I've never been an Audi guy....
I've never been an Audi guy....
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Palmball

Original Poster:

1,294 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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....so something went faulty when I got these two posh Veedub's in quick succession to replace my Merc's a couple of months ago yikes



















































I'm very impressed, both drivetrains are magnificent and, somewhat sadly, are both already dinosaurs as we'll probably never see the likes of these screaming N/A engines again.

The RS4's wooden ride disappoints somewhat (it's really not great.....Merc and BMW do much better suspension in their small cars), but in most other respects it's right up there with the best. And these B8 Avant's look well on their widened arches don't they? This appears to be quite rare in that it's a Nogaro blue car, but not a Nogaro special which came with very few options. No, this car is regular RS4 with lot's of options and then someone went and special ordered the colour. Damn glad they did too - it's lovely.

The R8. Well, thats simply the finest car I've had the pleasure of driving. Just been on a 2k mile euro road trip, the car has done 200 on the 'bahn, it's scrabbled it's way up alpine mountain roads and it's played the quintessential GT all the while. It also drove me to the R8 factory where I had the pleasure of seeing just how hand built these cars really are (and the Huracan which apart from final assembly is also built in the same factory). Real people actually weld and glue the chassis together (no robots) - there's more automation going on in the Bentley factory than in the construction o the R8!

Anyway thats my intro to this section, hope you like the pics.

MrBarry123

6,108 posts

152 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Both great cars but the R8 is exquisite; the interior really is something special.

Lucky person!

blueg33

46,802 posts

255 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Never really been sure about the r8 but your pics have converted me. That car is stunning. I know it's rude to ask, but roughly how much for that spec?

PositronicRay

29,059 posts

214 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Jolly nice garage. thumbup

I don't think I could resist putting a ramp in.

daydotz

1,806 posts

192 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Nice R8

cerb4.5lee

45,091 posts

211 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Love both of those big time, enjoy them and thanks for sharing the piccies.

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,294 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
Jolly nice garage. thumbup

I don't think I could resist putting a ramp in.
Thanks, and I may also not be able to resist either (you can see I like to tinker!). All in good time.

drgav2005

972 posts

250 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Stunning! Enjoy beer

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,294 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
Thanks all thumbup

blueg33 said:
Never really been sure about the r8 but your pics have converted me. That car is stunning. I know it's rude to ask, but roughly how much for that spec?
What, the R8? To be honest, it's a bit rich for me as it's spec'd to £144k. My original intention was to buy a late gen-1 LMX (for considerably less!) but I couldn't get on with the combination of bucket seats and offset driving position. The driving experience was exquisite though. Here's the car I nearly bought....





What originally got me into the R8 was a German friend of mine, who's car I drove when I had my SLS about 18m ago. It wasn't as luxurious or 'special' as the SLS, but it drove perceptibly better so an R8 purchase was inevitable from that point on.

The gen-2 corrected the driving position issue, and also adds a tremendous contemporary interior and great technology. But as I said, it was a bit rich so I timed the purchased carefully - I went into the dealer a few days before xmas and offered to take their stock car before the end of the month (their year end too). A brucey bonus for them, and I got £10k off, so it owes me £134k.


As for the design of the new R8, I must say I also wasn't convinced at first. It's not as much of a 'surprise' as the Gen-1 as it's clearly an evolutionary design, but it's definitely growing on me. In person, it looks a lot more 'supercar' and is a very sharp design, whereas the the gen-1 is softer and more 'sports' car in look.

Some people think I should've bought a 991TT or 570S or Huracan or or or.....mostly no good when the sole purpose of changing from my previous AMG GT was to get back to a high revving N/A engine. OK, the Huracan also achieves that but it's not quite at the same price point and the interior is nowhere near as lush as the R8 (the interior and build quality are astonishing).

Pints

18,451 posts

225 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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I think we have the same...







Weber BBQ smile

Nice cars BTW.

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,294 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
Pints said:
I think we have the same...







Weber BBQ smile

Nice cars BTW.
Ha ha ha.....yeah, they're good aren't they! Just for a laugh, this is how I bought it home, in the back of a 1 series!



Cudd Wudd

1,118 posts

156 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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You and I have a similar car history. I started out with a Saxo too. Unfortunately (for me), that's where the similarities end.

I'm yet to see a new R8 on the road, but those photos look utterly stunning. It doesn't have a bad angle.

I love the RS4, not a bad runabout!

And your 'old' AMG GT looks awesome too. Superb car history OP.

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,294 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
Cudd Wudd said:
You and I have a similar car history. I started out with a Saxo too. Unfortunately (for me), that's where the similarities end.
Thats funny, but I had just as much fun back then as I do now. More in some respects, as I always need to go abroad to use these cars properly!

I also suspect (just a hunch given your PH join date) that I'm a few years ahead of you - I had my Saxo in 1997 when at 18 years old I deemed it cheaper to get a brand new Saxo with 2 years free insurance on the never never than it was to buy an old car and insure it. A VTR no less, can you believe they did two years free crash protection for kids back then on 90bhp's worth of monster! Man maths you see....always a winner, and it's been costing me ever since laugh

RS4 is actually my girlfriends car, but bless her she doesn't know what she's getting from one month to the next. She doesn't like it (although she loves how it drives) because apparently an estate doesn't suit her image.

Cudd Wudd

1,118 posts

156 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
Ha, you're right, but unfortunately for me (again) it literally is just a few years!

Who knows, this time in three years I might have upgraded from my current 1.4 to a V10 with a V8 for the wife...

Ever since seeing Layer Cake, the RS avant has been a 'want' car for me. Maybe let your g/f watch that, I'm sure it will sway her smile





BishBosh

524 posts

255 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Andrew, what a superb car. You do have knack of showing off the good side in your pictures and showing them in a nice state of cleanliness....thanks for sharing once more.
As has been noted I too hadn't really paid much attention to these new R8 motors but by crikey! I am thinking hard on swapping out my lovely Boxster to get in one of these.

Maybe at the end of the summer and see where their at price wise. By that time no doubt you'll be out of yours but looking forward to your reviews in due course. wink

Cheers Mark.

Burwood

18,718 posts

277 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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Your R8 is stunning-I never knew the latest gen was so special. Best R8 I've seen. Enjoy Palm

Nedzilla

2,439 posts

205 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
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As a current gen 1 R8 owner I've been struggling to convince myself that I like the styling of the new car but seeing the pictures of yours have just changed that! It looks absolutely stunning both inside and out and from what I've been hearing they drive even better.thumbup

dc2rr07

1,238 posts

262 months

Monday 28th March 2016
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PositronicRay said:
Jolly nice garage. thumbup

I don't think I could resist putting a ramp in.
Or a Motorbike smile
Good choice with the RS4 though for doing the shopping run.

Dr G

15,990 posts

273 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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What an awesome pairing; I particularly like the subtle 'ooomf' on the R8 too wink

mattwhite709

328 posts

130 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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What a great set of cars, enjoy them both!