa 4, a six-cylinder with 350 hp, costs at least 109,338 euros.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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That is a good 6,000 euros more than the cheapest 911 convertible (Carrera with 350 hp, 103,150 euros) costs.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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For the Porsche 911 Targa 4 S with 400 hp that we drive, you have to spend at least 124,094 euros.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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In contrast to the premiere of the first Porsche Targa in 1965, this time there is no longer any compelling reason for this roof construction. Because unlike almost 50 years ago, m…In the meantime, convertibles without roll bars are also permitted in America.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-audi

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Nevertheless, the new Targa fits very well with the Porsche strategy of dividing a model family further and further in order to keep the car young, fresh and in the headlines.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

The collaboration with Lamborghini has been intensified for the second R8 generation. The first R8 already had a lot in common with the Lamborghini Gallardo, now the links with its successor, the Huracán, have become even closer. Ten-cylinder naturally aspirated engine in front of the rear axle, seven-speed double clutch, all-wheel drive, 610 hp, 560 Newton meters – these are the impressive key data of both sports cars, and Audi, as the bigger brand, takes the liberty of setting the top speed a little higher than Lamborghini: 330 instead 325 km / h.

This technical date makes the current R8 plus (there is also a model with “only” 540 hp and 540 Nm) the fastest Audi of all time, as Hollerweger and his family emphasize again and again. As the former head of overall vehicle development at Audi, he also knows that top speed is not the greatest attraction when driving fast.

It is the cornering behavior and the acceleration that separate the sports car from the crowd. In the standard sprint from zero to 100 km / h hardly anyone can fool the R8: 3.5 seconds pass in the 540 hp model until the country road limit is reached, the R8 plus only needs 3.2 seconds.

A car that is tougher does not automatically drive better.

Heinz Hollerweger, Quattro boss

And the cornering is also an experience. Anyone who expects the grueling traction of a Porsche 911 when exiting a curve, whose rear engine is so heavy on the drive axle, is however mistaken. The mid-engine in the R8 creates a slightly lighter hindquarters, which is very easy to understand on the closed circuit.

If you press the button with the checkered checkered flag on the steering wheel, you sharpen the car’s senses and you also need an alert mind: Now all systems (gas, gearshift, steering) respond more sharply, and in return the ESP system is integrated into the car Background crowded. It only cuts in at the last moment, and in this mode the driver not only enjoys the capabilities of the car, but above all the breadth of the route.

Incidentally, if you take it a little easier on the public road, which is urgently recommended, you will not have any liability or traction problems. Swift country road sweeps do not disturb the projectile from Neckarsulm, which is also due to the fully variable all-wheel drive, which always distributes the power to the wheels that need it most urgently at lightning speed.

The wonderfully crazy Caterham 275R

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-generation

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Green racing machine: The Caterham 275R may look tiny, but there is probably no other car that offers more fun and more horsepower per kilo.

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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The horsepower number 131 sounds like a bad joke at first, if you …

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-test

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… this vehicle is referred to as a sports car. With a weight of only 540 kilos, this performance is more than decent.

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-second

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The designers have done away with everything that, in their opinion, is not needed. Hence, from airbags to central locking, one looks for pretty much everything that automobiles do today… makes it difficult.

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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The Caterham may be light, but taking a seat is far from easy on this vehicle. Getting in is like a yoga exercise.

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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And when you finally sit inside and can barely move, you have to be careful not to hit all the pedals at the same time in the extremely narrow footwell.

Source: Thomas Geiger

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-generation

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Even if the Seven is super puristic, it can take on many super sports cars. For example, it accelerates to 100 km / h in 5.0 seconds. But it’s fun …its price. The Caterham 275R costs 42,775 euros.

Source: Thomas Geiger

It is only with poorly patched road sections, especially in depressions, that the car seems to deflect quite deeply at the rear, which is acknowledged with a corresponding rebound movement and can lead to slight displacement. A Porsche would be more radically (and harder) interested in maximum driving stability and would put driving comfort aside for the moment.

Quattro boss Hollerweger contradicts this impression. “A car that is harder does not automatically drive better.” From the developer’s point of view, it is important to keep the wheel firmly on the ground so that it can transfer forces. That is not always the case with a harder suspension. "If we tune it much harder, it starts to jump at the back."

The subject of set-up has become even more important for Hollerweger and his engineers with this R8 generation because the R8 racing car for the GT3 class was developed at the same time for the first time. According to Audi, both cars have 50 percent identical parts, and they can still hardly believe their luck that the R8 LMS immediately won the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring.

The plus model of the Audi R8 costs 187,400 euros

“Win on sunday, sell on monday” is an old rule of thumb to justify expensive motorsport involvement: cars that win a race on the weekend are better to sell on weekdays. Whether or not there is anything to this remains to be seen, in the case of the R8 it also has to be: Win in May, sell in September. The sporty Audi won at the Nurburgring when it wasn’t even on the market – an interesting interpretation of this expensive sales aid.

Speaking of which: the Audi R8 is actually not cheap. You have to pay at least 165,000 euros, and the Plus model costs 187,400 euros. Extras such as laser high beam (3200 euros) and other upgrades are added, the R8 is easily priced in Ferrari regions.

It hatched itself

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-this

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A prominent example of the rear wing fraction: the Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo II, as a DTM racing car from AMG from 1990.

Source: Daimler

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-test

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The so-called depth tax of Kamei on the ancient beetle.

Source: Kamei

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-second

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The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage is a new edition of the legendary coupe from the 1970s.

Source: BMW

Test: This is how the second generation of the Audi R8 drives-test

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The Chevrolet Camaro Z 28 RS sported a conspicuous spoiler, more for fashion reasons.

Source: Getty Images

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The tail unit of the Porsche 935 from 1979, on the other hand, was integrated into the aerodynamic concept of the sports car.

Source: Getty Images

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It was also a must for the Lamborghini Anniversary Countach.

Source: Getty Images

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Mitsubishi tried it in 1993 with the Mirage with a two-part wing.

Source: Getty Images

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The wing mechanism of the Porsche 911 Turbo from 1996 also provided downforce.

Source: Getty Images

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The currently most powerful 911, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS with 500 hp, is equipped with a wing mechanism that could also serve as a deer trough.

Source: dpa-tmn

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The Mercedes-AMG GT is winged without gullwing doors. Unlike its predecessor, the SLS, it comes without extravagance and has a discreet, retractable one on the trunk lid… wing.

Source: dpa-tmn

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The name says it all: Plymouth Superbird from 1970 with a mighty wing.

Source: Getty Images / Car Culture

One of the reasons for the high price level is that Audi has dispensed with the cheaper V8 engine in the second generation. The R8 is available as a ten-cylinder, the new edition of an R8 with eight-cylinder is "not currently under discussion," says Hollerweger. "There is still no decision on whether we will be forced to bring an entry-level model."

As a next variant, therefore, no other motorization is to be expected, but again a Spyder model. Hollerweger does not confirm this either, but with this non-confirmation he smiles so friendly that Spyder friends can be optimistic.

More important, however, is Hollerweger’s statement, according to which sports car drivers who appreciate the special responsiveness of the naturally aspirated engine can be reassured: Without turbo lag and turbo boost, it reacts spontaneously to the gas and revs up almost endlessly. "For me," says the Quattro boss, "the naturally aspirated engine is far from being obsolete."

Heinz Hollerweger, Quattro boss

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