2008 Audi R8: July 2008 Long-Term Road Tests Archives

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.

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Categories: 2008 Audi R8

How many times can I get up to look out the window to see this beauty in my driveway?

But we couldn't let if just sit there. So we headed south toward San Diego but then remembered it was the last day of Comic-Con and didn't want anyone to mistake the Audi R8 for the Millennium Falcon. So we stopped off in San Clemente, former home of the former worst President of the U.S.

It's a quaint old town with a little shopping district, some nice restaurants and lots of Spanish mission type of architecture. All of the buildings look like Kim Novak should jump off of them. But I guess that was San Juan Capistrano.

The ride packed the usual excitement for other drivers. It really makes me nervous when you see cars looking at you in the mirror instead of the road. There's always somebody who takes your picture, somebody who wants to race, somebody in a Prius who yells at you as you drive by because you're destroying the environment. The usual crowd.

There is something accessible about the R8 that makes people want to talk to you. I can't imagine getting the same reaction in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Perhaps it's the newness of the R8. People haven't seen it before. And the style is exotic without being ostentatious. It makes people happy.

On the highway, the R8 is fun, fun, fun. Merging? No problem. Speeding? Can be a problem. Once the R8 gets going, its low hum lulls you into thinking you are driving at legal speeds. Until you look at the speedometer and "Whoa."

Starting off is very clunky in the lower gears, very similar to driving the Smart. No fooling. The transition from 1st to 2nd can be awkward until you learn to finesse it. Outside of the attention factor, the similarities end there. I was driving behind a friend in the R8 and he said when he looked in his rear-view mirror, he thought the R8 was going to eat him. The Smart on the other hand looks like it's about to be gobbled up by Ms. Pac-Man.

One of the interesting things about the R8 is that, although you can drive it as an automatic, it has no "Park" gear. You just put on the hand brake, notch the shifter into gear and shut her off.

Behind the seat is a handy storage area that keeps small items from bouncing around yet remain within arm's reach.

The nav system was a pain in the you-know-what. It gave me ridiculous directions and when I chose another path, kept telling me to make a u-turn. I mean, I must have passed twenty-five intersections before it finally shut up and readjusted itself. And then it still tried to re-route me back to its original course. I ended up shutting it off. The tiny map graphics were useless anyway.

Have you seen any Audi R8s on the road?

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 15,696 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Yesterday Santa Monica Audi performed a 15,000 mile service on our long-term Audi R8. Ken Maryan our service advisor could not have been more pleasant to deal with, and the work was done in a single day as promised.

They changed the oil and filter, checked the car over and installed a new dust and pollen filter to our climate control system. That's it. Total for parts: $185.06, which includes 9 quarts of synthetic motor oil.

What killed us was the labor. Two and a half hours at an incredible $160.00 an hour (Labor for our 1984 Ferrari 308 was only $120.00 an hour.) That's $400.00 in labor costs. Total for the job: $600.33.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 15,472 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Like Al said, some of us headed to Monterey this weekend for the big MotoGP race. I lucked out and scored the R8 for the 300+ mile drive, yeah rough life I know. Since I had to bolt up there on Sunday morning, I took the fast, but boring, Interstate 5 for most of the way.

True story: I'm rolling with the flow of traffic at around 90mph when our Escort radar detector blows up. I see a CHP on the other side about to cross the median, so I slow down to around 75mph (limit is 70) and wait to see what happens. He sits back for awhile, then fires up the left lane and pulls up alongside me. When I look over, he points to the car, gives a big thumbs up and then pulls away. Score one for the R8.

After surviving the less-than-smooth rural parking lot without a scratch, I took the R8 down some of central California's best roads on the way back. As much as I hate the transmission, it does work well when you're running hard.

Once I got back on the Interstate, I did find a new flaw in the Audi - you can't drive fast with the windows down. The buffeting from the wind creates a horrible resonance that makes it unbearable. Disappointing, but hardly a deal breaker.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 15,287 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

It has taken me a while, but I've found a flaw in our long-term 2008 Audi R8.

When the car is equipped with the R-tronic transmission, as ours is, you push the shifter to upshift and pull it back to downshift. That's backassward. When you're upshifting, you're accelerating, so you should pull the lever. And when your downshifting, you're decelerating, so you should push the lever. That's how it's been in race cars for years.

