Audi R8's starting to appear in UK Audi showrooms - pics
Discussion
Hi there,
Only posted this in this forum due to the similarities that have been drawn between the Lamborghini Gallardo and the new Audi R8.
Have been driving past my local Audi dealer here in Derby for the past couple of weeks hoping to be able to have a look at the new R8. Finally today they have one in the showroom. It is a gorgeous Black R8 with matching Black interior and is absolutely stunning in the flesh. Had a quick look round it and have to I really like it, can't wait to have a good look at one and get some decent pictures.
Sorry for the poor quality pics but only had my camera phone on me today.
Regards
Tim
Only posted this in this forum due to the similarities that have been drawn between the Lamborghini Gallardo and the new Audi R8.
Have been driving past my local Audi dealer here in Derby for the past couple of weeks hoping to be able to have a look at the new R8. Finally today they have one in the showroom. It is a gorgeous Black R8 with matching Black interior and is absolutely stunning in the flesh. Had a quick look round it and have to I really like it, can't wait to have a good look at one and get some decent pictures.
Sorry for the poor quality pics but only had my camera phone on me today.
Regards
Tim
Lamboandy said:
Careful Tim, With statements like that you could upset alot of people!! 
Andy,Taking my life in my hands I guess, but not my opinion. I think the two cars are completely different.
This weeks Autocar carries a review of the R8 and they ask this question: -
"Is the R8 anything more than a restyled and slightly re-engineered Lamborghini Gallardo with an RS4 engine in place of the Gallardo's V10"
Regards
Tim
autofocus said:
Lamboandy said:
Careful Tim, With statements like that you could upset alot of people!!
Andy,Taking my life in my hands I guess, but not my opinion. I think the two cars are completely different.
This weeks Autocar carries a review of the R8 and they ask this question: -
"Is the R8 anything more than a restyled and slightly re-engineered Lamborghini Gallardo with an RS4 engine in place of the Gallardo's V10"
Regards
Tim
Ref Autocar...Since when has an R8 been a Supercar? I'm beginning to worry about that magazine...
For me R8 sums up the whole Audi brand image.....
Remind me again why this topic is in this section?
Edited by nastywej on Saturday 26th May 20:04
nastywej said:
Remind me again why this topic is in this section?
Hi there,Forget for a moment that Lamborghini are owned by Audi.
This particular section of Pistonheads (Ferrari,Maserati,Lamborghini and Bugatti) has many contributors that are what I class as pure petrolheads and these members are always interested in new cars that are joining the market place.
The R8 like it or not is a car that is similar in many ways to the Gallardo and F430 and will be viewed as a direct competitor by many people. There is a R8 in the P/H classifieds at the moment for £98,000 that puts it up against a second hand Gallardo so I think the R8 is certainly worthy of discussion.
I expect more R8 topics to be featured on P/H in the coming months especially when the V10 version is released and expect at that time more Gallardo comparisons may be made.
I have posted my initial post in the Audi section also but as most of that forum is designated to more mundane cars and technical issues I don't expect to get the level of reply I thought I would get in this section.
Hope this helps clear up any confusion.
Regards
Tim
Tim,
The R8 is indeed an interesting car and is getting a lot of good press along with other new Audi models such as the S5. The styling of the car is a very personal matter with beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The more interesting issues of this model I believe are the challenges it sets other manufacturers in this segment in terms of performance, quality, usability, value etc. Audi set out to make a halo model for themselves and they appear to have pulled it off as far as the press are concerned but I'd be more inclined to question the cars long term future for two reasons.
The first is the issue of "brand". At the price point Audi are competing at the R8 has some stiff competition from cars with greater exclusivity and more brand cachet/pedigree - the AM Vantage and Porsche 911 being prime examples. The issue which Audi will inevitably face longer term is will buyers of exotic sports cars be put off by the fact that Audi is a mass market manufacturer with a whole range of cars from the entry level A3 up to the A8 saloon? Can the brand sustain such broad appeal? Once the initial euphoria surrounding the car dies away it will be interesting to see if it can cut it long term in such a brand/pedigree conscious segment that is becoming increasingly fashion driven with the explosion in individual wealth around the world. I agree that buyers of used F430's or Gallardos in years to come may consider a new R8 if they can get hold of one but I suspect that the Italian brands exclusivity and pedigree will still be too great a draw for true enthusiasts.
