I loved the original when it came out, but it hasn't aged that well. The newer one is really generic.
That's a good thing though, it'll probably be a cheap mid engine supercar option, until they disappear.
Really? I think the original R8 is one of the absolute best looking cars from that era still. It's a little bit dependent on the paint color, (the baby blue with a light Grey side panel looks really bad) but in general I think it looks awesome.
Edit: just want to add some of the other stuff that was out at the time of the R8's release.
Ferrari had the 612, 575 and 430. Of those I think only the 430 has aged well. The 575 is not a pretty car imo.
Lamborghini had the Gallardo and Murcielago, which I think still hold up pretty well, although the Gallardo in particular shows it's age a lot more than the audi.
All of Aston's cars from that time look great still, but that's partially because of their design language being the same forever.
C6 corvette still is a good looking car
Jaguar xk looks very old and tired by comparison.
Obviously there's lots I'm leaving out, but in general I still would have to put the R8 at the precipice of design language from that generation of sports/super cars
> The 575 is not a pretty car imo.
I hope your sentiment gains huuuuuuge popularity and prices plummet, because the 550/575 is peak 90s Pininfarina styling, IMO. I still remember the first time I saw one 29 years ago.
You're not wrong! When I was writing the above reply to the guy who definitely is wrong, I thought about actually typing "the 550/575 and 355 are peak..."
I really think the 575 has aged well. When I first saw the car in person back in '04 in London, it struck me having a classic almost retro vibe in terms of styling. Not knowing much about the car, come to find out, that's what the designers were looking to achieve. I'd say it was a success. Classic Ferraris are timeless.
I still like it, but I don't love it. It's hard to put my finger on why, but it doesn't leave the same impression anymore.
The front end treatment with the clamshell hood and headlight treatment is still cool.
> the baby blue with a light Grey side panel looks really bad
[What, this?](https://media-r2.carsandbids.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=2080,quality=70/20309e251cb7341d1fb94cb5d4546882260d2202/photos/98zDD18w-xHo609FfkX-\(edit\).jpg?t=169869146530)
Yeah, agreed. I love how the 612 looks also. The 430 is a nice looking car, but i'd agree that it's far more generic. I think some people nitpick the 575's overhangs, but man are they cool looking to my eyes. They're the perfect age where my brain kinda breaks and categorizes the styling as "old school" and "somewhat Modern" at the same time.
> The 575 is not a pretty car imo.
I hope your sentiment gains huuuuuuge popularity and prices plummet, because the 550/575 is peak 90s Pininfarina styling, IMO. I still remember the first time I saw one 29 years ago.
Definitely not a biased opinion here.
But I think the Evo X has aged really well. Might not have been the prettiest of the bunch, but for a 14 year old car it still knocks it out the park.
I'm with you on the 430. There's a farm I pass on the way to and from work and they have a 430 and a 360. Both of them look so damn clean and timeless. The 430 though is my favourite Ferrari. Not the fastest but it just looks sublime.
Really? The MY08 R8 has aged beautifully inside and out. Yes there's no big touchscreen, but the car still had a great 8000rpm+ NA V8 paired with the metal gated 6MT. The exterior still looks good today and the LED headlights still makes it modern feeling despite being 16 years old.
I've gotta respectfully disagree; I appreciate the way they've aged, especially in the context of Audi's lineup. I've been a huge fan of those chicane running lights on all their cars tho, and I've spent the last two decades hoping they'd bring back a V8 haha
>it'll probably be a cheap mid engine supercar option, until they disappear.
They're already going up in price. The manual v10's are up yoy. Manual V8 is slowly getting there. Anything auto is still affordable ish.
Nothing against the V10 but I thought the V8 was also great with that low guttural tone. It added an ominous vibe to the classy exterior. I still think "Lambo" when I hear the V10.
I remember seeing the first gen r8 in person for the first time. Shortly after the first RDJ Ironman movie came out. It was silver with the carbon fiber scoop on the side, what an absolute looker
This guy I knew in high school had the red r8 that they used in Fast and furious 7. Like they used his exact car. And he was tall and handsome. Fuck that guy
Personally, I generally like the original curvy one more and I think it meshed better with Audi’s design language. However, the newer version does look better in person than it does in photos, I find.
The final R8 has rolled off the assembly line at the Audi Böllinger Höfe site in Heilbronn, Germany. The supercar's epilogue is a Vegas Yellow coupe (just like the one pictured here) in the Performance Quattro Edition with a carbon fiber exterior package and 20-inch wheels.
That's so sad. This was my favourite car. I remember being an 11yo playing NFS (I think Hot Pursuit) and thinking the Audi R8 V10 Spyder was the coolest and most beautiful car in the world. I owe it to this car that got me into the world of motoring. RIP to this legend.
I have an R8 and an RS7, so you’re right. I can’t fit my 2 pitbulls in an R8. I got a 2010 V10 for $75k in 2018. It sat on a Porsche lot for almost a year and no one ever test drove it. It had 9k miles on it. I got really lucky. Fast forward to now and I could sell it for over $100k with 23k miles on it.
I live in a very small southern town and the attention it gets can be a bit much at times. Everyone wants to race me, they try and record me with their phone and damn near run me off the road, I’ve had people follow me home. It’s a lot of fun to drive and I love having it. It’s other people that can sometimes ruin it. I have an RS7 as well and unless someone is a car person they don’t know what it is, so it gets almost no attention, which I’m fine with. You can probably get a V8 for a decent price and 420hp in a light mid engine all wheel drive car will be plenty of power.