Oddly, only Mazda and BMW get this right, even in their SUVs. The shifters in both our long term BMW X5 and Mazda CX-9 are as they should be, while the shifters in all our other cars, including the Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G8 GT and Hyundai Veracruz are backassward.

I know, I know, use the Audi's paddle shifters and the problem is solved, but I'm old school and still like to reach down and feel the action of the R8's aluminum shifter.

And another thing, the gear readout on the Audi's dash is way too low and too small. When you're flogging this car in manual mode, the gear readout should get larger for quicker reference.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 15,455 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

We've had our long-term Audi R8 for six weeks, exactly half of its 3-month stay with us. And so far we've driven it 7,493 miles. Not bad.

According to its computer, our silver supercar is almost due for its 15,000 mile service, which would be its second bit of scheduled maintenance (the first was performed at 5,000 miles). We'll easily cover the remaining 700 miles this weekend, and take the car to Santa Monica Audi sometime next week. While it's there, we'll also have a couple of other small problems addressed. Minor stuff, including a slightly loose piece of console trim and a dying keyfob battery.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 14,534 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

The above was the most expensive fillup we had in the course of our 2,650-mile road trip to Seattle and back. Granted, it was our biggest fillup as we'd always have to stop for food or a bathroom break and were only able to get it down to a little less than half a tank before we allowed ourselves to stop. But it made us glad that we didn't have to pay for the gas ourselves. This one fillup is more than the cost of one-way airfare to Seattle from L.A.! (Virgin America $79).

We had 10 fillups during our trip and burned through 146.9 gallons of premium. Our average fuel economy was 18 mpg; most of that was highway driving with some twisty roads. Best mpg: 19.7 (from biggest fillup). Worst mpg: 15.1 (first fillup).

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

(Click above to view full-size photo)

In its short time with us, we've driven our long-term 2008 Audi R8 along both the X and Y axes of this great land. At this pace, it'll probably pass the Aura's mileage in about three days. And really, if you suddenly had an R8 you didn't pay for, you too would be thinking about driving it to the Yukon for no particular reason. Hey, that's actually sounds appealing.

Anywho, our R8 with R-Tronic transmission hit the track last week to see what she could do. Judging my Jacquot's comments, I think he likes it. I've included the numbers we achieved with the short-term R8 we tested a few months back that had the six-speed manual.

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 11,000 miles

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Categories: 2008 Audi R8,Track Tested

Here are just some extra shots taken of our 2008 Audi R8 during the long road to Seattle, Washington, and back. The shot above is taken facing away from that infamous Basshole Bar & Grill, facing the I-5. Temps must have been in the 90s so we parked the R8 under a huge tree.

In the parking lot at the summit of Mary's Peak near Corvallis, Oregon, after Jay tackled the twisties to get here. We had to take a break. That cyclist biked the whole way to the top, stopped for a bit of energy gel and then went back down the way he came.  So hard-core.

More after the jump...

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Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Oldham has his weapon of choice. But does he know where the bogies are, and how many? This Valentine One I borrowed from my friend (thanks, Sarah F) has saved my bacon time and again on my roadtrip in the 2008 Audi R8.

And talk about range. At one point it alerted about three miles before I actually saw the cruiser.

Another time about 10 miles from the Oregon border, a Washington cop hit us with laser and the V1 exploded with bleeps and lights. With laser, these alerts are too little too late, and you're usually bagged. I had slowed ahead of time, though (call it spidey sense), and escaped unscathed.

Overall, I noticed how the box relieves me from having to constantly scan every overpass, clump of trees and on-ramps for patrol cars, instead allowing me to focus on other things. Like driving.

I gotta get me one of these.

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 12,651 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

OK, I get that the 2008 Audi R8 is a totally hot-looking car. Even as I saw it while sitting in another car caravaning behind it, I couldn't help but drool, and I've already ridden in it for over 1,000 miles. And I know that of course people are bound to be curious about it. You don't see many of these on the road. But we've encountered sooo many a-holes on the I-5 because of it. I'm talking people who are cutting off other motorists just to drive beside it, who tailgate us, who squat in our blindspots while on the highway so we can't switch lanes when we need to.

So I thought I'd create a wall of shame, if you will, of said motorists who gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to be a celebutard being hounded by paparazzi. These are only the worst of the offenders.

