It’s a good day for Audi news. There is a new A6 Avant (which you can’t buy in America, sorry about that) and we have new information on the better-for-drifting, rear-wheel drive Audi R8 RWS. It’s now the cheapest R8 you can buy new, saving you a hell of a lot of money over the Quattro version. Why would you go all-wheel drive now?
The 2018 Audi R8 RWS is now the cheapest way to get Audi’s supercar, with a sticker price of only $139,950 (including destination). That makes it $26,200 cheaper than the same car equipped with AWD, and $55,700 cheaper than the more powerful R8 V10 Plus.
So either this is this “base model” R8 is either a killer supercar bargain or Audi is charging a crazy premium for AWD.
We all know that the best R8 is the original R8, but the current car is not too shabby—especially since you have the option to have the V10’s 540 horsepower be sent to all four wheels or just two.
The one downside is this RWS R8 is just a tad slower than its Quattro counterpart. Audi claims the RWS version will hit 60 mph in about 3.7 seconds, while the AWD car can do the same sprint in 3.5. The RWS car is obviously lighter by about 110 pounds. In addition to the weight savings, Audi adds a stiffer rear roll bar and a half of a degree of negative camber in the back.
Those tweaks combined with sending all 540 ponies to the rear wheels make the RWS R8 the Audi to buy if you prefer tossing your tail out in a corner.