AUDI’S R8 SUPERCAR HEADLINES SUPER UK SALES PERFORMANCE
29 May 2007 - Audi

Although arguably filled with a range of very fine cars, the Audi brand hasn’t until now had a ‘hero’ model or ‘supercar’ in its line up.

The new aluminium-bodied, mid-engined R8 sports car fills that roll – for now but it is quite feasible a larger engined variant could be added in the future.

With an annual build of just 5,000 R8s for global sale, deliveries to UK customers will start in July. Just 450 of the cars will arrive this year and 750 in 2008. With 1,200 deposits paid by UK customers, and 700 R8 advance orders already being built to specific customer requirements, new UK customers placing an order now will receive their car towards the end of 2008.

Germany, the USA and then the UK are expected to be the largest markets for the R8 but the UK leads the world when it comes ‘early adopters’ said Audi UK this week.

If the sales pattern follows that of the new Audi TT Coupe and Roadster models, the UK could become the largest market in the world to satisfy proven demand. If Audi can transfer scheduled production of left hand drive R8s to meet the demand for right hand drive cars then the UK could also become the largest market in the world for the new sports car.

Priced at £76,825 in manual form and £82,025 with the R-tronic automated sequential shift manual transmission, the R8 combines classic mid-engine configuration in an all aluminium space frame two-seater bodyshell with quattro permanent four-wheel drive. Power comes from, a high revving 4.2-litre V8 FSI petrol engine delivering 420PS at 7,800rpm and 430Nm of torque from 4,500 to 6,000rpm.

Maximum speed is 187mph with 0-62mph covered in 4.6 seconds.

Audi UK said this week at the media launch of the R8 held at the Paul Ricard Circuit, Le Castellet in the south of France, that advance orders for the new R8 showed that 55 per cent of UK customers have ordered the car with the manual transmission while in mainland Europe 70 per cent of customers have chosen the R-tronic sequential-shift automated manual gearbox.

Early UK customers have added on average £10,700 to the price of their new R8 by choosing most of the extra cost options available. The principal three options ordered are; 90 per cent of customers want satellite navigation, 70 per cent want the Magnetic Ride Adaptive suspension system and 56 per cent want the Bang & Olufsen sound system.

Speculation at the media launch event suggests that the R8 range could in future have an even more powerful V10 petrol engine option, and because of their past and current Le Mans prototype endurance racing successes, maybe a diesel engine could be added as well.

Not having a hero-model sports or supercar in their range has not hindered the growth of Audi sales in the UK. Last year was another record for sales in the UK and already for the first three months of this year sales are again at record breaking levels. Audi long ago outstripped Mercedes-Benz sales in the UK, now they have overtaken BMW as well.

Jeremy Hicks, Audi UK brand director said, “We have seen Audi UK sales double from 43,000 in 2000 to 86,000 last year and we are planning to achieve 90,000 sales this year.”

In the first quarter of 2007 Audi recorded 30,284 UK sales, a growth rate of 19 per cent. BMW’s UK sales were 28,413 and Mercedes-Benz 23,361.

Audi UK also make the point that unlike BMW and Mercedes they do not compete in every market sector, the sports car or supercar sector for instance, a role the R8 now performs. While Audi UK do not expect to keep their sales leads over BMW this year, once their line-up of additional new model ranges is complete, they do expect to be the leading premium brand overall.

Hick’s said, “We are less than two years in to our product explosion and this will reach a peak in 2009. By then we will be offering a car range for almost everyone. The rise in Audi model types, from seven in 1996 to 25 now, is matched by the seismic shift in our brand image in the UK. We are poised to become the most successful prestige brand by 2012.”

Views
The new Audi R8 is a stunning and uncompromising sports car developed with the benefit of knowledge gleaned from thousands of gruelling Le Mans laps culminating in six Le Mans victories.

The two-seat R8 just looks fantastic, a real supercar, stunning and a huge crowd puller – it demands attention and gets it. The pictures do much better justice to the styling than my words. From the front, side or rear, the R8 is one of the most pleasing cars, I think, currently available and without doubt Audi’s finest car to date. The interior is also sporty, stylish and relatively roomy for both passengers and there is just enough luggage storage place under the front bonnet and behind the two seats for soft carrying bags. Audi say two golf bags can be carried behind he seats. Perhaps so but no mention of bags with clubs in them and certainly there is no space for golf trolleys.

