Categories
Audi Honda

The odd couple

Audi R8 V10 v Honda Type R Mugen

Here’s an interesting video comparison from Autocar. On hand is the awesome Audi R8 V10 being pestered by a (UK market only) buzzing Honda Type R Mugen. Now, at £40K the Mugen is no shortcut to cheap thrills by any means. But asking it to keep up with the £100K R8 is a pointless exercise, isn’t it?

Well watch the video to find out. I guess the real point here is, if you had access to both of these cars and a twisty road, you’d most likely want a piece of the action too. A cracking car is a cracking car, doesn’t matter what company it keeps.

[via The German Car Blog]

Categories
Audi

Flaming heck

Audi TTRS v R8 V10

The Audi TT RS and the R8 V10. Two very, very nice cars. Most readers would pick the R8, right? But what if you could only muster the cash for the slighty oddball five cylinder powered TT RS, would you really be missing out on that much?

In rough UK numbers the R8 V10 is £100K, the TT RS around £50K. So, there is, obviously, a huge discrepancy in price. In Aussie dollars the numbers look even more insane, the R8 V10 starts at $350K, that’s heading towards triple the asking price of the $135K TT RS. Does the mighty R8 have the performance to justify its massive gap in asking price compared to the TT RS? That’s a question Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar asked. You can watch his answer in video form after the jump.

[Thanks to Timbo for the tip]

Categories
Audi

Audi R8 V10 – World Performance Car 2010

Audi R8 V10

In further news from the World Car of the Year awards the Audi R8 V10 has been named 2010’s World Performance Car. The R8 has double dipped with this title after the R8 4.2 V8 was awarded the same honour back in 2008.

The R8 knocked off some very stiff opposition to win this award, too. Joining the Audi in the final three was the Ferrari California and the Porsche 911 GT3.

The V10 powered R8 is fitted with a 5.2 litre direct injection engine, closely related to the powerplant used in the Lamborghini Gallardo. The unit develops and impressive 386kW and the car can reach 100km/h in under four seconds. Readers are invited to send in next week’s lotto numbers to AUSmotive HQ at your earliest convenience.

Categories
Audi

Audi R8 V10 unwrapped in Detroit

Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI quattro

Audi’s V10 powered R8 had its first public showing in Detroit recently. With 525bhp the 5.2 litre produces an engine note to die for. As far as finer details go, nothing has really changed from the information we bought you last December. However, since when has it been a bad idea to show more pics of the stunning R8?

Enjoy!

Categories
Audi

Audi R8 V10 breaks cover

Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI quattro

With the reveal of the 5.2 litre V10 powered model, the R8 is now complete. Complete with near on 400kW. That will do nicely sir. Finally, the R8 has the bonkers engine to go with its oh-so-desirable body. Not that the 4.2 V8 was really anything to complain about.

The full engine spec reads 386kW power, with 530Nm torque. The 5.2 litre V10 is also used in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4. In Italian mode the V10 has a fair bit more power, at 412kW and just a wee bit more torque, at 540Nm. Still, both cars are down on power compared to the completely mad RS6, which has 426kW.

There’s been a few cosmetic tweaks over the V8 model, including changes to the front grille that a trainspotter will happily point out for you. Likewise with the more pronounced sideblades, shown here in carbon fibre. Of course. The oval-shaped exhaust outlets are a whole lot angrier than before, too. More interestingly, though, is the use of full LED lighting. The lights, including headlamps, are fitted standard to the V10 model and Audi are the first manufacturer in the world to offer such technology on road cars.

Stop the presses! I almost forgot about the room for two golf bags. They’d fit behind the front seats presumably.

The V10 is available with two transmissions, either a trad 6 speed manual or the slightly awkward R tronic, which is not to be confused with the double clutch S tronic box. The R tronic is an aquired taste, as AUSmotive found out during our R8 review.

Entry level pricing for the R8 V10 is EUR 142,400, or around AU$278,500. By the time you add all of our local taxes, expect that price to jump another eleventy million notes. Either way, if sir is currently finding himself laughing at the commoners and their silly Global Financial Crisis, I’m advising sir to ask Jeeves to arrange an R8 V10 to be delivered post haste. I expect this to be a truly astonishing car.

Full European press release and dimensions shown below.

UPDATE 13 December: The R8 V10 should be on Australian shores by the middle of 2009. To hear what the V10 sounds like in the RS6, click HERE.

UPDATE 7 April 2010: 10 new pics added at end of article.