“Born on the track, built for the road,” these are the words Audi has used to best describe the facelift Audi R8 Coupe and Spyder… Have they forgotten how sexy it looks?
Let us indulge you on the looks; the new Audi R8 Coupe and Spyder have adopted a more sharper, sexier and a more solid design that gains a wider and flatter lined single-frame grille, large air inlets separated by thick bars, a new and wider front splitter, whilst the flat slatted bonnet takes queues from the Audi Ur-quattro brand icon. The rear is dominated by a low-set air vent grille that rounds off the largely extended diffuser housing large single tailpipes on either side. The engine bay not only shows-off the R8’s sonorous V10 engine, but also displays the air filter situated under a new three-part cover – available in a choice of plastic or carbon fibre.
Potential customers have been granted an array of personalisation packages that can be applied on the interior and exterior design. These include three exterior packages that add various highlights to the front splitter, the side trims and the diffuser depending on the engine variant. Optional features include high-gloss black painted Audi rings and badges, whilst new metallic colors Kemora Gray and Ascari Blue add to the paint range. Standard 19inch wheels can be replaced by the optional 20inch five-V milled wheels with the optional ceramic brake discs serving as an alternative for the standard steel discs.
The new Audi R8 is equipped with factory-installed 19-inch wheels. Ultralight 20-inch fully milled wheels in five-V dynamic design with new summer and sport tires, which convey even more precise handling, are available as an option. Audi offers ceramic brake discs as an alternative to the standard steel discs.
At the heart of the new Audi R8 sits the same 5.2litre naturally aspirated V10 powertrain as before but now available in two states of tune. In standard tune, the V10 delivers 419kW and 550Nm, which gains 22kW and 10Nm over the outgoing model. 0-100km/h is claimed at 3.4sec on the Coupe and 3.5sec on the Spyder. The more performance orientated R8 V10 ‘Performance’ delivers 456kW and 580Nm of torque, gaining 7kW and 20Nm over the previous R8 V10 Plus. These performance figures for the V10 Performance version allow for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.1sec on the Coupe and 3.2sec on the Spyder version.
Besides the optional dynamic steering and the electromechanical power steering, Audi has made necessary Modifications to the suspension, which allows for precise driving dynamics, stability and precision on both the Coupe and Spyder variants. Three additional driving modes (Dry, Wet and Snow) have also been added to the current drive select modes that include the Performance mode.
Audi has confirmed the new R8 Coupe and Spyder models to be available in Mzansi from the first quarter of 2019 with pricing confirmed closer to launch. Stay tuned.