Corvette C8 or R8 V10 ?

Corvette C8 or R8 V10 ?

Author
Discussion

Trev450

6,314 posts

171 months

Tuesday 14th January 2020
quotequote all
PompeyReece said:
Trev450 said:
Sorry Reece but ZeroGroundZero is spot on with his understanding.

The car does have a RWD feel to it but with stock suspension geo it will understeer when pushed. If this is unaceptable, dialing in a more track-focused set up will certainly help. Alternatively, RWD conversion kits are available for under a £1K.
Ta for the clarification Trev
You are most welcome Reece. biggrin

Raven Flyer

1,641 posts

223 months

Tuesday 14th January 2020
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ZeroGroundZero said:
One question about the R8's 4WD system, do I understand it correctly to be a 80%-20% rear-front bias in normal drive. With mechanical LSDs (front and rear) to prevent power sapping away at an unloaded wheel? And then if an entire axel loses traction, the system can send a maximum of 35% to the front? (for the Gen 1 R8) Meaning that it will always have a RWD 'feel' to the set up?
(Be nice if that was the case, but hoping some of you guys know the score on this)

thumbup
When being used playfully, it feels very RWD biased. It's not something I do often but on a cross country trip this weekend, on wet/muddy country lanes, I found the car can be put into controllable oversteer quite easily. The AWD system makes this very controllable and progress out of bends always feels predictable and fast. If the car were driven aggressively on track, I would imagine it is a seriously good experience.

The only downside is the screaming girlfriend.

ZeroGroundZero

Original Poster:

2,085 posts

53 months

Wednesday 29th January 2020
quotequote all
PompeyReece said:
Trev450 said:
Sorry Reece but ZeroGroundZero is spot on with his understanding.

The car does have a RWD feel to it but with stock suspension geo it will understeer when pushed. If this is unaceptable, dialing in a more track-focused set up will certainly help. Alternatively, RWD conversion kits are available for under a £1K.
Ta for the clarification Trev
My understanding of the R8's power delivery system has been a bit of a mission to find answers, but I'll be the first to admit that what I've been able to find out may not be 100% accurate, because there is so much conflicting information out there on the internet. Which is weird - for a car like the R8, I would have thought the question of how the R8 puts its power to the road would be a well answered and precise piece of information out there.

I think its a case of when somebody gains a "half-truth" they spread it and it sort of catches on as a faux-fact which conflicts with another half-truth and so on.

Anyway, I've been trying to gather some definitive information and I contacted no less than four separate Audi dealerships in and around my area and they all replied back with a different answer, well two of them actually replied back to say they would look in to it and get back to me - which they didn't of course!

One relied with partial information stating that the R8 has LSD on it - but going no further to explain the details.
The other replied back stating it has an 85% rear and 15% front bias, but again not going any further with the details.

I looked in to the set up a while back and found an assortment of figures flying around the internet and saw a few that mentioned the 80-rear / 20-front split for power delivery.
I now see a number of sites stating this is actually 85-rear and 15-front in normal driving. (For both the V8 and the V10). Not to mention if there is any difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 etc. And still unsure if the R8's system will throw more than 15% to the front when drifting for example.

As for the LSD's, I can no longer find definitive information if there is an LSD on the front axle or the rear axle or whether it just has a centre diff. I thought I had read a while back that there was definitely a rear LSD at least. (And that it was a mechanical type rather than an electronic type coupled with the traction control).

Be great to have definitive information on the above from those in the know.

Trev450

6,314 posts

171 months

Wednesday 29th January 2020
quotequote all
ZeroGroundZero said:
PompeyReece said:
Trev450 said:
Sorry Reece but ZeroGroundZero is spot on with his understanding.

The car does have a RWD feel to it but with stock suspension geo it will understeer when pushed. If this is unaceptable, dialing in a more track-focused set up will certainly help. Alternatively, RWD conversion kits are available for under a £1K.
Ta for the clarification Trev
My understanding of the R8's power delivery system has been a bit of a mission to find answers, but I'll be the first to admit that what I've been able to find out may not be 100% accurate, because there is so much conflicting information out there on the internet. Which is weird - for a car like the R8, I would have thought the question of how the R8 puts its power to the road would be a well answered and precise piece of information out there.

I think its a case of when somebody gains a "half-truth" they spread it and it sort of catches on as a faux-fact which conflicts with another half-truth and so on.

Anyway, I've been trying to gather some definitive information and I contacted no less than four separate Audi dealerships in and around my area and they all replied back with a different answer, well two of them actually replied back to say they would look in to it and get back to me - which they didn't of course!

One relied with partial information stating that the R8 has LSD on it - but going no further to explain the details.
The other replied back stating it has an 85% rear and 15% front bias, but again not going any further with the details.