The second, and arguably more decisive, issue is the controlling interest Porsche now holds in the VW empire. The R8 asks serious questions of the flagship 911 models and for this reason Porsche cannot afford to let it become even more successful through further development without harming their own sales. To counter it they would need to push the 911 much further upmarket and increase power ratings substantially and this does not sit well with the proposed EC limits on manufacturers C02 emissions per car targets, nor I suspect would current owners be happy to accept significant price increases when the 997 successor comes along. On top of this the group owns Lamborghini which has brand cachet to younger buyers and competes directly with Ferrari as an exclusive, low volume manufacturer. It will be very interesting to see what Herr Wiedeking and the long reach of Dr Piech do with the model line up in future.
The R8 is indeed an interesting car and is getting a lot of good press along with other new Audi models such as the S5. The styling of the car is a very personal matter with beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The more interesting issues of this model I believe are the challenges it sets other manufacturers in this segment in terms of performance, quality, usability, value etc. Audi set out to make a halo model for themselves and they appear to have pulled it off as far as the press are concerned but I'd be more inclined to question the cars long term future for two reasons.
The first is the issue of "brand". At the price point Audi are competing at the R8 has some stiff competition from cars with greater exclusivity and more brand cachet/pedigree - the AM Vantage and Porsche 911 being prime examples. The issue which Audi will inevitably face longer term is will buyers of exotic sports cars be put off by the fact that Audi is a mass market manufacturer with a whole range of cars from the entry level A3 up to the A8 saloon? Can the brand sustain such broad appeal? Once the initial euphoria surrounding the car dies away it will be interesting to see if it can cut it long term in such a brand/pedigree conscious segment that is becoming increasingly fashion driven with the explosion in individual wealth around the world. I agree that buyers of used F430's or Gallardos in years to come may consider a new R8 if they can get hold of one but I suspect that the Italian brands exclusivity and pedigree will still be too great a draw for true enthusiasts.
The second, and arguably more decisive, issue is the controlling interest Porsche now holds in the VW empire. The R8 asks serious questions of the flagship 911 models and for this reason Porsche cannot afford to let it become even more successful through further development without harming their own sales. To counter it they would need to push the 911 much further upmarket and increase power ratings substantially and this does not sit well with the proposed EC limits on manufacturers C02 emissions per car targets, nor I suspect would current owners be happy to accept significant price increases when the 997 successor comes along. On top of this the group owns Lamborghini which has brand cachet to younger buyers and competes directly with Ferrari as an exclusive, low volume manufacturer. It will be very interesting to see what Herr Wiedeking and the long reach of Dr Piech do with the model line up in future.
Edited by isuk on Saturday 26th May 20:44
isuk said:
Tim,
The R8 is indeed an interesting car and is getting a lot of good press along with other new Audi models such as the S5. The styling of the car is a very personal matter with beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The more interesting issues of this model I believe are the challenges it sets other manufacturers in this segment in terms of performance, quality, usability, value etc. Audi set out to make a halo model for themselves and they appear to have pulled it off as far as the press are concerned but I'd be more inclined to question the cars long term future for two reasons.
The first is the issue of "brand". At the price point Audi are competing at the R8 has some stiff competition from cars with greater exclusivity and more brand cachet/pedigree - the AM Vantage and Porsche 911 being prime examples. The issue which Audi will inevitably face longer term is will buyers of exotic sports cars be put off by the fact that Audi is a mass market manufacturer with a whole range of cars from the entry level A3 up to the A8 saloon? Can the brand sustain such broad appeal? Once the initial euphoria surrounding the car dies away it will be interesting to see if it can cut it long term in such a brand/pedigree conscious segment that is becoming increasingly fashion driven with the explosion in individual wealth around the world. I agree that buyers of used F430's or Gallardos in years to come may consider a new R8 if they can get hold of one but I suspect that the Italian brands exclusivity and pedigree will still be too great a draw for true enthusiasts.
