GT4 RS breaks cover then...

[Robbo66]

That’s an excellent write up. Thanks for sharing.

I would add, that men of a ‘certain age’ ie anything over 40, look a total plonker cutting about in one. I know that will, be an unpopular opinion, but It’s way too ‘bro’ for me, tries too hard…sort of Germanic Project Khan.

I had the 981 Spyder and loved that, though was woeful on track but you didn’t look like David Guest driving one.

[bigmowley]

Digga said:

bigmowley said:

The RS has gone and the R8 stays probably forever.

Not well up on R8’s. Which is that and is it V8 or 10?

A mate has a gen1 R8 GT with the V10. It’s properly rapid. I have never driven it on track, but on road it’s lovely. Felt wide compared to the 996 turbo I had, but I could live with that. Had one of the nicest, part-throttle induction noises of any road car.

On wet A and B roads from Nurburgring into Belgium, there were times when my (mapped to 500hp) turbo just could not keep up. It’s a car I could warm to, for sure.

It’s a 2018 RWS which I’ve had from new, so V10 rear wheel drive only updated to the 605bhp R8+ tune. It’s got a few Audisport parts on it, mainly the coilovers and aero parts, along with updated brakes, seats and harnesses. As an aside it’s almost identical in spec to the £200K run out R8GT that was launched this year, I think they stole my idea
One of the most important things about it is that it is, as far as I am aware, the only version of the R8 where you can fully disengage all the driver aids. They are double wishbone all round and just like a Porsche GT car fully adjustable so you can set them up just how you like. The engine is the standout feature it is immense. On the standard Audi sports exhaust it sounds amazing but it will also do quiet and comfortable when you want it too.
As a track car it’s brilliant. Fast, engaging and so far totally reliable. Heavy on consumables but what isn’t at this performance level?

[mikebradford]

Bigmowley your R8 looks great.

[Joscal]

Really interesting and I came to the same conclusion with the standard 718 GT4. I didn’t trust it on bumpy roads, I’ve never had that in a car.

The R8 looks far better to my eyes too.

Health to drive!

[TDT]

Great writeup of your personal journey with the car.

I think that compared to your R8 and its spec, the 4RS was never going to cut it really. The R8 platform is actually more sophisticated than cayster and then there’s that masterpiece engine.

My concern for R8 is that it wasnt really sharp enough, tough enough or adjustable enough for track…. Audi didn’t really do an out and out GT3 rival IMO.

Nice to hear it DOES have adjustable chassis and that GT parts ARE ‘motor-sports’ intended.

Edited by TDT on Saturday 14th October 13:09

[Slippydiff]

Digga said:

Not well up on R8’s. Which is that and is it V8 or 10?

A mate has a gen1 R8 GT with the V10. It’s properly rapid. I have never driven it on track, but on road it’s lovely. Felt wide compared to the 996 turbo I had, but I could live with that. Had one of the nicest, part-throttle induction noises of any road car.

On wet A and B roads from Nurburgring into Belgium, there were times when my (mapped to 500hp) turbo just could not keep up. It’s a car I could warm to, for sure.

Almost bought one back in 2015. Beautifully made with some stunning carbon fibre pieces.
Seats looked stunning, but were rock hard.
Not sure if they were all Audi R-Tronic flappy paddle transmissions, but this one was, and it drove beautiful.
Steering felt “nuggety” compared with the standard V10 I drove, but as you’ve said, it felt a biiiig car to throw around.

The example I drove was completely stock, and you needed to be well up the rev-range to hear the tuneful V10 properly.

I bailed at the last moment as I didn’t feel it was a car I’d ever really bond with, mainly as it felt too big, too heavy and not particularly biddable on the road. I tend to think now that they were much underrated.
A lovely thing that looked and felt very special though.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s85KtBGP01Q&pp=y...

Edited by Slippydiff on Saturday 14th October 13:19

[Digga]

I imagine RWD V10 R8 is an absolute beast. A real driver’s car.

I know the infamous Nige Pinder (Whoosher) is planning to sell his monster Mk2 Golf track car next year, to get into an R8. It’s a project I am very interested in seeing.

[cseven]

Brilliant review and really appreciate the real world insight 👍

[BillyB]

A few friends have tracked the various generations of R8 and although they are quick and a very nice drive-to-track-do-a-trackday-and-drive-home-in-comfort (particularly to European tracks) they didn’t last due to the above mentioned weight and tendancy to cook brakes (new calipers and carbon ceramic disks, anyone. User error, ignoring the brake warning light though tbf). They were largely standard cars though.

[ChrisW.]

Very useful insights ... I drove one of the first R8's at Oulton and was amazed at how keen the turn-in was by comparison to my 964RS N-GT at the time ...

I still think as a classic road car there's very little to beat a nicely used one of these for £40k ...

[LamedonM]

Thanks Bigmoyley.

