Now onto the section this car was built for. Nestling right behind your ears is the state of the art 5.2-litre direct injection V10 motor. It produces a bonkers 602bhp, and that’s 60 more horses than the old V10+ and exactly the same as the mighty Lamborghini Huracan. First thing that hits you, as soon as you floor the throttle pedal is the way this motor spins. Revs don’t just climb but rather the engine just goes completely berserk as if Audi has forgotten to install the flywheel. Through the first few gears, you’re looking more at the sky than the road up ahead, as your neck works in vain to counter the force. In fact, the R8’s throttle response is so immediate that your neck feels more like an overcooked piece of meat struggling to retain its shape.
Configure the Drive Select to Dynamic and things get even more insane. Performance is now in proper supercar territory, and the car changes the way it responds to throttle inputs. The seven-speed, twin-clutch gearbox is lightning-quick with its shifts and you can use it in manual mode, gears shifting up only when you pull the right paddle. Then there is that ‘Hooligan’ button denoted by a chequered flag on the steering wheel activates the launch control and disables the ESC.
It’s a German car, so for the launch control to work you have to be clinical. First make sure the steering is facing straight, push the brake with your left foot and the accelerator with your right, and the revs climb to 4500 rpm. Lift off the brake and the R8 slams forward, with just a hint of wheelspin. Upshifts are done automatically at 8250 rpm, just in case you’re busy avoiding people instead of pulling the correct paddle. As a result flat-out performance figures are understandably rapid, with 100kph taking 3.56 seconds, 150kph 6.73 seconds and 200kph just over 11 seconds! It does all this while sounding evocative and it doesn’t need any trickery (like fake sound coming through the in car speakers) to make the occupants feel truly special.
Once you are done having fun, you can have a relaxing time in the R8 too. In the congested streets of Pune and Mumbai it’s quickly apparent that, with the R8 in comfort setting, is quite civilised for a car with that amount of performance on tap.
For a car with more than 600 horses under your right foot, the new R8 does a fine job of making the driver feel immortal. Within kilometres you can feel comfortable with the R8, attacking corners with remarkable confidence. Helping you out are the non-intrusive electronics which aid you face in the right direction and the quick acting Quattro system provides leech like grip. The R8 displays a remarkable willingness to change direction thanks not only to the quick-geared steering but also the exceptional rigidity of the body structure. If there is anything to criticise about its handling, is the R8’s tendency to understeer when you really push on. Don’t get me wrong, the chassis is playful but to a point, as Audi has clearly prioritised on stability first. You can always cure that with a well-timed lift, as the nose neatly into the corner and also gives you a hint of oversteer.
Thanks to the adjustable dampers the R8, even in this hardcore V10+ trim is surprisingly supple and actually quite comfortable to spend long hours in. Obviously it won’t be as forgiving as your everyday boring run about. But if you are fit enough you can actually use this monster every day. Stay away from sport mode though, unless you are married to an orthopaedic surgeon. Of course if you stay near a race circuit you can explore this mode but on the road you will feel the slightest of undulations and body movements are sharp. For me the individual mode works best – with engine, gearbox in sport and suspension set in comfort. Even its ground clearance surprised us. Thanks to the raised chin and reasonable clearance not once did the R8 scrape its belly even over the biggest of speedbreakers. The R8 in this V10+ trim also comes with standard carbon-ceramic brakes. These massive discs provide immediate and reassuring stopping power. The pedal feel which is usually the nemesis in carbon ceramics is actually quite linear.
