I have now had my R8 V10 Plus for coming up to 3 months and in that time I have added 5,500 miles, so I felt an initial review of the car was called for. My station car arrives on the 18th of this month, at which point the R8 will be retired to weekend use on road and occasional track outing. Since having the car I have done the North Coast 500 and my first Nurburgring outing last weekend as well as a couple of 'get in and go' drives into Wales and North West.
Reception
I have never owned a car that creates such a stir and is so well received by most people I come across. Though not ever part of my personal buying criteria, the reception it has received, bar 2 occasions, has been fantastic. Whether it is other motorists thumbing up, kids taking pictures, people coming up to you at petrol stations and wanting to chat or petrol heads dropping their drivers/passenger windows on your approach, it gets an amazingly positive reception. I've had bikers follow me just to listen, THREE TIMES and many many times where I've pulled up and found people congregating to have a look, which is fine. On 2 separate occasions I've had little kids with mum and dad sitting in the passenger seat at petrol stations and the "it's a V10 one" is commonly heard. On my trip to the Ring last weekend it created a lot of interest only bettered by my mates MC12 which frankly is another level on again in terms of presence. The only 2 negatives were total rock apes, one I mead a thread about, the other was some chav in a tatty 3 series estate who was DESPERATE to make some sort of point I am still yet to understand but had something to do with wanting to smash my face in I believe. I couldn't heard him over the V10 and tears of laughter from his read face. Meh, 'tards' will 'tard' I guess.
Noise
Interesting actually. I have never been a huge fan of the V10, frankly, but I have grown to appreciate its subtlety. I believe it is a slightly off kilter V (not done much research on this!) so it does have the depth and distinct sound of 2 x Audi straight 5's the simply come together in a fantastic noise. When not in sport mode it is really quiet, perfect for pooling around but when in sport it opens up the pipes and makes a fantastic noise, especially on the auto blip down changes, 3rd to 2nd being my favourite. It is a supercar (let's not argue this, mates with Lambo's, Ferraris and McLarens have referred to it as such so I will go with that
) but is really comfortable in auto mode, sport off just driving around. I still think there are better sounding cars, but around town, with walls close or in tunnels it is a real event and shouts loud and noisy, which it should be I suppose. I won't change the pipes as I think the balance is about right. It doesn't sound supercar on tick over, my mates McLaren MC12, with new pipes did sound ace at tick over, but it has a good combo of noise when needed, silence when tired.
Steering
For a modern car it's really good and Plus is quite noticeably different to the normal R8, V8 or V10. The car follows cambers, movers around quite a bit and has some good steering feel for a modern car. I like that, I like that it pulls you around a bit as it reminds me I need to control it and it's not going to just ride hands off. It's not Porsche pure or as feelsome, but few cars ever are but it's better than I remember is being and suits the car nicely.
Gearbox
Good, for a Dual Clutch set up. In sport auto mode it is far too aggressive for my liking, but frankly, bar warm up I use the car in manual mode. I have worked out that it's manual mode then sport button, not the other way around as if you do it the other way you tend to go from 7th to 3rd and smash your teeth on the dashboard. Around town, full auto, sport off is super smooth, sport is much more aggressive even in manual but you need sport to make the nice noise, so sport tends to be the first thing I turn on when warmed up. I think manual would suit the car well, but not the Audi gated shift. I would prefer a small, tight, sticky sticky gearbox. All in all it's a good box, though 7th is really a cruise gear and you need to stir it to get it in the power band, which is around 5500 upwards. At that point it's super quick.
Interior
Black leather, B&O, crap CD player, crap Sat Nav and 2 bucket seats. Not sure what more I can add.....oh year, CRAP cup holders and not enough storage!
Part 1, will add more when I have time. Digest at your leisure. Pics to follow, North Coast 500 and Nurburgring update to follow (it goes so well so easily) and about 18 pages on how AMAZING the brakes are.
Reception
I have never owned a car that creates such a stir and is so well received by most people I come across. Though not ever part of my personal buying criteria, the reception it has received, bar 2 occasions, has been fantastic. Whether it is other motorists thumbing up, kids taking pictures, people coming up to you at petrol stations and wanting to chat or petrol heads dropping their drivers/passenger windows on your approach, it gets an amazingly positive reception. I've had bikers follow me just to listen, THREE TIMES and many many times where I've pulled up and found people congregating to have a look, which is fine. On 2 separate occasions I've had little kids with mum and dad sitting in the passenger seat at petrol stations and the "it's a V10 one" is commonly heard. On my trip to the Ring last weekend it created a lot of interest only bettered by my mates MC12 which frankly is another level on again in terms of presence. The only 2 negatives were total rock apes, one I mead a thread about, the other was some chav in a tatty 3 series estate who was DESPERATE to make some sort of point I am still yet to understand but had something to do with wanting to smash my face in I believe. I couldn't heard him over the V10 and tears of laughter from his read face. Meh, 'tards' will 'tard' I guess.
Noise
Interesting actually. I have never been a huge fan of the V10, frankly, but I have grown to appreciate its subtlety. I believe it is a slightly off kilter V (not done much research on this!) so it does have the depth and distinct sound of 2 x Audi straight 5's the simply come together in a fantastic noise. When not in sport mode it is really quiet, perfect for pooling around but when in sport it opens up the pipes and makes a fantastic noise, especially on the auto blip down changes, 3rd to 2nd being my favourite. It is a supercar (let's not argue this, mates with Lambo's, Ferraris and McLarens have referred to it as such so I will go with that
) but is really comfortable in auto mode, sport off just driving around. I still think there are better sounding cars, but around town, with walls close or in tunnels it is a real event and shouts loud and noisy, which it should be I suppose. I won't change the pipes as I think the balance is about right. It doesn't sound supercar on tick over, my mates McLaren MC12, with new pipes did sound ace at tick over, but it has a good combo of noise when needed, silence when tired.Steering
For a modern car it's really good and Plus is quite noticeably different to the normal R8, V8 or V10. The car follows cambers, movers around quite a bit and has some good steering feel for a modern car. I like that, I like that it pulls you around a bit as it reminds me I need to control it and it's not going to just ride hands off. It's not Porsche pure or as feelsome, but few cars ever are but it's better than I remember is being and suits the car nicely.
Gearbox
Good, for a Dual Clutch set up. In sport auto mode it is far too aggressive for my liking, but frankly, bar warm up I use the car in manual mode. I have worked out that it's manual mode then sport button, not the other way around as if you do it the other way you tend to go from 7th to 3rd and smash your teeth on the dashboard. Around town, full auto, sport off is super smooth, sport is much more aggressive even in manual but you need sport to make the nice noise, so sport tends to be the first thing I turn on when warmed up. I think manual would suit the car well, but not the Audi gated shift. I would prefer a small, tight, sticky sticky gearbox. All in all it's a good box, though 7th is really a cruise gear and you need to stir it to get it in the power band, which is around 5500 upwards. At that point it's super quick.
Interior
Black leather, B&O, crap CD player, crap Sat Nav and 2 bucket seats. Not sure what more I can add.....oh year, CRAP cup holders and not enough storage!
Part 1, will add more when I have time. Digest at your leisure. Pics to follow, North Coast 500 and Nurburgring update to follow (it goes so well so easily) and about 18 pages on how AMAZING the brakes are.
