AUDI R8 May the force with you!

If Darth Vader had a space chariot – it would look like this. The R8 may be able to trace its roots back to the all-conquering and revolutionary Auto Union Grand Prix cars of the 1930s, but it’s unequivocally a supercar for the 21st century – in fact, it almost looks capable of Intergalactic travel.

Another field in which the R8 excels, seemingly more so than any other car on the streets, is in its ability to cause people to whip out their mobile cameras quicker than if they were in a Western style ‘click-or-perish’ duel. It seems that teledensity in Delhi is now all pervasive, since practically everyone on the roads has a mobile phone – and that too, one with a camera in it. If you prefer to drive around inconspicuously, the R8 isn’t the car for you.

Stunning looks apart, the R8 has a lot to live up to. It shares its name with Audi’s legendary 5-time Le Mans winning racer, which is one of the most successful sports prototype racing cars in history. The road going R8 is the only car in the world that gets subjected to a CT scan during production to ensure that it lives up to Audi’s reputation for excellence. Moreover, the R8 has an aluminum body built according to the specially developed Audi Space Frame (ASF) principle. The space frame itself is made from aluminum and magnesium, which results not only in extreme rigidity but also lower weight.

It appears, then, that the R8 is the true embodiment of Audi’s philosophy, ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ or advancement through the use of technology. So let’s find out what it’s really like on the streets of our capital.

The R8 is absolutely stunning – there’s no other word for it. And what’s more, it looks new and fresh – like something from the future, not just another rendition of a supercar from yesteryear. Also, frankly, I think it looks best in black – albeit slightly lethal, though the contrasting silver side blades do provide some relief.

One of the hallmarks of good supercar design is that it should look fast even when it’s going slow, and that’s certainly the case with the R8. In addition, its wide, squat stance clearly indicates that it’ll be no slouch when it comes to navigating around corners either. And then there’s the glass engine cover that shows off its mid-mounted V8 in all its glory – another indication that the R8’s not all show. The dominant feature of the front, of course, is the gaping front grille flanked on either side by Audi’s now famous headlights – each with 12 LEDs apiece.

On the whole, it’s a surprisingly clean design. It does have large air vents, both front and back, but they blend nicely into the overall appearance. Surprisingly, the Audi corporate look does supercar style exceedingly well.

Ordinarily, getting in and out of a supercar isn’t the easiest thing in the world. In fact, you almost certainly have to be a contortionist to perform the feat while maintaining any kind of dignity. The practical constraints of maintaining a low center of gravity aside, the unspoken rationale is that it shouldn’t be entirely straightforward to get into a supercar – you should be made to work just a little in order to enjoy the pleasures of driving, or being driven in, a car of high pedigree.

Well, the R8 makes no such demands of its occupants – you simply get in and out with all your limbs intact and with no problems at all. And it’s a good thing too, because the cabin is extremely comfortable and not even slightly claustrophobic. You feel right at home from the minute you step in – it’s not intimidating like most supercars or high end sports cars. Visibility is good – apart for rear three-quarter vision, which is constrained due to the wide side blades. Not for a minute, however, do you feel vulnerable on the road.

The flat bottomed steering wheel is just the right size. The gauges and controls are straightforward. And interior quality, like any Audi, is brilliant. Plus, the seats are very supportive and comfortable – you can see yourself spending several hours in the drivers’ seat and not being tired at all. But best of all, what really seals the deal, is the fact that you have a race bred V8 cradled right behind your neck – brilliant.

In keeping with the character of its cabin, the R8 is exceedingly easy to drive for a car of its dynamic abilities. Factor in the single clutch, semi-automatic, sequential 6-speed gearbox – sourced from subsidiary Lamborghini – which Audi refers to as R-tronic, and you have a supercar that you could conceivably use everyday.

At first, the steering feels a little heavy and unwilling to provide feedback – pick up the pace, however, and the steering, as well as the chassis, really comes alive. Push the R8 into a corner, and you can feel the ‘Quattro’ all-wheel drive system distribute torque among the four axels to ensure uninterrupted power delivery and uninhibited forward momentum.