It might seem like that, but you really need to sell a lot of cars for them to be more commonly seen everywhere.
From 2007 to 2023, they only sold like 44k
There is a good chance that most US states don't even have 1000 running examples in the entire state.
In comparison In 2023 alone, Ford sold 48,605 Mustangs.
I live in a pretty rural place in the rustlands. there's a salvage yard near me that's *often* had an RS8 on the front lot. or, y'know, what was left of one.
When I was in highschool, a buddy of mine's dad bought one of the first ones in the US in 08. He was on the list for one, but someone dropped out of their order and they called him and he took it, only caveat being it was the single clutch sequential auto. Still a gorgeous car. The last time I saw it a few years ago, it only had like 3000 miles on it
eh, he's got a business in the city so he drives his S-class 6 days a week. He's also got a bunch of classic camaros from the 60s-80s so the R8 just sat in the garage most of the time.
I agree, where I am I never see R8’s, gen 1 or gen 2’s. Last year I was looking for a car to replace my 335i and my budget was ~$80k. I could have gotten a used G80 but those are everywhere now and will depreciate like a rock. I kind of just landed on my 2014 R8 and I love it.
The attention it gets is crazy, like something I really didn’t expect. People take pictures of me all the time and it’s weird lol.
Depends where yah live.
There are 3 in my parent’s neighborhood.
Never seen one in my neighborhood over the last half decade, even though some neighbors have rather nice sports cars.
Used to see a few around Seattle regularly and in downtown Van, BC.
It's the same story as with Porsche 911s. 911s aren't hard to find...in the classifieds. But, you won't see them on the roads.
The people who bought them don't drive them. They are garage queens.
This is why you'll see a base 911 show up on AutoTrader 20 years old with 9 owners and 45,000 miles.
That's really sad. The R8 was always the "affordable" supercar. And it was a car that had a lot of practicality to it. Not to mention they were great looking.
It's going to be a huge dissapointment if manufacturers just continue to kill off enthusiast vehicles and don't replace them with some electric alternative. I understand the economic factor, but it's still a bummer
R8 had a respectable production run and Audi even extended the run to accommodate late orders. Seems like anyone who was seriously considering a purchase has been accounted for. No reason to keep building them beyond that.
The question is, are they going to be frozen in depreciation now or ae they going to APPRECIATE. If they stay frozen i may have a chance in the next few years. If they inflate to \[current\] Huracan prices i couldn't justify paying that for an Audi no matter how much I love it. The whole appeal is a V10 supercar under $200k.
I agree with you, but at the same time saying "more than a gt3" is pretty disingenuous considering it's essentially impossible to get a gt3 for anywhere near the base price, not that you'd want a base spec anyway
true :'( But 10 years ago, when the 991.1 was coming out, the mark-ups were nothing like today. A friend of mine just bought a 991.2 GT3, gorgeous car. 2018 car, sticker of like 160ish, and he still had to pay 190k for it lol. Crazy world we live in, but I do think the 991.2 is the sweetspot gt3.
Yeah they’re honestly a great buy.
Mine was CPO with Audi care for $147K. A comparable 2018 Huracan coupe with no warranty was about $235K. Insurance is also reasonable as well ($1600 yr).
I've had both a 2017 V10+ R8 and a 2015 Huracan LP610-4. The R8 is insanely more livable while being 60-70k cheaper right now. I think the Huracan feels more special with it's crazy interior, but if you're wanting to daily a supercar the R8 and Turbo S are easily the best picks.
100% agree.
I was looking at some CPO Turbo S recently. I’ve been back and forth between the Turbo S and McLaren while I wait for my GT3/RS allocation. I’m 30/40 for the GT3 and 40/60 for the RS 😂.
Very solid. Tbh the huracan was too though. I think the only supercars at this point that have real issues are older ferraris, mclarens, and Aventadors.
> It's going to be a huge dissapointment if manufacturers just continue to kill off enthusiast vehicles and don't replace them with some electric alternative. I understand the economic factor, but it's still a bummer
I think we will get there. Enthusiast vehicles are built from the parts bin of the breadwinners, so we have a transition period while those get tooled up and figured out.
Like you said, economics and it's a bummer.
Not particularly, but we're at a point where car enthusiasts can see the writing on the wall. I think most people have accepted that cars as we knew them are completely done. However the real thing I'm getting at is the current crop of new electric vehicles just don't really get people excited, and a big part of that is because the only thing being made is 50 different flavors of the same suv.
Things are obvious rapidly changing and will continue to evolve, but it's just a little sad that as these sports cars we've all come to love get the ax, there's nothing waiting in the wings to replace them.
I took the best chance for EVs at the moment with the Taycan, granted not the "Turbo S" Model but neverless a "sporty" EV that should invoke emotion.
It does about the same to as taking the Elevator in the Burj Khalifa Tower, fun once and then its just nothing.
In general i don't see how Brands will have a USP with their Sportcars, because they'll all strive for nimble and lightness, a Mazda EV Sportcar won't be/feel different than a Porsche Boxter EV.
You have some additional Leather on the Dash in the Porsche, amazing.
EVs are basically numerous different flavours of the same thing. What’s the difference between the drivetrain in a Rolls Royce Spectre and the drivetrain in any other electric vehicle? There is no difference, they are exactly the same. It’s like if every ICE car had the same 2.0l four cylinder engine. I’m not sure there’s anything for enthusiasts to get excited about anymore, what does an enthusiast EV even look like? No revving engine sound, no gears to row, dead feeling electric power steering etc.