I looked in to the set up a while back and found an assortment of figures flying around the internet and saw a few that mentioned the 80-rear / 20-front split for power delivery.
I now see a number of sites stating this is actually 85-rear and 15-front in normal driving. (For both the V8 and the V10). Not to mention if there is any difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 etc. And still unsure if the R8's system will throw more than 15% to the front when drifting for example.

As for the LSD's, I can no longer find definitive information if there is an LSD on the front axle or the rear axle or whether it just has a centre diff. I thought I had read a while back that there was definitely a rear LSD at least. (And that it was a mechanical type rather than an electronic type coupled with the traction control).

Be great to have definitive information on the above from those in the know.
Far from being definitive but this does shed some light as to the functionality of the system.

Taken from Audi Training Manual: Power is transmitted dynamically to the front axle through a viscous coupling. Power to the rear axle is transmitted through a limited slip differential which improves rear axle traction under high transverse acceleration.

barriejames

895 posts

178 months

Monday 3rd February 2020
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Interesting thread. Was in same boat a few years back when I got my v10 manual. I thought about what would fit my needs most in terms of looks sounds resale reliability and something I wouldn't get fed up with. The r8 ticks all those boxes for me but my needs from the car are different than the poster. For me its 2k miles a year March to October use only. That said its 9 years old and to be honest to me it now feels to me more like a classic car than a snarling v10 track tool. In terms of holding value, it has dropped in value over two years but not by a margin anyone would lose sleep over.

GroundZero

Original Poster:

2,085 posts

53 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
Slight forum name change but its still me!

Thanks all for the replies.


Will be waiting patiently until summer time before I actively go out to test drive and select from what ever the market has to offer at an affordable price.

Would it be standard practice these days, on a 10 year old Gen 1 R8, along with the typical new car purchase check to be checking for the following ?
- any front end frame cracks (walk away if refused to do so, or indeed if there is any cracking)
- mag ride shocks (if leaking then not the end of the world as they can be sent off to poland? for a refurb at much cheaper price than replacement from Audi)
- water pump check
- air con check


PompeyReece

1,484 posts

88 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
GroundZero said:
Slight forum name change but its still me!

Thanks all for the replies.


Will be waiting patiently until summer time before I actively go out to test drive and select from what ever the market has to offer at an affordable price.

Would it be standard practice these days, on a 10 year old Gen 1 R8, along with the typical new car purchase check to be checking for the following ?
- any front end frame cracks (walk away if refused to do so, or indeed if there is any cracking)
- mag ride shocks (if leaking then not the end of the world as they can be sent off to poland? for a refurb at much cheaper price than replacement from Audi)
- water pump check
- air con check
Frames were strengthened in 2010 (I think) so depending on the car age, might not need to check. Definitely worth a look and down to you on the results. If cracked, yes, walk away, if not fine to purchase IMHO. I personally think the issue is over-inflated by message forums however it's all down to your approach towards risk.

Mag shocks - yes, definitely check and if leaking can negotiate price reduction. Poland refurbs get good feedback.

Water pump - not heard of a common issue with these

Air con - yes, definitely check it's blowing cold however compressor replacement can be performed with engine in on a V10

Personally I'd get a proper PPI from the RAC (£500 for a full blown one anywhere in the country) or a local indie with a decent rep (£200) if you have one close by.

Edited by PompeyReece on Wednesday 5th February 15:34

Trev450

6,314 posts

171 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
Just to add to Reece's good advice.
The frame reinforcing plates were introduced around September 2010, but there have been examples either side of that date that have or haven't been done.
When you have the PPI done, have them check that the expansion tank mod has been done,the oil pipe from the dry sump tank to the engine is not corroded, and the oil pump drive is not leaking.

Chainsaw Rebuild

1,997 posts

101 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
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Just a thought but what about a Corvette C7? Available now at your budget and I think they hold their money really well too.

alabbasi

2,469 posts

86 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
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Running costs for a Corvette will be low. There are plenty around here with 100K + miles, getting serviced by your local quick lube joint. You won't get that from any other car with similar performance.

GroundZero

Original Poster:

2,085 posts

53 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
C7 Corvette is a very good shout.

Only one of them on Autotrader at around the £50k mark with manual gearbox when looking today, its a yellow example with additional bodykit, which actually makes the car look nicely balanced and aggressive.

I'll have to keep my eye on the game to see if any other examples pop up over the next few months so that I have decent comparisons that can be made.


Comparing to a V10 R8 makes an interesting proposition. The C7 will win on practicality, allowing me to use the car a couple of weeks euro tour driving holidays, with it being able to seemingly fit in enough luggage. Over double the space that the R8 offers.

In terms of C7 reliability and maintenance, what is this like generally? Do they have a history of any common failure parts?