Audi R8 2008

By Benjamin Cyr

It behaves, therefore, much more like a traction vehicle than an all-wheel, which means greater driving pleasure. The imposing front 235/30 19 inch tires and the rear 295/30 keep this machine on the pavement.

On your marks, get set, go!

It’s one thing to list the R8 technical specifications but you must drive it to fully appreciate them. Civility and comfort, surprisingly, come with this high speed performer. Contrary to the majority of cars in this class, the cabin is comfortable, the soundproofing filters well, the controls are user-friendly and the factory installations, first rate. The options include a rear camera and a navigation system, among other features. The suspension offers two modes: comfort and sport. The comfort mode almost gives you the feel of the relatively simple A4. The suspension is not rigid and the steering, adequate. Very surprising indeed! If you want a more aggressive ride, you simply switch to sport mode and in a flash, the suspension adjusts and the steering leeway expands. You are now at the wheel of a race car. 

Audi maintains that the R8 can reach 100km/ph in 4.6 seconds flat. Well, with our own tests we were able to clock 4,7 sec and the quarter mile is reached in 12.8 seconds at over 175 km per hour! Given the all-wheel drive, it takes practice but after a few tries, you get there. If you find a track long enough to fully unwind the R8, don’t be surprised if the speedometer nears 300 km/h!

The R8 not only excels on a strait track, it’s also very stable in twists and turns, whether at medium or high speed, this Audi is unshakable, a fine testimony to a central engine.

What about the flaws? You may ask. Apart from limited rear vision, a sparse front trunk
  and the lack of units (the fifty or so available in Canada have probably been sold already), the R8 afforded me a wonderful experience.