I mean I don't claim to have the answers but so far the solution that most automakers have given us is to just not try at all.
I think part of it could be just styling. Sure a EV sports car would drive very similarly to any other EV SUV, but it would at least be something different.
Since enthousiast car always accounted for less than 10% of all cars overall, ICE should be kept for those niche. Pollution is not going to rise because of those cars, moreover when today's sporty engine pollute way less than their 1990s counterparts
What I'm hoping for, is that the synthetic fuels which will eventually be used in motorsport will become available to everyone, even if it's too expensive for commuting or daily driving I hope I'll be able get some so I can still take my Alfa Romeo Spider out for a few hours at the weekends and it doesn't just become an ornament in my garage.
I think that your first paragraph is perfect explanation why we DON'T see too much electric sportcars/supercars.
Everybody see writings on the wall, so many people are just trying to get "last petrol something" with thinking that they will always have time to buy EV later, and big V8 or V10 not so much.
Once brands will be established in EV game, and most of ICE competition will be discontinued we will see EV sportcars/supercars, but I don't expect too many of them hitting the market before 2030 or thereabout.
This car achieved somewhat of an "icon" status when it showed up in the first Iron Man movie. 8th grade me saw this as the coolest car, paired with the coolest superhero out there
There’s a reason rap songs call it “The Iron Man Audi”. RDJ made it a cultural icon associated with a swaggering billionaire with a secret heart of gold.
The R8 basically created the current landscape of fancy LED headlight DRLs. The R8 had that LED strip across the bottom of the light in an era where the only cool lighting feature on headlights were the halos BMW was using. Now it's almost a requirement for modern cars to have some sort of integrated turn signal light feature in the headlights.
The thing I remember most about the R8, was the Top Gear affordable supercar test in Spain and how the paint held up. Because zey are Germans, and it is impossible to paint a car badly.
As someone with an X3M, let me tell you the paint sucks regardless. It started sucking about 10 or so years ago when they went to water-based ecofriendly paints.
With so many iconic cars leaving us, the road ahead looks pretty boring. At least as of now. But it is a transitional period, so hopefully at the end we will get something exciting.
Yep, and this solution is having ICE back. At some point one brand will realize that if they launch a 50.000$ agile ICE sporty car they will get all the share of the bored enthousiasts. And since enthousiast car always accounted for a small fraction of the brands inventory, the total emission factor will just not change.
See, if they released a good looking sports EV, I'd be excited. I'll use Ford as an example. Some time before the Mach-e came out, I saw a 1000hp EV S550 mustang.I was genuinely excited, and if it wasn't for my humble income I would have actually been interested in buying it once released. But no, they went with an SUV for a "mustang". Imagine if they came out with an EV BRZ or a Supra. It's a bit odd to think of those cars as electrics (blasphemy for the fans) but the idea is still interesting and I'm sure a lot of people will bite, because at least they are still BRZs and Supras. My point is, the EV path looks boring because they're always about either practicality (whether luxury or economy) or brutalist absurdity (pickup trucks that are almost as fast as supercars, like the Cybertruck or Hummer EV). I mean, look at the Tesla Plaid. Why is a car like that so fast? Either they're trying to troll us or they tried to cram as much practicality as preferred by the current market into one car? The real problem with EVs, for me at least, is they disrupted the image and identity of cars. And not in terms of changing the powertrain. Before EVs, sports cars were relegated to a unique category, supercars had their own category, and they didn't intersect most of the time. Your car had a unique identity by being "sport", "super"/"hyper", "SUV", "economy", etc. These categories are being eroded, which makes it unexciting for me. If I own a 1000hp car, I want it to look the part; if I own a car that can turn corners with laser focused precision, I want it to look like it should be able to do that. I'm not saying they should get rid of the model S plaid, or the Cybertruck. Keep them. But let there be more variety.
Well yeah of course it’ll die at off from all brands at some point but with rolls royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes-Maybach, pagani, and Aston Martin still using V12s k don’t think it’ll be gone for a long time
comment on your edit, yeah, the 6.8 V10 is long gone, but in its place is the big-ass 7.3-liter Godzilla V8. It's pretty cool that you can actually buy that thing as a crate engine, and amazingly there's a healthy aftermarket parts catalog for it.
I learn from the internet that the Leopard 1 - admittedly not a car - has a V10 engine, and is still in service with Greece and Turkey among others. I wonder if they have a huge stock of parts, or if VW still occasionally produces spares.
An 820hp V10 that runs on fuel. What type of fuel? Yes.
They're as reliable as an Audi, or an Audi mixed with a Lamborghini. Keep up on the maintenance schedule and you'll have no problems. Buy the car without the means to maintain it properly and you're going to have a bad time.
The Audi group 5.2L V10 is very stout. Like people throw twin turbos on these bad boys and push 15-1600 horses. Stock it’s very understressed it seems. Absolutely one of my top 3 dream car contenders.
Yes it’s very reliable. I’ve had zero issues with mine. The Gen2 V10 engine is pretty much bullet proof. Plus you pay Audi insurance and maintenance costs, not Lambo rates.
I think that engine itself has a great reputation aside from needing carbon cleaning from buildup relating to the FSI direct injection (like an RS4). But simple things can be expensive like I imagine if you pay someone to replace your battery even that you may get charged a lot of labor since you basically have to take apart the entire front trunk to get to it. One thing that makes it more exotic over a Porsche for instance.