Please pardon me. I just don’t believe there are no additional financial reasons for selling the 4RS instead of the R8

Are there other individuals that have both (R8 and 4RS) that can provide their own insights in addition

Thanks

[bigmowley]

LamedonM said:

Thanks Bigmoyley.

Please pardon me. I just don’t believe there are no additional financial reasons for selling the 4RS instead of the R8

Are there other individuals that have both (R8 and 4RS) that can provide their own insights in addition

Thanks

No financial reasons at all. Both cars paid for in full. RS obviously worth more than the R8 at the moment but I genuinely would have sold the R8 if the RS was the better track toy. I don’t want 2 track cars at this level and I have quite a few other cars for other uses and other tracks. I will admit that there is an emotional connection with the R8 which I only bought in a fit of pique when Porsche would not sell me a 991 GT3 gen 2, plus I have worked hard to get it where I want it. However that doesn’t detract from the fact that for me the GT4RS not a good car. There is no way on earth that when I opened the garage doors I would choose the RS for a blast over the R8 so it had to go.

[LamedonM]

bigmowley said:

LamedonM said:

Thanks Bigmoyley.

Please pardon me. I just don’t believe there are no additional financial reasons for selling the 4RS instead of the R8

Are there other individuals that have both (R8 and 4RS) that can provide their own insights in addition

Thanks

No financial reasons at all. Both cars paid for in full. RS obviously worth more than the R8 at the moment but I genuinely would have sold the R8 if the RS was the better track toy. I don’t want 2 track cars at this level and I have quite a few other cars for other uses and other tracks. I will admit that there is an emotional connection with the R8 which I only bought in a fit of pique when Porsche would not sell me a 991 GT3 gen 2, plus I have worked hard to get it where I want it. However that doesn’t detract from the fact that for me the GT4RS not a good car. There is no way on earth that when I opened the garage doors I would choose the RS for a blast over the R8 so it had to go.

Okay. Thanks

I believe the R8 redline is 8600rpm and 4RS is 9000rpm. Are you saying the induction noise from R8 is better than that of 4RS. Because one of the main attractions of 4RS is having a 9000rpm mid-engine. One of the main reasons to prefer it to say 991.2 or 992GT3.

[GTRene]

great write up mister Big, such RWS R8 the one you have looks low, how is such over speedbumps and so on... or do you have a lift option, I don't like such extra things on a car, but handy for bumps I guess.

btw, a R8 GT seems about 100kg lighter then a normal R8 V10, although a RWS has lose some weight to I guess?

[Terminator X]

C'mon Mowley you sold it for the cash money

TX.

[bigmowley]

LamedonM said:

bigmowley said:

LamedonM said:

Thanks Bigmoyley.

Please pardon me. I just don’t believe there are no additional financial reasons for selling the 4RS instead of the R8

Are there other individuals that have both (R8 and 4RS) that can provide their own insights in addition

Thanks

No financial reasons at all. Both cars paid for in full. RS obviously worth more than the R8 at the moment but I genuinely would have sold the R8 if the RS was the better track toy. I don’t want 2 track cars at this level and I have quite a few other cars for other uses and other tracks. I will admit that there is an emotional connection with the R8 which I only bought in a fit of pique when Porsche would not sell me a 991 GT3 gen 2, plus I have worked hard to get it where I want it. However that doesn’t detract from the fact that for me the GT4RS not a good car. There is no way on earth that when I opened the garage doors I would choose the RS for a blast over the R8 so it had to go.

Okay. Thanks

I believe the R8 redline is 8600rpm and 4RS is 9000rpm. Are you saying the induction noise from R8 is better than that of 4RS. Because one of the main attractions of 4RS is having a 9000rpm mid-engine. One of the main reasons to prefer it to say 991.2 or 992GT3.

Interesting that you have picked up on what I think is one of the weak spots of the 4RS. Not a lot of point in reving it out to 9000 revs when the last 500 revs do very little apart from create some horrible mechanical engine noise. I find that 8500 or 8600 is the optimum change up point in the RS and the power curve backs this up. Torque falling off rapidly after the power peak. The R8 on the other hand, with its R8 plus tune, hits the limiter at 8750, but it’s still pulling strongly right up to the limiter. I’ve regularly hit the limiter in the R8 very rarely in the RS. The V10 is an absolute masterpiece of an engine. As far as noise goes the R8 is all exhaust noise, it’s has no PPFs, the RS is all intake noise. Pay your money and take your pick but again that V10 sounds sublime to my ears.

Edited to add that on track with a helmet on the RS does sound great, you know exactly where you are with the engine and exactly when to change gear. The R8 is more muted from inside the car it’s just a nicer noise. Driving them back to back is a really good fun.

