Audi R8 - what gives?

[TomN94]

Daniel1 said:

I thought the V10 was a detuned mk2 gallardo V10?

The r8 v10 has 518bhp which is pretty much the same as the mk1 (lp520) but, I will happily be corrected if wrong.

[whoami]

TomN94 said:

Having been in a gallardo (mk1) and a v10 r8 which shares the same engine, I did find the gallardo underwhelming incomparison, the r8 is much better. But as someone above said it's because they will be more than likely v8's which people won't want.

n what way?

[Daniel1]

TomN94 said:

Daniel1 said:

I thought the V10 was a detuned mk2 gallardo V10?

The r8 v10 has 518bhp which is pretty much the same as the mk1 (lp520) but, I will happily be corrected if wrong.

I'd be interested too. I read that the only difference was the exhaust and the map not allowing 100% throttle. I did read it on the Internet though...

[TomN94]

whoami said:

n what way?

It's hard to explain, the noise obviously was much better, but the acceleration and sense of speed seemed a little worse. My main gripe, being 6"3 was lack of headroom, no denying it's a
great car, but the r8 just seemed that bit better.

[Cattleman]

ShayneJ said:

Would most of them be V8's where the former owners have moved on to V10's

This, Neighbor Had a standard v8 when they came out,now has a very nice Blue v10 spyder, looks lovely.

[Zwolf]

daveak said:

"How many do you think should be for sale at any point in time OP? Why?"

Not sure if I can give you an answer to this.

So what makes you think that an arbitrary number of them being for sale at a point in time might mean there's something *wrong* with them? Seems a curious inference to make.

There are apparently 2,048 of them in existence, so that 125 represents just over 6% of the total being on the market for sale presently. Hardly an epidemic of people getting shot of an out of favour vehicle.

As to why so many seem to be (taking your word for it) relatively young and low miles, that's an interesting one:

2007: 425 (18 for sale, 4.2%)
2008: 724 (32 for sale, 4.4%)
2009: 394 (25 for sale, 6.3%)
2010: 349 (18 for sale, 5.2%)
2011 Q1 & Q2: 156 (29 for sale, 18.6%)

One could infer that new registrations for the total year have taken a roughly 25% drop, assuming that another 150-odd cars are registered in Q3 & Q4 of 2011 compared with around 400-ish per year, barring the peak year. How many of those are registrations to customers or dealers self registering stock it is not possible to know from the stats available. However, a scan of the 2011 cars for sale will probably clarify that...

As for low mileage - they're quite often bought as toys, rather than daily drivers, so I don't think there's much more to it than that. All we can really guage from the above is that perhaps 2011 hasn't been a great year for selling £100k+ sports cars if similar trends are identified across the R8s comeptitors. Or those buyers are buying something else instead now as it has been for a few years now and such buyers are perhaps more drawn to the latest and shiniest "must have" car of the moment.

Edited by Zwolf on Friday 9th December 22:16

[daveak]

Wow Zwolf thanks for doing such indepth research for me, I didn't intend to make an inference as to there being anything wrong with R8's, merely wanted to get other people's views, especially current/previous owners about the characteristics of these cars. and wondered why so many seem to be up for sale at the moment.
I'm pleased with the responses I've had on my very first post on this forum.

[Zwolf]

That's not in depth research, I didn't even open a spreadsheet. I like numbers...

[Scrambled]

Baryonyx said:

Audi seems to be the badge of choice for those wanting to look like they've 'made it' at the bottom end of the market.

Baryonyx said:

my eye has been drawn to the Audi A8.

So, were you just trolling with your first statement, or do you want to look like you made it?

Edited by Scrambled on Friday 9th December 23:31

[irish boy]

I find it strange the 4.2 v8 in the rs4 is always at the end of some sort of abuse for not making it's power etc etc but is praised in the r8!

[Zwolf]

irish boy said:

I find it strange the 4.2 v8 in the rs4 is always at the end of some sort of abuse for not making it's power etc etc but is praised in the r8!

Out of interest, does the R8 use exactly the same engine, or are they blue-printed as per the difference between BMW S62 V8s as used in M5 vs. Z8? The former of which can often be a bit under the official figure, but no engine went into the Z8 without ensuring it made the proper numbers from the outset.

Given the price differential between an RS4 and an R8, they may well have done so. Just a thought.

[Garlick]

irish boy said:

I find it strange the 4.2 v8 in the rs4 is always at the end of some sort of abuse for not making it's power etc etc but is praised in the r8!

I certainly find the V8 R8 lacks urge in reality. On paper it appears faster than it feels/ sounds, all IMO but it feels slower than it looks. The same can be said of early V8V's too.

[007 VXR]

I like playing with the V8 and V10




Do love the look of them, but never driven one.

[andye30m3]

I'm currently looking at GT3'S and despite being able to fund an R8 for similar money am just not at all interested,

Can't really explain why but to me they just appear a little dull, to good maybe.

I'm sure they are a superb car, less compromised than a GT3 and in many ways far better but I still don't really want one and in the market they're in they have to be what the buyer really wants

[RDMcG]

I spent a day with a fairly new V8 and had my 997.1RS along for comparison. While the RS has a very heavy clutch and is much more of a handful, the R8 seemed way too light, and if I could have driven it eyes closed it would have been difficult to tell it from a very good Audi saloon. Too polished and not visceral enough for me. Far more comfortable than the RS,but I came away from the day of hard driving not feeling the passion.........
I like the design of the car,however....

[ClintonB]

Daniel1 said:

TomN94 said:

Having been in a gallardo (mk1) and a v10 r8 which shares the same engine, I did find the gallardo underwhelming incomparison, the r8 is much better. But as someone above said it's because they will be more than likely v8's which people won't want.

I thought the V10 was a detuned mk2 gallardo V10?

Is the R8 V10 the Lamborghini engine with a different rocker cover & mapping or is it an S6/8 engine wound up? Not the same thing supposedly.

[lionrampant]

For a while there I was regularly seeing enough R8s running around Glasgow to start a dealership. They seem to have dropped off the radar again.

[Baryonyx]

Scrambled said:

So, were you just trolling with your first statement, or do you want to look like you made it?

Edited by Scrambled on Friday 9th December 23:31

No, fortunately for me I don't give much mind to a car's 'image', or what it portrays. I just want the best car for the job, whether that be providing fun and excitement or being a refined cruiser. Ultimately, I was put off the A8 by the woeful gearbox issues, myriad electrical problems and so on. They just don't seem to be made to the same standard as the equivalent BMW or Lexus barge.

Usually, it's diesel Audi drivers who are looking to give the impression they've 'made it', in the same way a yuppie would have loved a BMW in the 80's. But ultimately, I'd look past the badge of any car to assess it objectively and see if it'll be good enough for me. In the end, the A8 just sounded like too much of a risk when the competition is strong and reliable.

[AndyBrew]

A friend of mine has a V8 and after a trip out in it I was very underwhelmed a serious lack of Go and a shape that for me doesn't quite look right (that coming from someone who likes the Nissan juke)

[Zanderman]

There arent any leggy ones available as far as I can see and £50k is hardly a 'cheap' entry point.

NotKenBlock said:

+1 on this,

The people that are now looking at the leggy cheap ones, are the same people that bought TT's in the same way a few years ago.

Dont know about anyone else but a leggy ropey TT is the 'orangeites' current chariot of choice at the tanning salon / local nightspot