A mid-life update has been given to Ingolstadt’s supercar including tweaks made to the exterior design, chassis and naturally aspirated V10 engine.
It kind of looks meaner than before…
Audi has released the first pictures of the Audi R8 with a mid-life update ahead of a sales release early next year.
And yes, the R8 looks meaner than ever thanks to a wider hexagonal grille and larger air vents up front.
The rectangular exhaust pipes behind have been replaced with oval ones to bring the R8 in line with other RS models of Audi Sport, the high-performance car division of the Ingolstadt-based luxury carmaker.
Audi says some modifications have been carried in the chassis department to reduce braking distances and improve steering precision in the various modes of the drive selector.
It adds that the revised R8 now has 50% of parts shared with the R8 LMS GT3 race car, revealed at the Paris motor show earlier this month. This also explains the visual similarities of the racer and road car.
What’s the power hike like?
Although Audi hasn’t been specific about the new power ratings of the 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10, leading media outlets in the UK have already spilled the beans.
The standard 540hp level has been raised to 570hp reducing the 0-100kph time from 3.5sec to 3.4sec.
The Plus has been superseded with Performance (the latest badge used for go-faster RS models) which develops 10hp more, at 620hp. The acceleration time of 3.1sec is also 0.1sec quicker.
The open-top Spyder version has also been updated with the same series of modifications and is 0.1sec slower than the Coupe in all cases.
It has also been reported that these power increases have been deployed to cope with the extra 20kg weight caused by technologies to deal with the new WLTP method of measuring tailpipe emissions.
OK. But wouldn’t a Lambo suffice more at the end of the day?
True, the R8 and Lamborghini Huracan share the same platform, engine and transmission. But Audi is keen to point out the R8’s higher levels of drivability on a daily basis.
But as you rightly feel, sports car punters with as much as 20 million baht burning in their pockets in Thailand would probably go for an Italian exotic brand.
The pre-facelift R8 goes for 19 million baht in Thailand which could be the approximate level for the updated model. The V10 Performance is envisaged to cost around 21 million baht.
Sources suggest that an appropriate price difference between a similarly powered R8 and Huracan would be 4-5 million baht on Thai shores when fully taxed.
But because only two units of the R8 have been sold in Thailand in second-generation form, sales of the updated model (and V10 Performance) are still hanging in the balance.