Edited by bigmowley on Saturday 14th October 22:22

[GTRene]

I go and look for R8 V10 again, thanks... lol

I like the GT version because of the alcantara and seats, sadly it has automatic only.

almost the same, although even more/better with a Lambo Gallardo Superleggera, love those interiors, sadly most in automatic, but it seems they also made a few with manual... but those are way more expensive.

but, always a sort hobby to scroll through new car ads :-)

[isaldiri]

GTRene said:

I go and look for R8 V10 again, thanks... lol

I like the GT version because of the alcantara and seats, sadly it has automatic only.

almost the same, although even more/better with a Lambo Gallardo Superleggera, love those interiors, sadly most in automatic, but it seems they also made a few with manual... but those are way more expensive.

but, always a sort hobby to scroll through new car ads :-)

Would suggest the gen1 v10 plus rather than the GT. It might if you're very lucky come in manual but the dual clutch s-tronic box is super, far better than the rather clunky r-tronic automated manual in the GT and pre facelift paddleshifter.

had an early v10 long ago which was a fantastic car in many respects although it had some not insignificant flaws. Heavy as already mentioned with slightly dead steering but what ended up as a deal breaker for me was that the brakes were massively over servo'd. Not sure if that was fixed subsequently in later models/facelift/gen2 but I just couldn't get my head around that. That v10 was a wonderful unit though for sure.....

[LamedonM]

bigmowley said:

LamedonM said:

bigmowley said:

LamedonM said:

Thanks Bigmoyley.

Please pardon me. I just don’t believe there are no additional financial reasons for selling the 4RS instead of the R8

Are there other individuals that have both (R8 and 4RS) that can provide their own insights in addition

Thanks

No financial reasons at all. Both cars paid for in full. RS obviously worth more than the R8 at the moment but I genuinely would have sold the R8 if the RS was the better track toy. I don’t want 2 track cars at this level and I have quite a few other cars for other uses and other tracks. I will admit that there is an emotional connection with the R8 which I only bought in a fit of pique when Porsche would not sell me a 991 GT3 gen 2, plus I have worked hard to get it where I want it. However that doesn’t detract from the fact that for me the GT4RS not a good car. There is no way on earth that when I opened the garage doors I would choose the RS for a blast over the R8 so it had to go.

Okay. Thanks

I believe the R8 redline is 8600rpm and 4RS is 9000rpm. Are you saying the induction noise from R8 is better than that of 4RS. Because one of the main attractions of 4RS is having a 9000rpm mid-engine. One of the main reasons to prefer it to say 991.2 or 992GT3.

Interesting that you have picked up on what I think is one of the weak spots of the 4RS. Not a lot of point in reving it out to 9000 revs when the last 500 revs do very little apart from create some horrible mechanical engine noise. I find that 8500 or 8600 is the optimum change up point in the RS and the power curve backs this up. Torque falling off rapidly after the power peak. The R8 on the other hand, with its R8 plus tune, hits the limiter at 8750, but it’s still pulling strongly right up to the limiter. I’ve regularly hit the limiter in the R8 very rarely in the RS. The V10 is an absolute masterpiece of an engine. As far as noise goes the R8 is all exhaust noise, it’s has no PPFs, the RS is all intake noise. Pay your money and take your pick but again that V10 sounds sublime to my ears.

Edited to add that on track with a helmet on the RS does sound great, you know exactly where you are with the engine and exactly when to change gear. The R8 is more muted from inside the car it’s just a nicer noise. Driving them back to back is a really good fun.

Edited by bigmowley on Saturday 14th October 22:22

Please pardon me for further queries. You said R8 V10 is a masterpiece but the sound is muted inside ‘but nicer’. So how could you conclude the sound is nicer when it is more muted (hardly hearing it?) That means the exhaust sounds are mainly enjoyable when the windows are down or mainly enjoyed by the passers-by?

Also what makes R8 V10 a masterpiece? In what way is it better than GT flat 6 engine found in 991.2 or 992 GT3. I believe the engines in these pull to 8800rpm.

Simply speaking would yourself or other take R8 V10 over 991.2 or 992 GT3?

[julian987R]

bigmowley said:

Especially the induction noise, great for impressing 10 year old boys on an 10 minute drive and pants to live with day to day. But it’s not just the induction noise. After 3000 miles the whole car rattled and squeaked like an ancient Austin Maestro, worthy of special note are the funny plastic square bits fixed to the roll cage behind the headrests, no idea what they are for but they rattle the entire time, drives you bloody mad. It makes the whole car feel cheap and badly made. It’s a cacophony of evil noises on a drive round the M25 especially the concrete bits. My theory is that the induction noise is so loud to drown out all the rest of the noise so you don’t complain. The thing that gets me about the induction noise is that it’s not a nice inspiring noise it’s a tuneless blare, it doesn’t particularly add to the interactive experience of driving. It’s so unnecessary, the car would be way better if it was toned down by about 50%. I think that Porsche have misjudged this one, it’s like the were chasing a USP that the car really did not need.

Thanks for sharing your review. Really great read.
I called it then! I said at the start, when the reviews came out, that the noise would be a 5 minute wonder and eventually a painful annoyance.

There are a dozen for sale on AT for some time now and nothing seems to be moving with them. The buzz has worn off the ears and the appetite for them.
I don't think history will be kind to the model.