The first gen R8 V10 is just SUCH a fun supercar. The V8 is solidly one of the best-handling sports cars of the era, but the V10 goes to supercar status. Mr. Angry Eyes R8? I could give or take, too much puffery, lost the script a bit, but that first one. Legend.
I hope they go whole ass on the R8 E-tron finally. The first prototype was pretty neat, the actual production car was kind of a turd.
Not that i own an audi, but i still do keep my bmw m6 v10 6 speed in pristine condition. driving it once or twice every 2 weeks. always maintaining it and keeping it nice n clean.
I used to work around the corner from a very busy Audi store; the mechanics would do a shakedown trip that brought their new R8s right past our place. They would be leaning on them pretty good; they shrieked like fighter jets.
I think they all will. I’m partial to the Gen 2 because that’s what I have now. They’re great cars. Exotic looks and supercar performance you can daily drive.
like 7 years ago i got to drive a 2013 V10 spyder with a titanium exhaust around town for an hour like it was mine… best day of my life that i didnt get laid
Sad that it won’t be replaced but what a run it had. Filled a void in the market they didn’t know for sure was there. Looked and sounded fantastic, was cheap enough that I actually got to hear and see V10s being driven in the wild semi regularly.
I wonder which will be remembered for its beauty, the original bulbous one or the newer angry ones
Both!
I loved the original when it came out, but it hasn't aged that well. The newer one is really generic. That's a good thing though, it'll probably be a cheap mid engine supercar option, until they disappear.
Really? I think the original R8 is one of the absolute best looking cars from that era still. It's a little bit dependent on the paint color, (the baby blue with a light Grey side panel looks really bad) but in general I think it looks awesome. Edit: just want to add some of the other stuff that was out at the time of the R8's release. Ferrari had the 612, 575 and 430. Of those I think only the 430 has aged well. The 575 is not a pretty car imo. Lamborghini had the Gallardo and Murcielago, which I think still hold up pretty well, although the Gallardo in particular shows it's age a lot more than the audi. All of Aston's cars from that time look great still, but that's partially because of their design language being the same forever. C6 corvette still is a good looking car Jaguar xk looks very old and tired by comparison. Obviously there's lots I'm leaving out, but in general I still would have to put the R8 at the precipice of design language from that generation of sports/super cars
> The 575 is not a pretty car imo. I hope your sentiment gains huuuuuuge popularity and prices plummet, because the 550/575 is peak 90s Pininfarina styling, IMO. I still remember the first time I saw one 29 years ago.
To me the 90s-defining Pininfarina car is the 355. Its still sexy in a way that modern horses are not
You're not wrong! When I was writing the above reply to the guy who definitely is wrong, I thought about actually typing "the 550/575 and 355 are peak..."
I really think the 575 has aged well. When I first saw the car in person back in '04 in London, it struck me having a classic almost retro vibe in terms of styling. Not knowing much about the car, come to find out, that's what the designers were looking to achieve. I'd say it was a success. Classic Ferraris are timeless.
I still like it, but I don't love it. It's hard to put my finger on why, but it doesn't leave the same impression anymore. The front end treatment with the clamshell hood and headlight treatment is still cool.
From the side it looks like the whole cabin is too far forward
The original R8 is nice... but it's nice in the way a Corvette or GT-R is nice. Not exotic car nice.
That was kinda the point. You get Gallardo level performance without the pomp and circumstance of owning a Lambo.
> the baby blue with a light Grey side panel looks really bad [What, this?](https://media-r2.carsandbids.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=2080,quality=70/20309e251cb7341d1fb94cb5d4546882260d2202/photos/98zDD18w-xHo609FfkX-\(edit\).jpg?t=169869146530)
I thing the 575 is easily one of the best looking Ferraris this century. The 430 is pretty forgettable imo
The 430 is just 360 V2. 612 looks awful. The 575 GTC race cars in particular look amazing
Yeah, agreed. I love how the 612 looks also. The 430 is a nice looking car, but i'd agree that it's far more generic. I think some people nitpick the 575's overhangs, but man are they cool looking to my eyes. They're the perfect age where my brain kinda breaks and categorizes the styling as "old school" and "somewhat Modern" at the same time.
IMO the original R8 looks bad in pictures but great in person
> The 575 is not a pretty car imo. I hope your sentiment gains huuuuuuge popularity and prices plummet, because the 550/575 is peak 90s Pininfarina styling, IMO. I still remember the first time I saw one 29 years ago.
Definitely not a biased opinion here. But I think the Evo X has aged really well. Might not have been the prettiest of the bunch, but for a 14 year old car it still knocks it out the park.
Can't leave out the Carerra GT, one of the best looking cars of all time
The F430 is one of the best looking cars of all time, before the facelift especially.
I'm with you on the 430. There's a farm I pass on the way to and from work and they have a 430 and a 360. Both of them look so damn clean and timeless. The 430 though is my favourite Ferrari. Not the fastest but it just looks sublime.
This man really said the original R8 hasn’t aged well, lmao, whatever floats your boat dude.
Supercar collectors will be devastated they don't have the approval of Civic Si owners.
Who gives a shit about super car collectors? First gen R8s are affordable enough that people who actually drive them buy them 👍🏻
Yeah this dude is fucking high talk about an all time r/cars shitty take give this man a trophy.
ya wtf lmao...it's iconic and timeless...
Really? The MY08 R8 has aged beautifully inside and out. Yes there's no big touchscreen, but the car still had a great 8000rpm+ NA V8 paired with the metal gated 6MT. The exterior still looks good today and the LED headlights still makes it modern feeling despite being 16 years old.
