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AUDI DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE— IMPROVING ON NEAR-PERFECTION

● words arthur st. antoine ● photographs brian vance

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audi r8 5.2 fsi quattro (first test)

HOW MUCH is half a second and 105 horsepower worth to you? You’ll want to ponder that question if you’re in the enviable position of having to decide between the V-8-propelled version of Audi’s R8 two-seat, mid-engine exotic or the newly introduced V-10 edition. When the cars are similarly configured, the ten’s two additional cylinders command a premium of nearly $10K apiece.

Are they worth it?

It’s at this point our test drivers get all philosophical and existential. Is a 2001 Beringer Private Reserve a “better” Cabernet than a 2002 Quintessa? Do we prefer Angelina Jolie to Jennifer Connelly? “GoodFellas” or “The Sopranos”? It’s debates such as these that keep the MT water cooler boiling.

The “regular” R8, understand, is already one of our very favorite automobiles. It won our 2008 “Best Handling Car” competition, and in 2009 finished second (to the Porsche Cayman S) in our follow-up “Best Driver’s Car” extravaganza. Few vehicles on earth so brilliantly combine such sweet steering, predictable and powerful chassis dynamics, exhilarating straight-line thrust, and art museum-worthy looks (inside and out). The R8 is a machine that does everything to such a degree of exceptionalness—it’ll happily lollygag around town too—that almost every single one of us has it on our list of “Cars I’m GoingTo BuyWhen My Stock in videosforyourpet.com Goes Nuclear.”

So it’s settled then—the V-8 R8 is plenty good enough already, right? Ah, but wait until your right foot gets a taste of the V-10’s kick. With an extra liter of displacement and those two additional cylinders, the so-called “5.2 FSI quattro” romps with 525 horses at 8000 rpm—and allows you to spin its crank to an insane 8700 rpm. Weight climbs by 143 pounds, yet acceleration to 60 mph (with the standard six-speed manual) drops a full half second, to just 3.4 seconds, and quarter-mile performance improves even more, to just 11.7 seconds at 120.7 mph (versus 12.5 seconds at 111.9 mph for the V-8). This isn’t just paper prowess; it’s added speed you can feel in every gear. Says our Ron Kiino:“Seems the jump from R8 V-8 to V-10 is akin to the leap from Corvette Z06 to ZR1. Sure, 99.9 percent of us will likely never push an R8 V-8 or Z06 to the limit—even at a racetrack—and God knows both are plenty fast and amazing, but the R8 V-10 and ZR1 are simply that much more incredible, and we want them because of it.”

Steering feel remains simply sublime: The R8 5.2 carves almost without effort, yet you can feel the road and cornering forces through your fingertips as if the tires wore your palms instead of treads. The suspension, with two-position shocks, is the same architecture as the V-8’s (and both cars sport the same standard 19-inch Pirelli PZeroes), but for V-10 duty the settings are tightened up. Ride quality is still simply outstanding—in both forms the R8 glides over pavement like a hovercraft—but maximum grip edges up fractionally, from 0.99 g to the magic 1.0g mark. The added stick of the 5.2 (and its power advantage) helped it trim the run in our figure-eight course from 24.6 seconds (at 0.79 g) to 24.4 seconds (at 0.81). Brakes are the same on both cars, and indeed the 5.2 posted

IN V-10 FORM, the R8’s sideblade (here in optional carbon fiber) swells outward further than its V-8 sibling’s—feeding larger radiators. At night, special lights illuminate the magnificent mid-mounted engine.

the same spectacular stop from 60 mph: just 96 feet.

So those are the numbers. And, clearly, in added speed alone the 5.2 makes a compelling case for its higher sticker.With the V-10, the R8 truly moves into the realm of world’s fastest cars. What’s more, the 5.2’s higher base price ($150,200 versus the 4.2’s $117,500) includes much of the V-8’s pricey optional equipment as standard—DVD navigation, Bang & Olufsen audio, LED headlamps, and more. Astute observers will also notice broader sideblades (which feed larger radiators) and a revised grille with chrome webbing (an “improvement” most of us agree is actually a retrograde step).

