TradingExtra.co.uk

This Audi probably would have never happened had Porsche gained control of the Volkswagen Group five years earlier. But now the Audi R8 5.2 is out, larger than life and even better than expected. True, the Gallardo is sharper. The SL63 AMG is wilder. And the 911 Turbo is all that in a more compact package. But in terms of total dynamic balance; anyone-can-do-it, A-to-B ground-covering ability; and that all-important blend of confidence, compliance, and comfort, the 5.2-liter V-10-powered R8 is the new leader of the pack.

That's the inescapable conclusion after a memorable day in which even losing my driver's license ten times over would not have dimmed the sparkle in my eyes. In the morning, I left Marbella, Spain, for the remote, privately owned Ascari racetrack in a Suzuka gray R8 with a three-pedal transmission and magnetic dampers (standard in the U.S.). After lunch, I chased the warm winter sun through the rolling hills of the Costa del Sol in a brilliant red coupe that featured the R tronic automated-manual transmission and the conventional chassis setup. My pick? The manual version, even though it is a little less aggressive on the track and a little thirstier overall.

When we first tried the R8 a couple years ago, the last things it seemed to need were two more cylinders and 100 extra horses. Which only goes to prove that even the finest sports car can always do with more power. In the case of the R8 5.2, the 420-hp, 4.2-liter V-8 was replaced by a 525-hp, 5.2-liter V-10. Redlined at 8700 instead of 8000 rpm, the engine dishes up 391 instead of 317 lb-ft of torque. Although the torque curve peaks at a tall 6500 rpm, more than 350 lb-ft are on tap all the way from 3500 to 7500 rpm. Perfectly spaced and mated to a creamy yet meaty clutch, the six-speed gearbox combines short throws with sensuous connectivity and the classic aluminum gates. The R tronic works very well in paddleshift operation and in superquick sport mode, but when the lever is stuck in Drive, the transmission responds jerkily and somewhat reluctantly to impatient throttle orders.

 

The ten-cylinder R8 is a seriously fast driving machine that does not rely on any kind of artificial aspiration to beam itself toward the horizon. First gear expires a trifle early at 49 mph, but second stretches to 79 mph, third maxes out at 111 mph, and fourth is good for 142 mph. Fifth should run out of revs at 172 mph, but we found no road that was long or straight enough to prove it. The claimed top speed is 196 mph, which means that the R8 5.2 is a little faster than the 911 Turbo and the top-spec SL63 AMG, yet a little slower than the closely related 552-hp Gallardo, not to mention the $107,000 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The acceleration time quoted for the 0-to-62-mph sprint is 3.9 seconds, which puts the fastest-ever production Audi on par with the Porsche and the $302,000 SL65 AMG Black Series. Thanks to Quattro all-wheel drive, a 15/85 front/rear torque bias, a limited-slip rear differential, 44/56 percent weight distribution, and substantial nineteen-inch Pirelli tires, grip is never an issue on dry pavement.

Of course, you can switch off stability control, but in view of the massive maximum cornering forces (1.2 g, according to Audi), it takes a braver man and preferably a wider circuit to perform the art of power oversteer. Instead, it is worth dialing in ESP Sport, a useful in-between setting that permits all the basic dance steps except those that typically end in tears. Equipped with polished two-tone Y-spoke wheels and a set of extrawide tires (235/35YR-19 in the front, 305/30YR-19 in the back), our test car provided the kind of roadholding one normally associates only with warmed-up slicks.