Mat Watson of carwow says that zero to 60 miles per hour in the R8 V10 Performance RWD should take 3.7 seconds. The problem is that Audi quotes 3.7 seconds to 100 kilometers per hour, which is 62 mph. Despite a little wheelspin, the car gladly hits 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds on a public road and at a temperature that requires long sleeves.
When it comes to annoying things, Mat Watson isn’t fond of the body-color side blades. Ice Silver and Mythos Black side blades cost 150 pounds sterling (185 USD) as per the online configurator. The sticker price is rather prohibitive at GBP129,725 or $160,295 at current exchange rates.
When you have mid-engine alternatives like the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS and rear-engine alternatives like the Porsche 911 GT3, it’s a little hard to make a case for the rear-driven R8 over the quattro-equipped variant. Watson correctly highlights that the German automaker from Ingolstadt could make the R8 V10 Performance RWD a little more powerful, but they refuse to because it would obviously cannibalize the quattro specification.
Rated at 570 ps (562 horsepower) and 550 Nm (406 pound-feet), this variant is much obliged to reach 204 miles per hour (328 kilometers per hour) on full song. The Spyder comes with a one-mph aerodynamic penalty. As for weight, that’s 1,590 kilograms (3,505 pounds) and 1,695 kgs (3,737 lbs).
The rear-driven supercar doesn’t feature adaptive dampers, which is utterly dumb of a car that’s designed to handle. In the UK, customers don’t get dynamic steering, the performance drive mode, carbon-ceramic brakes, or Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Given these circumstances, why bother giving the R8 V10 Performance RWD a chance when the aforementioned Porsches are far superior in terms of driving excitement? That sweet engine, maybe?
On that note, does it come as a surprise the R8 doesn’t sell well? Only 666 units were delivered in the European Union and the United Kingdom last year, which is marginally better than the 649 vehicles sold in the United States.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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