All-Audi-R8 Drag Race Looks Like Fan Service, Takes You from 2006 to 2019

Mat Watson from Carwow is in the slowest car of the group, an early R8 with the 4.2-liter V8 and the six-speed manual, which he positively loves. Everybody says that, but they buy the automatic anyway, which is why Audi stopped offering one many years ago. Looking at how the V8 models loses ground while shifting, you can see why.

All cars use lightweight monocoque chassis construction and quattro permanent all-wheel drive. The three remaining speedsters use the 5.2-liter V10 with varying levels of power, but only the newest model has a twin-clutch gearbox. The older F1-style units are pretty fast too, though.

But let's run through the specs as well, just to make sure. The V8 makes 420 HP and 430 Nm. The GT Spyder was only available for 2011 and 2012 with a 5.2-liter rated at 560 HP and 540 Nm. The R8 LMS meanwhile adds 10 HP and switches to the 7-speed gearbox which they added during the facelift. It's a track special with a cool carbon fiber body kit, which was pretty rare back in that day. Finally, we have the ultra-modern R8 performance with 620 HP and 580 Nm of torque. Only the Huracan gets more from a naturally aspirated V10.

The outcome of the race is pretty obvious. The manual V8 is slower than the convertible, which is slower than the LMS, which is slower than the brand new 2019 model. Rolling race with a manual gearbox? That's going to go badly for sure. The results of the braking test are the most inconsistent, so just ignore everything and just listen to those awesome engines.