Mounted longitudinally directly behind the cockpit of the comparatively lightweight, 1,560-kilogramme aluminium-bodied Audi sports car is a high-revving V8 petrol engine that spins freely to its 8,250rpm limit and delivers 420PS, contributing to an exceptional power-to-weight ratio of 269PS per tonne.

Driving purists can choose a six-speed manual transmission to channel the 430Nm of torque to the four driven wheels, but they may also be tempted by the racing-inspired R-tronic sequential shift gearbox with joystick and paddle control, which uses ‘shift-by-wire’ technology to provide exceptionally rapid gear changes. The R-tronic system also has a ''Sports'' setting option which sharpens up the throttle, gear shift pattern and steering responses although it tends to hang on to the lower gears for too long.

Initial driving impressions suggest the manual transmission is faster and more precise although the six-speed ‘racing gate’ style gearchange, whilst very positive and slick, does not allow for easy and fast ‘block’ gearchanges. Fourth to second and sixth to fourth gears for example so keeping the high revving engine in its power band for rapid acceleration out of corners. The metal gearchange gate means it is easier, but not as quick, to go through the gears in numerical order rather than cross changing. The semi automatic transmission, not a torque converter type because they absorb power, is not so smooth and can only be described as jerky, not a very technical term but that is how it performs. The best transmission will depend on how the driver will use the car. For high performance ‘cut and thrust’ driving or track days the manual transmission is best but for long legged cruising and day to day driving in traffic, the semi-automatic is more leisurely and refined.

Audi says that by mounting the potent eight-cylinder unit as close as possible to the centre of the new R8, in deference to racing legends such as the Le Mans-winning R8 sports prototype and Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car, their engineers have achieved near perfect 44 per cent front / 56 per cent rear weight distribution for optimum handling balance. Dry sump engine lubrication - another racing-derived element – also furthers this aim by enabling the V8 to be mounted as close to the road as possible to lower the centre of gravity.

The relationship between the road and the 19-inch five double spoke design alloy wheels - fitted with 235/30 size tyres at the front and 295/30 size at the rear - is made crystal clear at all times by the fast-reacting hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering. That relationship is also constantly moderated by the legendary quattro permanent four-wheel-drive system, which by apportioning power to front and rear axles in constantly varying degrees dictated by road conditions prevents the tendency for ‘waywardness’ sometimes exhibited by powerful mid-engine, rear-drive sports cars. An electronically activated rear spoiler also deploys when sensors detect that composure at higher speeds would benefit from additional down-force.

I as not always a great fan of the quattro all-wheel drive system. In some Audi models its weight dulls performance and driving all the wheels saps power. In the R8 it is perfection. It allows the power and grip to be spread and applied as smoothly as butter on bread, making it an extremely agile and surefooted sports car.

The optional magnetic ride system I think is a must, it just sharpens up the handling and the benefits are too great not choose it.

The R8 has so many styling and technical features worthy of mention, too many for this review, but as an example of attention to detail the stunning lines of the 4.43-metre long, 1.90-metre wide and 1.25-metre high R8 are accentuated by its striking bi-colour paint finish, with ‘side blades’ in a contrasting shade and a choice of eight colour combinations.

From the end of 2007, the Audi R8 will be the first vehicle in the world to be equipped with LEDs for all lighting functions. The daytime running lights, horizontal strips of LEDs within the headlights, give the R8 an amazing front end ‘signature’. At the rear, the all-LED light units have a uniquely three-dimensional look irrespective of the angle from which they are viewed.

In short the Audi R8 is a styling and engineering work of art. It performs and handles in most areas just a well as it looks. It does not need it, but it could handle even more power to make it an even more potent performer. I loved it and so it everybody else with me at the driving launch event. We all just stood there at the end of it nodding at each other in appreciation of the fact that Audi at their first attempt have come up with such an impressive sports car.

MILESTONES. Audi R8 two seat, mid-engined sports car. Prices from £76,825 but add £10k for the options. Engine: 4.2-litre, V8, FSI direct injection petrol, 420PS and 430NM of torque. Transmission: six-speed manual or six-speed R-tronic sequential shifty automated manual, Quattro four-wheel drive, variable torque split, differential lock and traction control. Performance: 187mph, 0-62mph 4.6 seconds, 20.7mpg, CO2 340 g/km manual, 325g/km R-tronic, VED, Band G £300.
For: Everything - styling, stunning looks, handling, road grip, quality and a very competitive price in its sector.
Against: Jerky semi-automatic gearbox and some options could be standard.

Miles Better News Agency

www.audi.co.uk

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