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Categories: 2008 Audi R8

It wouldn't be worth taking our long-term 2008 Audi R8 on a 2,300-mile road trip if we didn't find some crazy-good roads to experience along the way.

Route 34 lies just outside of Philomath, OR. It winds gently through the countryside and then forms a clump of cambered switchbacks just before the right turn to Mary's Peak Road. Mary is our kind of woman, judging by the way her 9.3-mile ribbon of joy jags through the Oregon woods, gaining 2600 feet of elevation on its way to a clearing near the summit.

The R8 is scintillating on this road. There is zero indication the front wheels are driven other than the fact that you're accelerating away from apexes in a way that few two-wheel-drive cars can (the 911 excepted).

Altitude saps some of the Audi's power up here, but the fact that you can fearlessly thrash a wide, $130,000 mid-engined supercar on bumpy pavement like this is a testament to the R8's versatility. It's forgiving, fast and totally engaging.

This is a special car. The more I drive it, the more the thought of returning its keys pains me.

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 12,246 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

I can tell that our Daytona Gray Pearl 2008 Audi R8 looks pretty intimidating on the highway by the way most of the left lane squatters skedaddle out of the way upon our approach.

Some motorists switch lanes even if it means falling in behind a slow-moving semi to get out of our path. And one time a Silverado 2500 almost switched lanes in front of us as we were cruising along, saw us in his driver side mirror and then moved back to his original position in the other lane as if to say, "Oops, pardon," he didn't want to get in our way. That NEVER happens.

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Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Stopped our long-term 2008 Audi R8 for burgers and greazy garlic fries at Basshole Bar and Grill in Lakehead, CA. They were about as good as you'd expect from a place named "Basshole." There's a black AMG CLS55 with black wheels and blacked out taillights parked near the door.

An older guy inside the restaurant approaches just after we sit down. I already know he's the AMG owner. "Driving the Audi?" he asks.

Me: "Yup."

Older Guy: "That's the first one I've seen. How much power?"

Me: "About 420."

The guy's face lights up and a broad smile spreads across it. "Oh yeah? I have the Mercedes outside. It has 480 hp. When I race cars on the freeway, it pulls hard. I take it up to 90."

Me: "Hmm."

Older Guy: "What fuel economy are you getting?"

Me: "About 18."

The guy's face lights up again. "Oh yeah? I get 23 in my Mercedes. It pulls hard. Well, have fun with it."

With that he pats me sharply on the back before returning to his barstool as if to say, "Aww, better luck next time, young fella."

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 11,722 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

When choosing a car from our fleet to take on a long road trip, one of the things we usually factor in is does it have an auxiliary input or a way to connect an iPod/MP3 for road trip tuneage.

Surprisingly, the 2008 Audi R8, the car of Iron Man -- every technogeek's superhero -- doesn't come equipped with an aux input. Even our 2007 Nissan Versa had one. But our Audi only has two SD card slots. And who uses those?

Instead we had to resort to using an FM transmitter to hook our iPod up to the stereo...and change the station every time it gets static-y, which will probably happen a lot during this long trip.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 11,425 miles

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Here's a foible I noticed while rocketing up the road in our long-term 2008 Audi R8. The sun visors.

The visors flip down, but they don't swivel over to the side. So when the day draws to a close, the sun makes an obnoxious appearance in the side windows.

Driving north in the flat, cloudless desert in the middle of the summer, this means the sun dazzles the driver of the R8 for roughly half an hour.

Then the sun sets and the R8 returns to 100% Awesome status.

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 11,424 miles.

Categories: 2008 Audi R8

Who would be dumb enough to take our long term 2008 Audi R8 on a six-day, 2,300 mile road trip?

*raises hand*

Last time I drove an Audi R8, I proclaimed to those in our office whom would listen (thanks Mr. Goldfish) that the car is compliant and comfortable enough that one could drive it across the country without a moment's hesitation.

So now I'm putting that claim to the test. I'm taking it on a roadtrip to Seattle and back with a few stops along the way to visit family and to explore some cool roads.

First things first. Need to pack. How much stuff can you put in a mid-engine two seater? Turns out not much. The two duffels pictured above hold the brunt of stuff for two people and six days.

They fit quite nicely in the R8's trunk along with a gift for my sister, and there's at least two cubic centimeters left over:



Bonus space behind the seats:



Time to hit the road.

Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 11,155 miles.

Categories: 2008 Audi R8