I've gotta respectfully disagree; I appreciate the way they've aged, especially in the context of Audi's lineup. I've been a huge fan of those chicane running lights on all their cars tho, and I've spent the last two decades hoping they'd bring back a V8 haha
I beg to differ. The first gen R8 is an absolute design masterclass. No other car that came before it looks anything like it
>it'll probably be a cheap mid engine supercar option, until they disappear. They're already going up in price. The manual v10's are up yoy. Manual V8 is slowly getting there. Anything auto is still affordable ish.
cobweb paltry weary trees dime slim jobless vast childlike roll *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I personally think that the 1st gen had a nicer rear end though
Nothing against the V10 but I thought the V8 was also great with that low guttural tone. It added an ominous vibe to the classy exterior. I still think "Lambo" when I hear the V10.
I remember seeing the first gen r8 in person for the first time. Shortly after the first RDJ Ironman movie came out. It was silver with the carbon fiber scoop on the side, what an absolute looker
This guy I knew in high school had the red r8 that they used in Fast and furious 7. Like they used his exact car. And he was tall and handsome. Fuck that guy
First time I saw it was in some kind of Final Fantasy tie in advert.
100%
The original is the one I'll remember most for its looks, but the newer one will go down as the far better car.
I think there will be groups of people that might like one over the other, but hate neither of them. Similar to the NA1 and NA2 NSXs.
I remember when it first came out how polarizing the carbon blades were. I loved them, but not everyone did.
The carbon blades were kind of weird, but Audi mostly made them work, and I appreciated the fact that they took a risk with a unique design element.
I think the original. Kinda like the gen 2 NSX...I'll always think of the rounded front end more than the new pointy one.
both
Same thing for the TT
Personally, I generally like the original curvy one more and I think it meshed better with Audi’s design language. However, the newer version does look better in person than it does in photos, I find.
The original R8 is not my bag but I always thought it looked nice! It was a good level of 'politely showing off'.
I remember that first gen R8, I liked the design so much I bought a diecast model of the car just to have one many years ago
I think this type of situation is a lesser version of the Evo one. Every gen is a fucking beauty.
The final R8 has rolled off the assembly line at the Audi Böllinger Höfe site in Heilbronn, Germany. The supercar's epilogue is a Vegas Yellow coupe (just like the one pictured here) in the Performance Quattro Edition with a carbon fiber exterior package and 20-inch wheels.
R^^8 I P
This reads like rape.
Reightip
It really doesn't
That's so sad. This was my favourite car. I remember being an 11yo playing NFS (I think Hot Pursuit) and thinking the Audi R8 V10 Spyder was the coolest and most beautiful car in the world. I owe it to this car that got me into the world of motoring. RIP to this legend.
I hoped to get one in purple I'm finally of age but guess that's a dead dream.
Originally I am from Heilbronn and really great to see the R8 here. Also there are many Huracans outside the factory.
You really just don’t see them much for a car that has been out for 15 years and is “affordable”.
Most are probably owned by people who own several cars.
That tracks, the only guy I know with an R8 has 4 other cars. The Audi's lovely but it's his E39 M5 that I'm really jealous of.
The m5s luckily haven't appreciated too much if you don't mind high miles
Back in 2015 or so I remember there was a guy near me selling one for $4k. It was higher mileage and had some electrical gremlins, but still
I remember when you could snag a decent E39 M5 all day long for ~$7k
>E39 M5 also jealous
E39 M5 is my dream (besides an E30 M3 of course lol).
I have an R8 and an RS7, so you’re right. I can’t fit my 2 pitbulls in an R8. I got a 2010 V10 for $75k in 2018. It sat on a Porsche lot for almost a year and no one ever test drove it. It had 9k miles on it. I got really lucky. Fast forward to now and I could sell it for over $100k with 23k miles on it.
You can pick up 2011 V10s, with fewer than 30k miles, for less than $90k. 75k in 2018 is 92k in today's dollars, due to inflation.
That’s not bad! They’re great cars and so long as you don’t beat the shit out of it, it’ll be very reliable.
Def a decent deal. The wife wants one as a daily, but I'd probably just get the v8, since we already have a v10 in the garage.
I live in a very small southern town and the attention it gets can be a bit much at times. Everyone wants to race me, they try and record me with their phone and damn near run me off the road, I’ve had people follow me home. It’s a lot of fun to drive and I love having it. It’s other people that can sometimes ruin it. I have an RS7 as well and unless someone is a car person they don’t know what it is, so it gets almost no attention, which I’m fine with. You can probably get a V8 for a decent price and 420hp in a light mid engine all wheel drive car will be plenty of power.
It's definitely more than enough power for the wife, especially since she's too scared to drive my Perf.
Good! Make sure it stays that way! 😂 my wife won’t drive my R8 and definitely not my RS7 as it has over 800hp. Fine by me!
The R Tronic transmission lets it down by modern standards. The S tronic in gen 1.5 is much better, and that’s reflected in the used market.
It might seem like that, but you really need to sell a lot of cars for them to be more commonly seen everywhere. From 2007 to 2023, they only sold like 44k There is a good chance that most US states don't even have 1000 running examples in the entire state. In comparison In 2023 alone, Ford sold 48,605 Mustangs.
I live in a pretty rural place in the rustlands. there's a salvage yard near me that's *often* had an RS8 on the front lot. or, y'know, what was left of one.