The second, and arguably more decisive, issue is the controlling interest Porsche now holds in the VW empire. The R8 asks serious questions of the flagship 911 models and for this reason Porsche cannot afford to let it become even more successful through further development without harming their own sales. To counter it they would need to push the 911 much further upmarket and increase power ratings substantially and this does not sit well with the proposed EC limits on manufacturers C02 emissions per car targets, nor I suspect would current owners be happy to accept significant price increases when the 997 successor comes along. On top of this the group owns Lamborghini which has brand cachet to younger buyers and competes directly with Ferrari as an exclusive, low volume manufacturer. It will be very interesting to see what Herr Wiedeking and the long reach of Dr Piech do with the model line up in future.
Given you dont have one of these (yet) how come you are allowed to express any sort of opionion?The R8 is indeed an interesting car and is getting a lot of good press along with other new Audi models such as the S5. The styling of the car is a very personal matter with beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The more interesting issues of this model I believe are the challenges it sets other manufacturers in this segment in terms of performance, quality, usability, value etc. Audi set out to make a halo model for themselves and they appear to have pulled it off as far as the press are concerned but I'd be more inclined to question the cars long term future for two reasons.
The first is the issue of "brand". At the price point Audi are competing at the R8 has some stiff competition from cars with greater exclusivity and more brand cachet/pedigree - the AM Vantage and Porsche 911 being prime examples. The issue which Audi will inevitably face longer term is will buyers of exotic sports cars be put off by the fact that Audi is a mass market manufacturer with a whole range of cars from the entry level A3 up to the A8 saloon? Can the brand sustain such broad appeal? Once the initial euphoria surrounding the car dies away it will be interesting to see if it can cut it long term in such a brand/pedigree conscious segment that is becoming increasingly fashion driven with the explosion in individual wealth around the world. I agree that buyers of used F430's or Gallardos in years to come may consider a new R8 if they can get hold of one but I suspect that the Italian brands exclusivity and pedigree will still be too great a draw for true enthusiasts.
The second, and arguably more decisive, issue is the controlling interest Porsche now holds in the VW empire. The R8 asks serious questions of the flagship 911 models and for this reason Porsche cannot afford to let it become even more successful through further development without harming their own sales. To counter it they would need to push the 911 much further upmarket and increase power ratings substantially and this does not sit well with the proposed EC limits on manufacturers C02 emissions per car targets, nor I suspect would current owners be happy to accept significant price increases when the 997 successor comes along. On top of this the group owns Lamborghini which has brand cachet to younger buyers and competes directly with Ferrari as an exclusive, low volume manufacturer. It will be very interesting to see what Herr Wiedeking and the long reach of Dr Piech do with the model line up in future.
Edited by isuk on Saturday 26th May 20:44
andysv said:
whatever anyones personal opinion i'm just reading the new evo and they are raving over it "a new dawn starts today" "audi humbles porsche" i don't want one but it must be some serious piece of kit? and that's with just over 400bhp, wait until it gets some real firepower.
Yea and everyone was raving about the TT wheb that came out too!I'm not knocking it, I'll just reserve judgement till I drive one myself, but as for direct competition for a G? I think not!
Paracetamol said:
Given you dont have one of these (yet) how come you are allowed to express any sort of opionion?
Tim raised the car on here asking for a debate so I obliged. If you care to re-read my post I made no comment on the car itself as I've only seen it on the road but not driven it. My points related to how the market may or may not take to the car and to the possibility that the priorities of the company manufacturing it may now change under new shareholder direction. These issues have been well debated on other forums by potential buyers of the car. Unlike your good self I have no interest in taking poorly aimed shots at a car I've no personal experience of. If I followed your example I'd be over on the Audi forum slating it
autofocus said:
...The R8 like it or not is a car that is similar in many ways to the Gallardo and F430 and will be viewed as a direct competitor by many people. ...
