Abandoned Audi R8 Has Been Sitting Still for Five Years, Cold Start Brings So Much Smoke

This 2010 Audi R8 Spyder has been rotting away, covered in dust and leaves and spider webs. The car has its belly on the ground. Rodents must have chewed away the cables, and the air suspension is inoperable.

The R letter is still on the boot lid, but one of the members of the team finds the '8' sitting on the ground. Some glue will do the job. But it is going to take more than some glue to put this car back on the road where it belongs.

It took the team four hours to pull it out of its parking space. The wheels are totally stuck. The team brought a trailer to take the Spyder away. But the owner showed up to ask what was going on with this car. He eventually agrees with the restoration and gives a little insight into the background of the Audi.

Bill says he moved away and left the car there. He’s got other "toys" at his new home, and the new owners of his former house were kind enough to agree to keep it in storage for a while. The pandemic hit, and Bill just left it there. When he tried to move it, the car was sitting too close to the asphalt to be moved. Furthermore, the battery died out, and it was way too complicated to replace.

Its salvation is a team of experts in detailing. When they try to pull the car from the spot where it’s been sitting for the past five years, the sound is similar to that of nails on the chalkboard. They decide to take the bumper down to avoid scratching it against the asphalt.

When they pop the boot lid open, they see that the engine compartment is full of leaves. They have to vacuum them from around that 5.2-liter V10. And the detailing has just started.

First they work on the multi-spoke wheels with gloss black finish. The entire body, canvas top included, goes through foam and rinse and foam and rinse again. The experts rub all the surfaces to remove all the dirt that has been layering on it for the past years.

They are surprised to see that the top is actually working. Once the top is down, the seats are out. They also need a thorough cleaning. When the job is done, they look brand new. The frame of the windshield is covered in spider webs. Door cards are up next, with their carbon fiber inserts. The steering wheel goes through the same procedure.

Polishing brings the metallic black paintwork back to life. The ‘8’ in the ‘R8’ badging is glued back, while the exhaust tip is polished back to its shiny looks.

Two days later, they present the car to its owner, Bill. When he sees the car, he can’t believe his eyes. He says it is now the kind of car that you take your shoes off before going inside and is almost sure that it didn’t look this nice the moment he drove off from the dealership in it almost 13 years ago. "There's not a forest inside anymore," he says.

When they start the engine, it roars back to life, and the growl makes them cheer. That is the sound of 525 horsepower (532 PS) and 391 lb-ft (530 Nm) of torque. In the Lamborghini Gallardo-based R8, the mid-mounted V10 is linked to the all-wheel drive quattro system and a six-speed auto box.

In its heyday, the Audi R8 Spyder could hit 60 mph from a standstill in 3.8 seconds, could do 0 - 124 mph (0 - 200 kph) in 12.8 seconds, and could run the quarter mile in 11.9 seconds.

Surprisingly, the Audi still had a full tank of gas from five years ago. But the cold start brings a massive cloud of smoke in the garage.

Someone in the comments claims that there should be a prison sentence for whoever neglects an "automotive masterpiece."

Another user criticizes the team for doing the cold start without any precautionary measures. A check run on electronics, an oil change, and filter replacement would have spared them the smoke.

One thing is for sure: Bill is not going to let this Audi R8 Spyder sit for years and years at his former house. Most likely, the R8 is going to join his fleet of motorized 'toys' at his new house. But he needs to work on that engine first.

Audi is now building the final R8s before the model goes into oblivion at the end of 2023. The carmaker is probably going to revive the nameplate, slamming it onto the boot lid of an electric sports car.