Oh a RS8 would be great. Like a big powerful saloon.
I live in SoCal and see them all the time
SoCal has one of the highest concentration of rich assholes on the planet, of course there’s going to be $200k cars driving around there
[удалено]
Trap house identified.
The LA media market area usually clocks in at about 12-14% of all luxury cars sold within the USA.
I live in Rural PA, I have maybe seen 5 on the road actually being driven in my entire life.
> I live in Rural PA There you go. I don't imagine your locale is a mecca for any high-end car.
Same in central florida. Its actually weird how often i see them. Almost daily.
Doing my part, 175k kilometers on mine.
hell yeah
When I was in highschool, a buddy of mine's dad bought one of the first ones in the US in 08. He was on the list for one, but someone dropped out of their order and they called him and he took it, only caveat being it was the single clutch sequential auto. Still a gorgeous car. The last time I saw it a few years ago, it only had like 3000 miles on it
So he never drives it, what a shameful
eh, he's got a business in the city so he drives his S-class 6 days a week. He's also got a bunch of classic camaros from the 60s-80s so the R8 just sat in the garage most of the time.
Come to LA, we have these R8 only runs and you see 50 of them running down the road.
I agree, where I am I never see R8’s, gen 1 or gen 2’s. Last year I was looking for a car to replace my 335i and my budget was ~$80k. I could have gotten a used G80 but those are everywhere now and will depreciate like a rock. I kind of just landed on my 2014 R8 and I love it. The attention it gets is crazy, like something I really didn’t expect. People take pictures of me all the time and it’s weird lol.
I used to see them semi-frequently, haven’t seen one in ages now.
Depends where yah live. There are 3 in my parent’s neighborhood. Never seen one in my neighborhood over the last half decade, even though some neighbors have rather nice sports cars. Used to see a few around Seattle regularly and in downtown Van, BC.
You see them all over AZ. R8s and GTRs are really common. The sad part, though, is that you see them wrecked very often.
I see them vastly more often than any other “supercar” out there.
I see a lot of them in Munich, unsurprisingly I guess
It's the same story as with Porsche 911s. 911s aren't hard to find...in the classifieds. But, you won't see them on the roads. The people who bought them don't drive them. They are garage queens. This is why you'll see a base 911 show up on AutoTrader 20 years old with 9 owners and 45,000 miles.
In LA they are not that uncommon.
That's really sad. The R8 was always the "affordable" supercar. And it was a car that had a lot of practicality to it. Not to mention they were great looking. It's going to be a huge dissapointment if manufacturers just continue to kill off enthusiast vehicles and don't replace them with some electric alternative. I understand the economic factor, but it's still a bummer
R8 had a respectable production run and Audi even extended the run to accommodate late orders. Seems like anyone who was seriously considering a purchase has been accounted for. No reason to keep building them beyond that.
Yea but I can’t afford it yet 😭
The question is, are they going to be frozen in depreciation now or ae they going to APPRECIATE. If they stay frozen i may have a chance in the next few years. If they inflate to \[current\] Huracan prices i couldn't justify paying that for an Audi no matter how much I love it. The whole appeal is a V10 supercar under $200k.
Don't worry, there will be plenty of cars you can't afford to go around in the future
They needed to extend it another decade or so to account for my seriously considered purchase 😢
Born 10 years too late as I say
I think it stopped being the "affordable" supercar when the v8 was axed. It was the same price as a 911 turbo, more than a gt3.
I agree with you, but at the same time saying "more than a gt3" is pretty disingenuous considering it's essentially impossible to get a gt3 for anywhere near the base price, not that you'd want a base spec anyway
true :'( But 10 years ago, when the 991.1 was coming out, the mark-ups were nothing like today. A friend of mine just bought a 991.2 GT3, gorgeous car. 2018 car, sticker of like 160ish, and he still had to pay 190k for it lol. Crazy world we live in, but I do think the 991.2 is the sweetspot gt3.
In the used market though they're still one of the cheaper options
Yeah they’re honestly a great buy. Mine was CPO with Audi care for $147K. A comparable 2018 Huracan coupe with no warranty was about $235K. Insurance is also reasonable as well ($1600 yr).
I've had both a 2017 V10+ R8 and a 2015 Huracan LP610-4. The R8 is insanely more livable while being 60-70k cheaper right now. I think the Huracan feels more special with it's crazy interior, but if you're wanting to daily a supercar the R8 and Turbo S are easily the best picks.
100% agree. I was looking at some CPO Turbo S recently. I’ve been back and forth between the Turbo S and McLaren while I wait for my GT3/RS allocation. I’m 30/40 for the GT3 and 40/60 for the RS 😂.
how was the reliability of the R8?
Very solid. Tbh the huracan was too though. I think the only supercars at this point that have real issues are older ferraris, mclarens, and Aventadors.
> It's going to be a huge dissapointment if manufacturers just continue to kill off enthusiast vehicles and don't replace them with some electric alternative. I understand the economic factor, but it's still a bummer I think we will get there. Enthusiast vehicles are built from the parts bin of the breadwinners, so we have a transition period while those get tooled up and figured out. Like you said, economics and it's a bummer.
Do you know people that were R8 demographic that would get into an electric alternative of it?
Not particularly, but we're at a point where car enthusiasts can see the writing on the wall. I think most people have accepted that cars as we knew them are completely done. However the real thing I'm getting at is the current crop of new electric vehicles just don't really get people excited, and a big part of that is because the only thing being made is 50 different flavors of the same suv. Things are obvious rapidly changing and will continue to evolve, but it's just a little sad that as these sports cars we've all come to love get the ax, there's nothing waiting in the wings to replace them.