What the digits fail to relate, though, is just how friendly and fine-tempered the ultrafast 5.2 is to pilot. As savvy readers already know, the V-10 is related to the mill that used to serve in the Lamborghini Gallardo. That 5.0-liter variant was good for 523 horsepower in the Italian car, and we’re pleased that Audi raised the output for U.S.bound R8 5.2s from the 518 horses predicted during early drives in Europe to a final 525 horsepower—likely the result of fine-tuning the exhaust. Though V-10s by nature aren’t the auto world’s smoothest designs, this one spins as if bathed in Log Cabin; the Audi’s V-10 sports a split pin crank with smoothsounding 72-degree firing pulses. In fact, it’s almost too sweet and syrupy—for such a fiery machine, a little more scream from the tailpipes, especially near the wild 8700-rpm redline, would be most welcome.

If the R8 5.2 has any shortcoming—and we’re reaching here—it’s in its gearbox. The standard six-speed manual works well, with a fluid clutch that’s never balky and a gated aluminum shifter that bangs up and down through the cogs with a retro-pleasant “clank.” Yet you can’t help feeling the R8 could do better. For instance, test driver Scott Mortara was thwarted during his acceleration runs by a crunchy one-two upshift (our test car wore a lot of hard miles). Hey, bring on the paddle-shift auto-clutch manual, you say. Ah, but the R8’s optional R-Tronic unit is a single-clutch design—it works satisfactorily, but has none of the shifting finesse or speed of the top dual-clutch paddle-shift units, such as Ferrari’s seven-speed F1 or Porsche’s PDK. “Dual-clutch trannies are the present and the future,” says Kiino. “The R8 needs to get with the times.” Indeed. Meantime, the manual box is definitely the best way to shift Audi’s star car.

Back to our original query: V-8 orV-10? If you’d asked us the question before our 5.2 drives, we’d probably have answered, “Hard to imagine improving on the 4.2 FSI quattro.” And we still might argue that the V-8 sounds better (more of a bawl than the V-10’s muted whir), looks a bit better (with its all-black grille), and of course checks in at a base sticker that’s $32,700 less. After driving the V-10, though, we’ll say this: “Audi has improved upon near-perfection.” Factor in the 5.2’s far more comprehensive standard content, and you’re talking about a price disparity of barely 10 percent or so—chicken scratch in this lofty league, especially given that you’re getting 25 percent more power. Consider, too, this rare twist: When you’re debating the merits of one R8 over another, you’re enjoying an argument you just can’t lose. ■ etting 25 percent more , , r,

POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS

DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT ENGINE TYPE Mid-engine, AWD 90-deg V-10, aluminum block/heads

VALVETRAIN DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSION RATIO DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 317.6 cu in/5204 cc 12.5:1

POWER (SAE NET) TORQUE (SAE NET) REDLINE WEIGHT TO POWER

525 hp @ 8000 rpm 391 lb-ft @ 6500 rpm 8700 rpm 7.1 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIOS 3.08:1/3.18:1 SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Control arms, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar; control arms, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar STEERING RATIO 17.3:1 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 3.2 BRAKES, F;R 14.4-in vented disc; 14.0-in vented disc, ABS

WHEELS, F;R 8.5x19 in; 11.0x19 in, cast aluminum

TIRES, F;R 235/35R19 91Y; 295/30R19 100Y, Pirelli PZero

DIMENSIONS

WHEELBASE

104.3 in TRACK, F/R 64.3/62.8 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 174.6 x 76.0 x 49.3 in TURNING CIRCLE 38.7 ft CURB WEIGHT 3726 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 44/56% SEATING CAPACITY 2 HEADROOM 37.7 in LEGROOM 45.0 in SHOULDER ROOM 54.7 in CARGO VOLUME 3.5 cu ft

TEST DATA

ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 1.3 sec 0-40 1.8 0-50 2.6 0-60 3.4 0-70 4.3 0-80 5.5 0-90 6.6 0-100 8.0 PASSING, 45-65 MPH 1.7 QUARTER MILE 11.7 sec @ 120.7 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 96 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 1.00 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 24.4 sec @ 0.81 g (avg) TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH 2550 rpm

CONSUMER INFO

BASE PRICE $150,200 PRICE AS TESTED $164,050 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/yes AIRBAGS Dual front, front side/head, front knee BASIC WARRANTY 4 yrs/50,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 4 yrs/50,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 4 yrs/unlimited miles FUEL CAPACITY 23.8 gal EPA CITY/HWY ECON 12/20 mpg CO2 EMISSIONS 1.32 lb/mile RECOMMENDED FUEL Unleaded premium

1-800-33-Honda *Carrying too much cargo or improperly storing it can affect the handling, stability and operation of this vehicle. Before carrying any cargo, be sure to consult the owner’s manual for load limits and loading guidelines. 4WD EX-L model shown. © 2009 American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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