The R8’s V10 is a Lamborghini power plant that gives this svelte coupé literally electric performance: 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds / 200km/h in 12 seconds and a 316km/h top end. Yet this is a car one could drive everyday and is docile enough in traffic, if you are judicious in the use of the loud pedal. Does this mean that the car is an easy-to-drive, somewhat tame ‘super-coupé’?  Does it infer that supercars have to be Spartan shells, without creature comforts? Not at all.

The cockpit is womb-like and defined from the passenger compartment, it’s an environment that wraps around the driver and reinforces the impression that this is a serious driving machine. The rest of the interior imparts the current Audi philosophy: it’s functional, minimalist yet appealing, and businesslike: Vorsprung durch Technik to the extreme. Yet the creature comforts are all there, including nappa leather upholstery, SATNAV, seat heating, climate control and B&O sound.

September/October 2010 Issue

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