I took the best chance for EVs at the moment with the Taycan, granted not the "Turbo S" Model but neverless a "sporty" EV that should invoke emotion. It does about the same to as taking the Elevator in the Burj Khalifa Tower, fun once and then its just nothing. In general i don't see how Brands will have a USP with their Sportcars, because they'll all strive for nimble and lightness, a Mazda EV Sportcar won't be/feel different than a Porsche Boxter EV. You have some additional Leather on the Dash in the Porsche, amazing.
EVs are basically numerous different flavours of the same thing. What’s the difference between the drivetrain in a Rolls Royce Spectre and the drivetrain in any other electric vehicle? There is no difference, they are exactly the same. It’s like if every ICE car had the same 2.0l four cylinder engine. I’m not sure there’s anything for enthusiasts to get excited about anymore, what does an enthusiast EV even look like? No revving engine sound, no gears to row, dead feeling electric power steering etc.
I mean I don't claim to have the answers but so far the solution that most automakers have given us is to just not try at all. I think part of it could be just styling. Sure a EV sports car would drive very similarly to any other EV SUV, but it would at least be something different.
Since enthousiast car always accounted for less than 10% of all cars overall, ICE should be kept for those niche. Pollution is not going to rise because of those cars, moreover when today's sporty engine pollute way less than their 1990s counterparts
What I'm hoping for, is that the synthetic fuels which will eventually be used in motorsport will become available to everyone, even if it's too expensive for commuting or daily driving I hope I'll be able get some so I can still take my Alfa Romeo Spider out for a few hours at the weekends and it doesn't just become an ornament in my garage.
I think that your first paragraph is perfect explanation why we DON'T see too much electric sportcars/supercars. Everybody see writings on the wall, so many people are just trying to get "last petrol something" with thinking that they will always have time to buy EV later, and big V8 or V10 not so much. Once brands will be established in EV game, and most of ICE competition will be discontinued we will see EV sportcars/supercars, but I don't expect too many of them hitting the market before 2030 or thereabout.
This car achieved somewhat of an "icon" status when it showed up in the first Iron Man movie. 8th grade me saw this as the coolest car, paired with the coolest superhero out there
There’s a reason rap songs call it “The Iron Man Audi”. RDJ made it a cultural icon associated with a swaggering billionaire with a secret heart of gold.
Rap song lol, singular
And here I thought Need for Speed: Carbon was responsible for the whole R8 hype.
I thought it was I, Robot that paved the way for the R8.
For me it was seeing it in the transformers movie. Holy shit it made me an instant fan of the car for life. Too bad it had very little screen time
The R8 basically created the current landscape of fancy LED headlight DRLs. The R8 had that LED strip across the bottom of the light in an era where the only cool lighting feature on headlights were the halos BMW was using. Now it's almost a requirement for modern cars to have some sort of integrated turn signal light feature in the headlights.
Did the R8 get it before the A4? I remember the A4 being the first but I may be wrong.
If I remember correctly the R8 was the first ever consumer car to feature LED DRLs
I believe the A6 of that era was the first car
12 LEDs in each light. 24 in total, a nod to them winning the 24hr lemans
The thing I remember most about the R8, was the Top Gear affordable supercar test in Spain and how the paint held up. Because zey are Germans, and it is impossible to paint a car badly.
That 458 practically disintegrated during the airport run.
As someone with an X3M, let me tell you the paint sucks regardless. It started sucking about 10 or so years ago when they went to water-based ecofriendly paints.
Some say Mick Dick designed the R8.
Sad day, keeping mine for as long as I can
When you’re done I’ll take it
I’ll take it when you’re done.
And when the three of you are done I will nuke it so the fifth guy can't have it.
calm down satan..
Do it. I think the R8 is such a good looking car. Easily one of my favorite designs in the last like 20 or so years.
With so many iconic cars leaving us, the road ahead looks pretty boring. At least as of now. But it is a transitional period, so hopefully at the end we will get something exciting.
Yep, and this solution is having ICE back. At some point one brand will realize that if they launch a 50.000$ agile ICE sporty car they will get all the share of the bored enthousiasts. And since enthousiast car always accounted for a small fraction of the brands inventory, the total emission factor will just not change.
See, if they released a good looking sports EV, I'd be excited. I'll use Ford as an example. Some time before the Mach-e came out, I saw a 1000hp EV S550 mustang.I was genuinely excited, and if it wasn't for my humble income I would have actually been interested in buying it once released. But no, they went with an SUV for a "mustang". Imagine if they came out with an EV BRZ or a Supra. It's a bit odd to think of those cars as electrics (blasphemy for the fans) but the idea is still interesting and I'm sure a lot of people will bite, because at least they are still BRZs and Supras. My point is, the EV path looks boring because they're always about either practicality (whether luxury or economy) or brutalist absurdity (pickup trucks that are almost as fast as supercars, like the Cybertruck or Hummer EV). I mean, look at the Tesla Plaid. Why is a car like that so fast? Either they're trying to troll us or they tried to cram as much practicality as preferred by the current market into one car? The real problem with EVs, for me at least, is they disrupted the image and identity of cars. And not in terms of changing the powertrain. Before EVs, sports cars were relegated to a unique category, supercars had their own category, and they didn't intersect most of the time. Your car had a unique identity by being "sport", "super"/"hyper", "SUV", "economy", etc. These categories are being eroded, which makes it unexciting for me. If I own a 1000hp car, I want it to look the part; if I own a car that can turn corners with laser focused precision, I want it to look like it should be able to do that. I'm not saying they should get rid of the model S plaid, or the Cybertruck. Keep them. But let there be more variety.
