Test drive: Audi R8 V10 RWD, from the track to the road

Dynamic behaviour is everything in the Audi R8 V10 RWD. It is its raison d’être, it is what it was conceived for, it is there to win you over, and it does so with ease. The driving position is outstanding: you sit very low on excellent, well-padded bucket seats that wrap the body gently and hold the sides firmly to absorb lateral forces with complete ease; they are heated and fully electrically adjustable, as is normal at this level of car. It is behind the wheel that you notice the weight distribution is better than good: the specification sheet says it is 40:60 between the two axles, and if that is so, I find it perfect.

The suspension works to perfection and conveys a sense of control, safety and fun behind the wheel that is hard to match. The sport suspension of this rear-wheel-drive R8 has been specially tuned to exploit its lightness and to make the most of the differential lock in “Sport” mode, which does not allow power to escape through the wheel that tends to lose traction.

And if going fast depends most of all on the engine and a chassis that supports it and lets you enjoy it, none of it would be possible without the best brakes, and this car has them too: good perforated steel discs with forced ventilation and a distinctive wavy design, 365 mm in diameter at the front, clamped by no fewer than eight-piston calipers… just like competition cars. Some interesting options are also offered, especially if the car is to be used on track, such as carbon-ceramic discs of 380 mm: tireless brakes, sometimes a little noisy, but powerful and very strong, letting you extract the full potential of the engine and chassis with a wonderful “safety net” always ready.

Traction and ride comfort

Full-time all-wheel drive provides greater and better grip and safety, that is indisputable, and Audi, over the years and through its competition experience, has shown that it is also more sporting, since it has won countless titles making full use of its all-wheel drive, both in rallying and on circuits. But this, perhaps the last variant of the R8 as we know it, is without doubt the best. It is lighter precisely because it lacks all-wheel drive. And that may be enough to give it that special touch: no production car conveys the driving sensations of this one in terms of stability, dynamism, performance level, braking capacity, agility on all kinds of road and, above all, ease of driving. All of this is clearly perceived when you push the tyres’ grip a little to the limit.

Behind the wheel, demanding of it what few sensible buyers would demand of a car that costs 179,000 euros, and without going to that extreme of madness and passion, this Audi R8 still impresses with its ease of use, its comfort for travelling and for getting around even in town. It is a car for everyday use and at the same time a supercar that is hard to compare with. It does not have the glamour of being called Porsche or Ferrari, but apart from that it matches anyone head to head without complexes. And the Audi R8 V10 performance RWD bets everything on the greater lightness of rear-wheel drive and the brilliance of that ten-cylinder V engine, which is a benchmark for its performance, its sound, its feel, its technology and even its reasonable consumption: an average of less than fifteen litres with such a V10 does not seem disproportionate to me.

A benchmark naturally aspirated V10 engine

An engine that for this occasion gains thirty additional horsepower over its predecessor and which, like that one, works wonderfully paired with the seven-speed S tronic automatic sequential gearbox with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. A 5.2-litre V10 with its banks at a 90-degree angle, which has the quintessence of the FSI system’s dual injection management to be one of the best naturally aspirated engine blocks of all time, as we said, not only for its feel and sound, but also for its competition successes, for which being a benchmark in technology and especially in reliability is absolutely essential.

The engine has received an electronic revision that allows it to offer thirty additional horsepower to reach the 570 CV listed in the specification sheet, plus 10 Nm more to bring torque to 550 Nm, which is nothing to sniff at. In fact there are many trucks with less torque… Now that we are attentive to the simple electric motors that deliver an outrageous power, talking about this kind of engine is like reciting poetry, but only if you truly like this: two five-cylinder banks forming a 90-degree angle, a light aluminium alloy crankshaft, dry-sump lubrication derived from competition that allows the engine to be lowered even further, four camshafts, a high compression ratio of 12.7:1, intake manifold injection and direct injection and, to top it all, to save fuel, the “Cylinder on Demand” technology which at low or medium revs deactivates injection and ignition on one bank so it runs on only five cylinders and is more efficient…

Well, there you have it. These things, possibly simple for the engineers at Audi, which will bore ordinary users, seem to me like they come from another planet. With such power and torque, this 570 CV R8 V10 performance RWD with mid-engine layout offers imposing performance, with a 0–100 km/h time of just 3.7 seconds, and a top speed of 329 km/h that drops off relatively easily a few seconds later.

The gearbox that is perfect for extracting all its potential

The gearbox lives up to the demands and, to put it better, it is perfection, and it operates in perfect combination with the efficient rear limited-slip differential with electronic control. It is hard to find fault with the whole. It is very fast, it is precise… it almost seems intelligent. It is an automatic gearbox with an eight-speed sequential mode and paddle shifters on the steering wheel. To nitpick, I would like the paddles to be larger so that they have a bigger role in manoeuvres and are easier to use in all kinds of situations. The gearbox is an S tronic dual-clutch with perfect ratio spacing. If we want to enjoy the smooth hum of the engine and simply move from one place to another, the automatic mode with the selector in “D” is perfect for achieving the best consumption and maximum comfort.

For fun, the “S” Sport programme already adds enough spice to the equation: the dual-clutch effects appear, the sound changes, the shifts are quicker and the engine runs at higher revs. And there is still the M position to use it exclusively with the paddles and thus decide when the shift happens, or better still, to take it right up to the rev limiter if possible. The gearbox and everything it provides is an incredible world. It is exciting, while stationary, to press the brake pedal hard with the left foot and with the right foot stamp the accelerator to make the most of “Launch Control”, watching the electronics hold the engine at 4,500 rpm before shooting forward while the electronics prevent any loss of traction, so you can nail the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in the promised 3.7 seconds.

Technology at the service of the user

On the centre console is the Audi drive select control, which plays with different operating parameters of the car such as engine electronics, transmission, sound and even steering, offering different options for each of the defined driving programmes: auto, comfort, dynamic and individual. Auto, as its name suggests, analyses the driver’s habits and usage and decides what to apply at each moment, optimising the driving experience. Dynamic mode lets you enjoy driving to the fullest by selecting more sporty electronics, a louder exhaust and engine note and quicker steering, while the individual programme gives the user a customisable set-up experience.

On the console there is also the button for traction and stability control, ESP, which in this rear-wheel-drive car takes on much more importance. With the system activated, the electronics stop you from losing control because the car is under absolute control in standard mode. It has a second mode, or partial deactivation, that lets you enjoy it, slide and feel like a true ace of the wheel even on wet and slippery surfaces, and a third that completely turns off electronic control. I leave this one for the bravest or for track driving, which was not my case on this occasion.

A supercar from which a winning GT derives

It is hard to reach a conclusion that is not extremely favourable. The AUDI V10 that powers this R8 began competing in GT3 in 2009 with the R8 LMS, then moved to the LMS ultra, and by the second generation of the R8 LMS it received a major update until it was crowned with the R8 LMS GT4, and it has never ceased to stand out. We are not going to talk about the price: 179,000 euros is among the best in its category, and it is worth it for both technology and exclusivity. The 5.2-litre V10 with 570 CV in this Audi R8 is outstanding, as are its performance and overall dynamics; altogether it is a tamed and exquisite race car placed at the service of the road user.

Image gallery Audi R8 V10 RWD

Photography: Pedro Morera and Audi