Audi R8 5.2 Plus – The Audi of Supercars returns!
There is something special about having the key to an Audi R8 in your hand. You can almost hear the sound of the engine, the feel of the chassis, the smell of the leather. Without even seeing the car, you know you are in for a treat. You walk to it, open the door, and carefully enter. Your heart is racing as you survey your environment. Everything you need is directly in front of you. A great big red button on a thick rimmed flat bottom steering wheel that says START ENGINE.
The moment the R8 comes to life is an automotive enthusiasts dream. It is an epic melody of pure raw unapologetic exhaust noise, combined with the chatter from the fuel injectors and a variety of other whirring and clatter. Thanks to the multi-path exhaust system, at cold start it sounds for all intents and purposes like it has no mufflers. It draws a crowd and startles those not quite expecting it.
We love it, so much.
But it gets better. Amazingly enough, the R8 is at its best not standing still. The Audi of Supercars is remarkably easy to drive as it turns out, with the dual clutch S-tronic transmission smoothly engaging the clutch at low speeds, and the light electronically assisted steering makes around town driving effortless. It is indeed the duality of the R8 that is most surprising. In fact, if you never went beyond 1/4 throttle, you’d assume it was just a really great sounding 4 cylinder engine back there. The moment you have the opportunity to plant your right foot on the floor however, 10 huge gulps of air are combined with a mist of fuel in each cylinder, and such a dramatic change in personality occurs that you really should warn your passenger before you do.
The sound of a 5.2 liter 10 cylinder engine at 8,000 rpm is staggeringly good, and even though your eyes are adjusting to the suddenly blurry scenery, the car itself has no problem containing the 610 hp that is suddenly finding its way to the tires. One would have to do something pretty stupid to get the R8 out of shape on dry pavement. The grip from the huge tires and quattro take all but the slightest sliver of worry out of piloting this car quickly.
Audi lists the 0-60 time for the R8 Plus at 3.2 seconds, with a top speed of 205mph. We didn’t have the chance to test the top speed or measure acceleration, but we can tell you that it’s very very quick from a stop. In Dynamic mode, it launches brutally hard, ripping off upshifts as fast as you tap the button on the wheel. It’s wickedly fun, and a bit addicting.
As quickly as the R8 builds speed, it sheds it. Equipped with massive 15″f/14″r carbon ceramic brakes, the car can just about put itself on it’s front bumper if you mash the pedal. We did find that they are a tad touchy in the rain, but once they get a bit of heat into them they are fine.
Unsurprisingly it takes a few moments to acclimate to a car such as this. You sit very low in the car, and much of the outside view is obscured by the roof pillars. The windshield is not huge, the side windows either. The view in the side mirrors is good, though the constant sight of the bulbous rear fenders reminds you how wide the car is. It’s really wide. You constantly remind yourself to keep a wide gap from curbs and other road hazards. You don’t want to ding up Audi’s $200,000 car.
The interior of the R8 is really pretty spartan. Most functions are reduced to dials, with the HVAC readouts living atop the knobs, and multi-function buttons living below. By now we are completely used to the new Audi style shifter, and honestly, in the R8 we like it a lot, especially compared to the former selector for the transmission. We do miss the gated manual shifter, which was magical to use, but clunky when you tried to push the car hard.
The only screen is the Audi Virtual Cockpit, which can show you almost anything you want to know about the car’s function, as well as navigation, audio, phone, etc. The R8 has some special modes which give you all kinds of different options displayed, such as a G force meter, track lap timer, tire pressure readings, and more. Honestly, we didn’t have enough time with the car to even get to see all of the options.
Speaking of dials and buttons, the R8 steering wheel has some extra buttons that are more or less just for fun. Literally. One makes the exhausts louder, and one allows you to adjust the stability and traction control programs for special circumstances, such as Track, and Snow. Basically different variations of on or off, with more or less F/R bias on the drivetrain, and more or less control over slip angles.
Our time with the R8 Plus was all too brief, but in that time we came to appreciate the Audi of supercars that much more. Next time, we hope to have a bit longer to enjoy this amazing machine!