No it won't, other than those who own one or something else in the Audi range IMO.I strongly suspect that this car will go down the same route as the Honda NSX. It may be supremely capable, but it won't trouble any of the established exotic marques as it misses the stuff that sheer engineering and numbers on a piece of paper cannot engender.
And it's not even as good looking etc as the NSX was in its time (and frankly still is). The R8 looks much closer to the new TT than it does the Gallardo. And I don't believe this is a good thing in exotic company.
I think VAG's brand management and product line people are rapidly creating some huge problems for themselves - I foresee the "halo effect" being replaced by the "boat anchor effect" if they aren't very careful.
As for them being impossible to get hold of, this could be the marketeers controlling things initially (before the accountants get hold). It could be production issues. Or perhaps it's the usual channels cornering the initial supply to feed the "who cares if we pay over list" market...
nastywej said:
autofocus said:
Lamboandy said:
Careful Tim, With statements like that you could upset alot of people!!
Andy,Taking my life in my hands I guess, but not my opinion. I think the two cars are completely different.
This weeks Autocar carries a review of the R8 and they ask this question: -
"Is the R8 anything more than a restyled and slightly re-engineered Lamborghini Gallardo with an RS4 engine in place of the Gallardo's V10"
Regards
Tim
Ref Autocar...Since when has an R8 been a Supercar? I'm beginning to worry about that magazine...
For me R8 sums up the whole Audi brand image.....
Remind me again why this topic is in this section?
Edited by nastywej on Saturday 26th May 20:04
I thought the same as the above re.R8, looks good but would end up being "just another Audi". However, this months evo dropped through the door yesterday with a group test of the R8 versus Carrera4, Vantage Prodrive & M6.
The R8 far better than even evo thought it would be..
And its lap of the Bedford circuit is 2tenths quicker than the Koenigsegg CCX, a whopping 7tenths quicker than the '06 Gallardo. But more astonishing is that it is 1.3seconds quicker than a 997 GT3. Each one of those cars (in fact every car below it in the rankings) has a higher terminal speed at the end of the straight, such is the Audi's ability to carry speed through the bends. And the car that did the lap was fitted with a manual box and standard iron brakes. Each and every lap was descibed as "smooth, truly quick and highly entertaining".
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would choose one (should funds magically allow) over the Gallardo, but evo's road test has actually peaked my interest in the car massively. Put simply, it is by no way the car that I (or they) thought it would be. In fact it appears to be the car that it's rivals hoped it wouldn't be.
The R8 far better than even evo thought it would be..
evo said:
But in the end, purity of purpose and breadth of ability win the day, and no other car here - probably none under £100k - expresses the fusion more perfectly than the R8. There are faster supercars, but we can't think of another currently in production that takes a demanding road apart with quite the surgical precision and cool-browed composure of Audi's incandecently rapid and hugely desirable R8.
And its lap of the Bedford circuit is 2tenths quicker than the Koenigsegg CCX, a whopping 7tenths quicker than the '06 Gallardo. But more astonishing is that it is 1.3seconds quicker than a 997 GT3. Each one of those cars (in fact every car below it in the rankings) has a higher terminal speed at the end of the straight, such is the Audi's ability to carry speed through the bends. And the car that did the lap was fitted with a manual box and standard iron brakes. Each and every lap was descibed as "smooth, truly quick and highly entertaining".
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would choose one (should funds magically allow) over the Gallardo, but evo's road test has actually peaked my interest in the car massively. Put simply, it is by no way the car that I (or they) thought it would be. In fact it appears to be the car that it's rivals hoped it wouldn't be.
FWIW I reckon all of the new crop of high performance/supercars lack soul, or will do.In this I include the R8 (which I havent driven/seen) the 430 and the Gallardo. Everyone seems intent on engineering "character" out of cars and making them into missiles even the most ham fisted of drivers can hustle around a track within .00001 of the best test drivers. These cars are no longer "special" enough to drive, lets hope they have put a bit of the danger and excitement back into the Superleggera and 430LP, coz I can see it being a long time before I buy one of the current crop of let downs.
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