Friday, December 3, 2010

Lord of the rings: Audi’s R8 GT flat out in the UK



This story started badly. I can tell things haven't gone well, because approximately one hour after first stepping into the new Audi R8 GT, I'm curled uncomfortably in a semi-foetal position in the back of a police car having a painful conversation with two police officers. Neither look happy. Mind you, I probably don't look particularly Timmy Mallet either.
"Is that... vehicle... your car, Sir?'
He nods to the R8 GT gleaming menacingly in the lay-by, the Audi rings skulking under the broad blade of fixed rear wing. The massive exhausts look a bit like gun barrels. Big ones.


This article was originally published in the December issue of Top Gear magazine






Photo: kill switch hidden away in ashtray




But the hardware will put a smile back on your face. In the back there's a re-worked 5.2-litre V10 making 552bhp and 398lb ft, good enough to punch the GT to 62mph in 3.6 seconds and on to a maximum of 199mph. Numbers not unlike that of the similarly engined and rather lovely Lambo Gallardo Superleggera (562bhp, 398lb ft of torque, 202mph and 62mph in 3.4) - though at 1,340kg, the Lambo is still significantly lighter than the Audi. Which is odd, because the main reason this particular R8 feels so committed, so tied down, is not because the engine has hoiked itself up by a few ponies, but because this is a ‘lightweight' R8.









And while I wish the R8 had a more appropriate 'box to give it a vital edge, I realise it probably doesn't matter. All 33 of the cars bound for the UK are sold, and it commands a near £40k premium over a stock V10 - given the brilliance of the standard car, that's blatantly too much. So, a toy then. A glorious irrelevance? Yes. But like the Highlands of Scotland that I leave slowly shrouding themselves in grey mist, the R8 GT is epic in its own very specific way. I might not want to live there, but it's one hell of a place to visit.

Posted by nay at 8:26 AM