Last night my neighbor's cat let me know that our 2008 Audi R8 is the greatest thing since the Pontiac Solstice and its hammock-style cloth top. The cat, who goes by the name Mr. Fuku, partied hard on the right quarter panel before bedding down over the engine compartment.
This morning the manager at our local car wash let me know it would be $30 to remove the paw prints and dander, which is actually not bad for a true hand wash in West LA. We've decided not to risk putting on long-termer on the tracks for the customary semi-hand wash.
Now for the substantive half of this post: Recently, I drove an R8 (but not this R8) on a road course. In that setting, where obviously you're either on the throttle hard, or not at all, the Audi's single-clutch automated manual gearbox worked fairly well. Although, it would be nice if you could vary the shift speed.
Around town, though, it's amazing how much less acceptable this transmission feels. Five years ago it would have passed muster, but today, compared to all the dual-clutch transmissions we've sampled lately, it feels antiquated. If it weren't for the terrific sounds during a half-to-full throttle upshift or a rev-matched downshift, driving it in traffic would almost be a drag. Almost.
Erin Riches, Inside Line Senior Editor
carguy622 says:
01:29 PM, 07/31/08
Hopefully no claws came in contact with that paint job. Cats love warm engines. I work at an animal hospital and the owner of a previous generation Jetta had to have the vet extract a cat out of his engine compartment (alive and well, by the way).
hondacura4 says:
02:27 PM, 07/31/08
Audi paint is pretty good so I dont think you will see an issues with scratches.
$30 is a steal for a hand wash.
"Now for the substantive half of this post: Recently, I drove an R8 (but not this R8) on a road course. In that setting, where obviously you're either on the throttle hard, or not at all, the Audi's single-clutch automated manual gearbox worked fairly well. Although, it would be nice if you could vary the shift speed.
Around town, though, it's amazing how much less acceptable this transmission feels. Five years ago it would have passed muster, but today, compared to all the dual-clutch transmissions we've sampled lately, it feels antiquated. If it weren't for the terrific sounds during a half-to-full throttle upshift or a rev-matched downshift, driving it in traffic would almost be a drag. Almost."
Being that VW/Audi have the much vaunted DSG gearbox in much cheaper offerings you would think the R-Tronic unit in a $100K+ sports car would at least match it in refinement and execution.
James Riswick says:
02:41 PM, 07/31/08
Mr. Fuku? That sounds like half the morons who tail us in the R8.
huyracing says:
06:51 PM, 07/31/08
R-Tronic = Single Clutch Automated Manual. This is why it is so rough around town. It can't match the refinement of their DSG, but it can hold more power.
VW/ Audi may be the first to offer DSG on a production car, but they are now behind the curve in making an affordable DSG capable of higher torque applications. (They did make the $1.6 Million Bugatti Veyron, but its likely that gearbox costs too much)
tryan says:
03:27 AM, 08/ 1/08
Shoot the cat. End of Story.
Seriously, though, that is the best name I've heard for a domesticated feline/canine since my uncle aptly named his dog sh*thead. Almost cruel, but very, very funny.
Having never driven a R-Tronic equipped vehicle, I can't really speak to it, but the DSG is the only automated transmission that was capable of luring me away from a true manual transmission. Absolutely love it in my GTI.
sgude says:
05:20 AM, 08/ 1/08
All the more reason to get the manual, at least until they put a dual-clutch gearbox in.
cjasis says:
10:41 AM, 08/ 1/08
Why on God's earth are you parking that lovely car outside at night?
Kidding aside, I hope the cats claws didn't scratch the paint. The cat was probably going for the heat from that beautiful motor. You can't really blame the cat, can you?
Erin Riches says:
11:19 AM, 08/ 1/08
cjasis: I have a carport so the R8 was covered but still accessible to the cat. Still not an ideal parking situation for a high-end sportscar, I realize, but at least it's a safe neighborhood.
sim4 says:
03:00 AM, 08/ 2/08
I can sympathize with the Solstice story. I closed my garage door when I got home and the next morning my neighbor's cat ran out when I opened it up. Then I noticed a bunch of orange hair on my black Mini Convertible top. I checked for puncture marks and luckily there weren't any that I could see.
plazomatic says:
08:03 AM, 08/ 2/08
Blue Wave FTW