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Rating

Verdict Better than my Lambo

I’d seen plenty of pictures of Audi’s mid-engined supercar and they’d left me underwhelmed. I thought it looked a bit boring, like a slightly bigger version of the TT. And it wasn’t going to be a real supercar, was it?

This view is reinforced when you climb inside. There are very few supercar extravagances. There’s no panic handle. No stitching made from yellowhammer feathers. No titanium machinegun triggers. And that’s fine, actually, because there are very few traditional supercar drawbacks either.

You can see out, there’s room for your head, and there’s space for briefcases and whatnot on a shelf behind the seats. It’s big in there; much bigger than you’d believe.

It is also spectacularly comfortable. I don’t mean comfortable for a sports car. I mean it’s so comfortable you can run over anything up to a medium-sized fox and not even notice.

The engine is the 414bhp 4.2 V8 from the RS 4. I’ve described this as one of the best engines made today and a drive in the R8 has not changed my mind. It does everything, brilliantly.

Here’s an issue, though. The Audi is listed at just under £77,000, but if you want any equipment at all, that shoots up fast. The car I drove, which had a manual gearbox rather than flappy paddles, and normal brakes rather than ceramic discs, still cost a whopping £92,000.

But look at it this way. The R8 shares some parts and infrastructure with the Lamborghini Gallardo. And that costs £125,000. Anyone who’s just bought a baby Lambo – me – must be feeling as sick as a dog right now.

In the meantime I can safely say the R8 is one of the best surprises of my motoring life. It is one of the truly great cars and the only hesitation I have in giving it five stars is that, ideally, I’d like to give it six.

Current price £78,195

Price when tested (Jun 2007) £76,825

Engine 4163cc, eight cylinders

Power 414bhp @ 7800rpm

Torque 317 lb ft @ 4500rpm

Transmission Six-speed manual

Fuel/ 19.3mpg (combined) / 349g/km

Top speed 187mph / 0-62mph: 4.6sec