Specs
Safety | Security
- Driver single stage and front passenger dual-stage airbags, thorax side airbags, Sideguard® head-curtain airbags and knee airbags 4
- Front passenger occupant detection–for airbags 4
- Power central locking system with safety unlock feature if airbags deploy
- Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with Electronic Brake-pressure Distribution (EBD) and brake assist
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with secondary collision brake assist and traction control (ASR)
- Anti-theft alarm system with immobilizer
- Direct tire-pressure monitoring system
- Driver and front passenger three-point safety belts with pre-tensioning and adaptive force limiters
- Integrated front seat head restraints
- Electromechanical parking brake
Exterior
- Singleframe® grille with Anthracite Gray gloss finish
- Full LED headlights with Audi laserlight
- Automatic headlights
- High-beam assistant
- LED taillights with dynamic turn signals
- Power-adjustable, power-folding, auto-dimming, heated exterior side mirrors
- Carbon fiber exterior side mirror housings
- Rear fog lights
- Integrated twin-trapezoidal exhaust outlets
- Carbon fiber front lip spoiler and rear diffuser
- Sport exhaust with Black tips (includes manual control through steering wheel-mounted satellite button)
- Carbon fiber fixed rear wing spoiler
- LED turn signals integrated into the exterior side mirror housings
- Carbon fiber engine compartment
- Engine compartment with LED lighting
- Carbon Sigma sideblade (two-piece design)
- Anthracite Black gloss rear fascia air outlets
- Anthracite Black gloss front fascia air inlets
Interior
- Automatic climate control
- Three-spoke multifunction flat-bottom sport steering wheel with shift paddles (includes R8 badge, perforated leather-wrap and larger Aluminum-optic shift paddles)
- Tilt and telescopic manually adjustable steering column
- Driver’s knee pad
- Power windows with one-touch up/down operation and pinch protection
- High-gloss Carbon Sigma inlays 5
- Black Alcantara® headliner
- Auto-dimming interior rear view mirror with digital compass
- Stainless steel pedals
- Illuminated aluminum door sill inlays with carbon fiber matte surround
- Monoposto cockpit design
- Four steering wheel-mounted satellite buttons (engine Start/Stop, Audi drive select, Performance mode selector and Sport exhaust)
Seating
- Racing shell seats with power height adjustment
- Heated seats
- Leather package (door armrests, pulls, insert, center armrest and driver’s knee pad covered in Fine Nappa leather)
Infotainment | Technology
- MMI® Navigation plus with voice control system 6
- MMI® touch with handwriting-recognition technology 7
- Audi connect® with six-month trial subscription 7
- Audi sound system with five speakers and 140 watts
- Audi virtual cockpit (12.3″ LCD full digital instrument cluster with three visual modes: Infotainment, Classic and Sport)
- Embedded safety belt microphones (for voice control and BLUETOOTH® hands-free clarity)
- HD Radio™ Technology
- SiriusXM® Satellite Radio with 90-day trial subscription 8
- INRIX XD® Traffic (req. Audi connect® subscription) 9
- SDXC card slots (dual slots)
- Cruise control with coast resume and accelerate features
- Audi music interface with two USB ports
- BLUETOOTH® wireless technology preparation for compatible mobile phones 10
- BLUETOOTH® streaming audio for compatible devices 10
- Garage door opener (HomeLink®)
- Audi advanced key – keyless start, stop and entry 11
- Parking system plus with rear view camera (front and rear acoustic parking sensors) 12
- Audi drive select
- Rain/light sensor for automatic windshield wipers and headlights
-
Engine
Engine type V10
Displacement (cc)/Bore and stroke (mm) 5,204/84.5 x 92.8
Horsepower (@ rpm) 610 @ 8,250
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) 413 @ 6,500
Engine block Aluminum-alloy incorporating silicon crystals
Cylinder head Aluminum-alloy
Valvetrain 40-valve DOHC with continuous intake and exhaust camshaft adjustment
Induction/fuel injection FSI® dual injection
Acceleration (0 – 60 mph) 3.2 seconds
Top track speed 205 mph 1
-
Electrical System
Battery 12 Volts – 420 A/75 Ah
Alternator 14 Volts – 210 A
-
Transmission | Drivetrain
Transmission Seven-speed S tronic® dual-clutch transmission with quattro® all-wheel drive
Type S tronic® with quattro® all-wheel drive
Gear ratios: 1st 3.133: 1
Gear ratios: 2nd 2.588: 1
Gear ratios: 3rd 1.958: 1
Gear ratios: 4th 1.244: 1
Gear ratios: 5th 0.979: 1
Gear ratios: 6th 0.976: 1
Gear ratios: 7th 0.841: 1
Gear ratios: Reverse 2.647: 1
Gear ratios: Final Drive (Reverse, 1st, 4th, and 5th: 4.458: 1) (2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th: 3.588: 1)
-
Steering
Type Electromechanical power steering system
Ratio 15.7: 1
Turning diameter (curb-to-curb) (ft) 36.7
-
Suspension
Front Aluminum double wishbone front suspension (fixed sport suspension)
Rear Aluminum double wishbone rear suspension (fixed sport suspension)
-
Brakes
Front (in) 15.0 (Audi ceramic)
Rear (in) 14.0 (Audi ceramic)
-
Body
Material Lightweight construction technology – ASF® multi-material space frame
-
Warranty | Maintenance
Warranty 4-year/50,000 mile Audi New Vehicle Limited Warranty
Maintenance 12-month/10,000 mile (whichever occurs first) NO CHARGE first scheduled maintenance
-
Exterior Measurements
Wheelbase (in) 104.3
Length (in) 174.3
Height (in) 48.8
Overall width with mirrors (in) 80.2
Overall width without mirrors (in) 76.4
Track front (in) 64.5
Track rear (in) 63.0
Overall width with mirrors (in) 80.2
Curb weight (lb) 3,627
Drag coefficient (Cw) 0.36
-
Interior Measurements
Head room (in, front) 38.5
Leg room (in, front) 40.9
Shoulder room (in, front) 55.1
Cargo volume (cu ft, cu ft, rear seatbacks up/folded) 8.0/NA
Seating capacity 2
-
EPA Estimates | Capacities
City TBD 2
Highway TBD 2
Combined TBD 2
Engine oil (qt) 8.8
Fuel (gal) 19.3 3
Recommended fuel Premium