Audi R8 European first drive

We drive Audi's new supercar in the south of France

“Damn,” I think. “I really must get some of those noise-cancelling headphones.” I’m on a plane, you see, desperately trying to watch – and listen to – Audi’s hard disk-based presentation on the R8. And then I realise the problem: the otherwise-slick vid, all 11 minutes of it, actually contains only one sweep past the camera without voiceover or soundtrack. Just one. Which means a total of, ooh, three seconds of engine noise?

It makes me suspicious, for we like the R8’s engine. At least, we like it in the RS4. So the prospect of something which looks this good with that 4.2-litre V8 mid-mounted has made us quite excited; impatient, even. I hand back the Archos box and resign myself to another hour of waiting.

R8 generates plenty of lateral grip

This is our first chance to sample Audi’s supercar on European terrain, and the deserted D- and N-roads around Le Castellet are a pretty fair representation of what a British B would throw at the R8. There are bumps, broken asphalt, even Irish-style gravel at junctions.

This would normally pose a problem for Audi, because while it has a fair history of making belting engines, its chassis have frequently fallen short of their potential. The S-Line range, in particular, seems to be devoted to people with no liking for suspension whatsoever. So if the R8 is to succeed – if it is to stand any chance against Porsche’s 911 (at which it is squarely aimed, let’s face it) – then Audi has to prove that it can produce a chassis that’s both pliable and exploitable.

The engine certainly deserves that. Barely an hour and five seconds after my mid-flight drama, I get the chance to open up that V8 and the result is… just a little underwhelming. Cue another panic attack: I’m not saying the in-cabin sounds aren’t delightful, it’s just that they’re a little, well, refined. And we don’t want refinement, in that area at least. We want the R8 to be the defining moment of this engine. We want kids in the Bogota School for the Hard of Hearing to ask what all the noise is when you find a stretch of empty road. In Yorkshire.

V8 is dry sumped - unlike RS4

It’s time to open the windows, then feel the noise. And it works. Somehow, a bit of exhaust reverb makes all the difference here. There’s no doubt that Audi has made the V8 a little peaky to extract that 414bhp, and the engine– aurally and in performance terms – feels a tad sleepy beneath 4000rpm. Thereafter, however, it becomes visceral - a thudding, angry brute screaming for the red line with force, but never losing the oily smoothness its cutting edge technology affords it. It’s great, in other words.

And the handling? Think ‘safe’ and you won’t go far wrong. I guess that while the 911 has a history of being a bit of an animal, and therefore has to deliver at least part of that to live up to its reputation and to excite its core fans, the R8 can fall back on Audi’s motorsport history, which to most of us is based on Quattros running rings around two-wheel-drive cars. Accordingly, don’t expect to squeeze the throttle and bring the rear around to aid turn-in, because this is a car that prefers to grip solidly – mightily in fact - and simply go where it’s pointed. The steering is direct and the R8 certainly finds apexes better than any front-engined Audi (perish the thought that it wouldn’t) but it doesn’t offer much in the way of genuine feel as to what’s happening down at road-level. Overall, the interaction and sense of adjustability found in the most exploitable and rewarding sportscars is not quite there, but at the same time, what considerable fun there is to be had is easily accessible.

Another superb Audi interior

Is that a problem? For the 1200 people who’ve pre-ordered the R8, clearly not. At least the ride is on a par with the RS4: even with the magnetic ride option set to ‘sport’, it’s comfortable enough to cruise along on motorways, yet agile and pliable enough for fairly bumpy B-roads.

The whole process is helped by a decent manual ‘gate’ six-speed gearbox which is a little notchy, perhaps, but quick enough, once you get your bearings. And if the thought of heeling and toeing fills you with dread (and a warning, the Audi’s brake pedal is so aggressively servo-ed that even a mid-eighties F1 driver would struggle), the R-tronic sequential automatic gearbox will make equally rapid (if slightly more brutal) upchanges, then blip for you on the way back down.

Does that sound like a kop-out? Perhaps it is. And yet, an ‘easy’ way of looking good is exactly what this car is all about. The R8 is a creation that successfully breaches the gap between head-turning, street-stopping supercar looks, and the usability and dependability of the 911. Which is no small achievement. Combine that with an exquisite interior which feels like it could survive an assault from the Brentford ASBO Society, and the case for the R8 gets ever stronger.

R8 has decent ride quality too

When all’s said and done, this is probably the best Audi since the original ur-Quattro, which means ever. Does it match a 911 for tactile driving brilliance? Probably not. But it runs in a damn close second, and the rest of the package – those looks, a bizarre amount of practicality and an interior that Stuttgart simply can’t match – make a very persuasive argument over the old stager. It surprises me not one jot that Audi cannot keep up with initial demand.

Indeed, my only real gripe is that the R8 suffers from a bit of a self-consciousness complex, as if someone in Ingolstadt felt it had a little too much going for it in the looks department and decided not to make 100 per cent use of that engine’s aural brilliance, so as not to appear cocky.

Personally, I think it should stand up and shout about it. Something this good deserves to be seen and heard. By everyone, if possible.