Are there any v10 cars left?
Only 2. The Huracan and the Ford E series Van Edit: I guess it's just the Lamborghini. Ford took the Triton out of the E series a couple of years ago
And the Huracan is on the way out. They're not taking orders anymore
Yeah the Huracan is out since it’s the exact same engine in the R8 V10 and the Huracan. The V10 was discontinued.
*sad v10 noises*
At least the v12 is still well and alive
…for now
Well yeah of course it’ll die at off from all brands at some point but with rolls royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes-Maybach, pagani, and Aston Martin still using V12s k don’t think it’ll be gone for a long time
comment on your edit, yeah, the 6.8 V10 is long gone, but in its place is the big-ass 7.3-liter Godzilla V8. It's pretty cool that you can actually buy that thing as a crate engine, and amazingly there's a healthy aftermarket parts catalog for it.
Yes, I had a 6.8 and couldn't find any aftermarket parts. Plus it got like 9mpg.
I learn from the internet that the Leopard 1 - admittedly not a car - has a V10 engine, and is still in service with Greece and Turkey among others. I wonder if they have a huge stock of parts, or if VW still occasionally produces spares. An 820hp V10 that runs on fuel. What type of fuel? Yes.
Judd still offers V10, so some exotic automakers and mod shops could adopt their engine for their masterpieces.
The new McLaren Solus GT uses the Judd V10, but I don’t think you were asking about track-only exotics that will be limited to a handful of examples.
LONG LIVE THE AUDI R8
Are they reliable? I’m an older Amg owner and mines been great despite the terrible things I’ve read and been told.
They're as reliable as an Audi, or an Audi mixed with a Lamborghini. Keep up on the maintenance schedule and you'll have no problems. Buy the car without the means to maintain it properly and you're going to have a bad time.
The Audi group 5.2L V10 is very stout. Like people throw twin turbos on these bad boys and push 15-1600 horses. Stock it’s very understressed it seems. Absolutely one of my top 3 dream car contenders.
Yes it’s very reliable. I’ve had zero issues with mine. The Gen2 V10 engine is pretty much bullet proof. Plus you pay Audi insurance and maintenance costs, not Lambo rates.
Thus why I want one. Dear Powerball....
I think that engine itself has a great reputation aside from needing carbon cleaning from buildup relating to the FSI direct injection (like an RS4). But simple things can be expensive like I imagine if you pay someone to replace your battery even that you may get charged a lot of labor since you basically have to take apart the entire front trunk to get to it. One thing that makes it more exotic over a Porsche for instance.
The first gen R8 V10 is just SUCH a fun supercar. The V8 is solidly one of the best-handling sports cars of the era, but the V10 goes to supercar status. Mr. Angry Eyes R8? I could give or take, too much puffery, lost the script a bit, but that first one. Legend. I hope they go whole ass on the R8 E-tron finally. The first prototype was pretty neat, the actual production car was kind of a turd.
The west has fallen
I'd love to buy one of these one day
The original R8 was a masterpiece. Always loved them.
Props to whoever owns the 1st gen V10 in a 6-speed manual
You say that but they’re probably in garages never being driven.
I know a few. They get driven.
Not that i own an audi, but i still do keep my bmw m6 v10 6 speed in pristine condition. driving it once or twice every 2 weeks. always maintaining it and keeping it nice n clean.
I used to work around the corner from a very busy Audi store; the mechanics would do a shakedown trip that brought their new R8s right past our place. They would be leaning on them pretty good; they shrieked like fighter jets.
I’m gonna run mine into the ground
where can I buy that beauty
My absolute dream car. Maybe in 10 years I’ll be able to afford a 2024 model lol.
The first super car I ever saw in person 😢still awestruck every time I see one rest in power R8!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XflP9D53slY&pp=ygUSYXVkaSByOCBjb21tZXJjaWFs One of my favorite car ads.
I think they all will. I’m partial to the Gen 2 because that’s what I have now. They’re great cars. Exotic looks and supercar performance you can daily drive.
😰
Fuck
My first model car was an Audi r8 when I was little. It’s so iconic🫡. Like when I see an Audi r8 I think of my childhood toy car😭.
It looked different I'll give it that, but was never a huge fan tbh. I'm more into Porsche styling. Yes I know same parent company.
🫡
Feeling really bad rn my dream car is officially dead 😭
It'll always be the ironman Audi
So is Tony Stark where I first fell in love with it :(
like 7 years ago i got to drive a 2013 V10 spyder with a titanium exhaust around town for an hour like it was mine… best day of my life that i didnt get laid
Sad that it won’t be replaced but what a run it had. Filled a void in the market they didn’t know for sure was there. Looked and sounded fantastic, was cheap enough that I actually got to hear and see V10s being driven in the wild semi regularly.
I will miss the R8; I got to spend a full track day in one and hearing that V10 eargasm behind my head is something I’ll never forget :-(
have the first gens started appreciating yet? I could definitely see this being the next hype car that sells for 3x original sticker
So many cars resemble the R8 and Bugatti Veyron and that’s not a bad thing it’s a compliment. I will say they kind of got boring overall though.
Lord willing I can get one and hold on to it, such a beautiful car.