The grip levels of the R8 are astonishing. There’s absolutely nothing you can do, within the realm of sanity, on a normal Indian road to get the R8 unstuck. It corners absolutely flat, and it feels surgically precise while doing so. And the power – my god – 420 horsepower never felt this good. Step on the loud pedal purposefully enough and you can feel the g-forces push you into your seat, as you set off for what feels like hyperspace. The engine response is truly epic – I can only imagine that the direct injection (FSI) technology has a part to play in the urgency demonstrated by the R8’s free revving V8. It’s almost as though the R8 can read your mind through ESP – no, not an ‘Electronic Stability Program’ but ‘extrasensory perception.’ You merely entertain thoughts of going faster, and the R8 responds instantly.

But it’s not just the power that’s intoxicating – it’s the accompanying deep throated growl from the quad exhausts. It’s very much like the forbidden fruit – once you’ve tasted it, there’s no going back. And not only does this Audi pick up speed incredibly easily, but it sheds said speed just as effortlessly as well – courtesy of its massive brake discs, which are clamped by equally colossal 8-piston calipers in front, and 4-piston calipers at the rear. The ride is remarkable good as well, thanks to the R8’s magnetic dampers that are filled with a special fluid consisting of micro sized magnetic particles – which are in turn controlled by a magnetic field that varies its damping characteristics continuously depending on driving conditions.

If there’s one thing I would change about this particular car, however, it would be the transmission. I’d much prefer a traditional 6-speed manual transmission, especially since the R8 comes with an exquisite metal gated shift like a proper supercar. Had the R-tronic been a dual clutch, like Audi’s own DSG in the TT that we tested a few months ago, perhaps it would have been a different story. As is, a single clutch semi-automatic doesn’t seem to live up to the dynamic excellence exhibited by the rest of the car.

Audi’s R-tronic is clearly better than similar semi-automatic gearboxes used by Ferrari and BMW, but even they have since adopted dual-clutch transmissions – originally developed by Audi themselves for the legendary Sport Quattro S1 rally car in 1985. If you leave the R-tronic in automatic, it actually works fairly well. If you’re just cruising in the city, the transmission will actually blip the throttle on up-shifts as well as down-shifts (which is now customary) to ensure smoothness. And if you put the car in sport mode, the transmission holds the revs, quickens the shifts, and changes gears quite quickly and smoothly once again. The problem comes when you choose to use the steering mounted paddles – unless you shift somewhere in the vicinity of its manic 8250rpm redline, you need to blip the throttle in between shifts to ensure a smooth gear change, which is essentially the Achilles’ heel of such transmissions.

The transmission apart, the R8 sounds and feels absolutely epic on the road. Make no mistake, it drives just as well as it looks. And, as you can see from the pictures, it looks astoundingly good.

So, is the R8 a true supercar? It most certainly is, but it’s a supercar Audi style. This is a supercar in an Armani suit, as opposed to a flamboyant Cavalli gown. This is a supercar that’s thrilling from behind the wheel, but it’s also easy to drive, as well as sensible and reliable. It’s even usable on Delhi roads. After all, who said you can’t use this kind of power on Indian streets? You do have to show restraint and use it judiciously, but if you can be half as sensible as the R8, it’ll take care of the rest.

There is a flip side to this argument though. You could say that the R8 is too easy to drive, it’s too surefooted, and the brakes are too good. It doesn’t feel raw and edgy like traditional supercars, which command respect, even if it’s borne only from fear – cars in which if you take your mind off the task at hand for even a second, you end up wrapping it around a tree. But then, this isn’t that kind of a supercar. It is, after all, an Audi, and it’s for that very reason that it’s been an amazing hit since it was launched in the West – where it’s had long waiting periods and dealers charging massive premiums from salivating prospective customers.

Recently, however, Audi officially launched the R8 in India. So if you’re among a fortunate few, and you’d like to know what to do with your money, go and visit your local Audi dealer. In the meantime, I’d like to get behind the wheel of the V10 R8 that’ll soon be on sale overseas – anyone at Audi listening?