Yet the R8 still leaves me cold,the kind of car a hairdresser would buy if they won the lotto or for men that wear thongs. Please Audi ditch the tacky as hell LED lights. If you want a V10 Audi then the RS6 is still the one to have.
@RachelSklar: Oh, you! Seriously, though, it should... although service is a nightmare. If I recall correctly, they have to pull the engine out for major air-conditioning work. I'm sure our readers will correct me on this.
@John Krewson: All I'm sayin' is I have it on the highest car-thority that Audis are challenged past 100K miles. You know how those German engines are.
@RachelSklar: my wife's old A4 was a hunk of crap... so yes we know how those German's used to be... they seem to have gotten far better though since about 2001...
@Mobius: No, she's the same Rachel that realized that Ray linking her here got her about five-tuple the pageviews that her articles normally get... so the questions are:
1.) Is Rachel Sklar perhaps a true newly-converted Jalop? Or...
2.) Did she enjoy the challenge of the shredding she received here by some, along with subsequently defending herself, as opposed to the (I'm guessing) usual fangirl/fanboy/nothing but postive reinforcement-type comments on the sites she writes for?
3.) Is she just loving the newfound attention? Let's face it, her article on Mediaite got three comments... the thread on her linked article here on Jalopnik got 17,315 pageviews and 189 comments (as of my writing this), and it's still going.
4.) Is there a clause in her contracts that gets her an extra hundred bucks for every 10,000 pageviews her articles receive, and now she's all of a sudden posting on a half-dozen threads here, trying to cultivate her new-found Jalopcrowd? Hmmmm....?
I seem to be alone in this feeling, but I'm still vaguely disappointed to see Audi offering the R8 with anything other than the (incredible) V8. I recall reading that when engineers designed the R8, they had their choice of Audi family engines and opted for the V8 over the V10, since (a) it is an amazing powerplant, and (b) it "felt" right for the car they were trying to build. Why give the car more than it needed? And sure enough, they went out and built a universally loved and unabashedly German supercar - understated everything, outstanding handling, polite road manners, all the power you could ever realistically need and not a bit more. It was a supercar that was destined to be revered by generations of car nuts while being completely underappreciated by your average supercar shopper in search of stats, status, and attention - a stunning engineering accomplishment and a sales disappointment. It was the heir to the NSX, in many ways.
I'm sure it's still a great car with the V10, probably even a better car in all the ways that matter in this market segment and many more. Audi will undoubtedly reach a whole world of buyers who don't care about the V8 R8, and of course Audi's goal is to make money, so good for them. I'll probably never own an R8 in any configuration, so what business is it of mine? Nonetheless, I wish Audi had taken a page from Honda's NSX playbook and said "no" to upsizing the engine - they had it right the first time.
@wohho: The timex still tells time just as good as the rolex so i'm thinking the less expensive alternative wins here too. A rolex doesn't tell the time any better/faster, just more expensively. The Vette gets you there in the same quickness with a thick wallet at the end of the day. Vette and Timex win.
@vwminispeedster, pronounded Si-trow-in: and thus you prove my point. Based on your standard, a junker camaro with a supercharger, an intercooler and some fat mickey thompsons will get you to 60 MPH in the same time as a Vette, so obviously the Vette is overpriced - right?
No. When the monied by cars, it's about the experience as much as the performance. You and I might not be in that market, but you have to recognize that market exists.
The whole video I'm screaming "Shift Dammit!" I love how you really start to get on it once you get passed. That looks like an incredible experience. Lucky bastard!
08/31/09
And this review is as loaded as it gets.
08/31/09
Dirty Audi trannies.
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Although if someone sticks their shopping bag in there for real, it might be a different story.
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And I have to give Audi credit for LED DRLs, they are heads and shoulders above ignorant high-beams from the Schumacher taxi coming towards you.
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Please explain......
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1.) Is Rachel Sklar perhaps a true newly-converted Jalop? Or...
2.) Did she enjoy the challenge of the shredding she received here by some, along with subsequently defending herself, as opposed to the (I'm guessing) usual fangirl/fanboy/nothing but postive reinforcement-type comments on the sites she writes for?
3.) Is she just loving the newfound attention? Let's face it, her article on Mediaite got three comments... the thread on her linked article here on Jalopnik got 17,315 pageviews and 189 comments (as of my writing this), and it's still going.
4.) Is there a clause in her contracts that gets her an extra hundred bucks for every 10,000 pageviews her articles receive, and now she's all of a sudden posting on a half-dozen threads here, trying to cultivate her new-found Jalopcrowd? Hmmmm....?
Stay tuned... film at 11.
08/31/09
I'm sure it's still a great car with the V10, probably even a better car in all the ways that matter in this market segment and many more. Audi will undoubtedly reach a whole world of buyers who don't care about the V8 R8, and of course Audi's goal is to make money, so good for them. I'll probably never own an R8 in any configuration, so what business is it of mine? Nonetheless, I wish Audi had taken a page from Honda's NSX playbook and said "no" to upsizing the engine - they had it right the first time.
08/31/09
If some is good.
And more is better,
then too much is just right.
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No. When the monied by cars, it's about the experience as much as the performance. You and I might not be in that market, but you have to recognize that market exists.
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Is that question really for real?
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Having never heard one, I can only guess that the sound alone makes it worth the cash for those lucky few who have it.
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