All that coastal driving was nice, but we were starting to feel like a couple of trust fund babies with nothing better to do. Why not expose the R8 V10 to the kind of salt-of-the-earth folks who might appreciate its awesome power and marvel at its ridiculous price?
And with that, we detoured to Sacramento.
There we were sure to find a sizable chunk of middle America along with hot weather and the occasional farm. Sactown, as the locals so lovingly refer to it, is also home to Sacramento Raceway Park, a dusty dragstrip on the edge of town that will gladly let you run the quarter mile for a small fee. How could we pass that up?
So we paid our dues at the entrance gate and proceeded to the staging lanes. Tech inspection was a breeze as we assured the starter that hundreds of Germans had pored over this thing until it was perfect. He agreed that it looked quite perfect, "f***king awesome" even, and told us to line it up whenever we were ready.
Although our test car has a six-speed manual there's also an electronic launch control system. Simply hit the traction control button once, put in the clutch, floor the throttle until it settles at 6,500rpm and then drop the clutch. It's easy, and it distributes the power perfectly for nearly perfect starts every time.
So easy in fact, that I let my mind wander and botched the 1-2 shift on the first run. Actually, I shifted it into second just fine, but the sight of the reverse gate so close by made me second guess myself and I hesitated before letting the clutch out. The result was a 12.9-second run, unimpressive by 500+ horsepower supercar standards.
The second time around I hit all the shifts just fine and shaved the time down to 12.2 seconds at 120mph. Another run with solid shifts yielded nearly the exact same time. A third run returned the same. We saw no reason for another and called it a night.
The locals liked seeing the high-tech German sports car lining up next to blown Novas and the like, and we were reminded once again how incredibly capable the R8 V10 is in any situation. It was definitely worth the detour.
fuhteng says:
05:10 AM, 09/ 3/09
I've got a rather NOOB question: I understand dropping the clutch is really bad for your car, but how bad for your car is launch control? Is it something you should be able to do over and over again, or is it still hammering away at your clutch and tranny? (Unless this is the GTR we're talking about which dies when you take it grocery shopping.)
lmbvette says:
06:00 AM, 09/ 3/09
Can you guys post your time slips...I'm curious to see what your 60 foot time was....it should be deep in the 1.8X with AWD and that sort of power...but judging by your 12.2...I'd guess you were at 2.0X or so.
12.2 @120 is not very impressive for a nearly 200k car with AWD, 500+ HP and launch control.
Did you try running the car without using launch control? Because I think it's holding you back.
tryan says:
07:01 AM, 09/ 3/09
Imbvette -
The R8 5.2FSI is actually a ~$150,000 car, and considering the price of its stablemate (Gallardo), it could actually be considered quite a deal, especially since the R8 pretty much nearly matches the Gallardo's performance.
Regardless, Edmunds' results seem to jive with Automobile Magazine's results:
http://www.automobilemag.com/new_and_future_cars/2010/0902_2010_audi_r8_v10_first_test_results/0_to_60_time.html
While 12.2 isn't TOO impressive for any 500HP car, one must remember that this specific car is relatively portly (3,600 Lbs) and that there is an AWD drivetrain to contend with. While the AWD (as previously stated) would pay dividends on the 60 Ft time, it would be a detriment anywhere beyond.
mhart27 says:
07:02 AM, 09/ 3/09
What was the DA (density altitude) the night you ran?
bodyblue says:
08:15 AM, 09/ 3/09
Ummm...NOBODY calls Sacramento "Sactown".......good lord.
lmbvette says:
08:51 AM, 09/ 3/09
@tryan-
Yes, I was mis-informed on the price. I see the car starts at 146k and can easily reach well in the 170k range with nicely appointed options.
Regardless, AWD should net this car some great 60 ft times. Like I said, I'd like to see Edmund's slips showing the times with the LC on and with the LC off.
The GT-R has similar specifications (weight, power, drive) and has much better numbers for half the cost. However, the R8 is obviously a much nicer looking package inside and out....it better be for nearly twice the cost.
waevox says:
08:57 AM, 09/ 3/09
I lived in Sactown for 6 years. We definitely call it that. Sacto is pretty popular too.
Going down 128 fellas? Some good roads around lake Hennessey, past Berryessa.
msdaisy says:
09:38 AM, 09/ 3/09
6,500rpm? That seems awfully high.
blueguydotcom says:
09:53 AM, 09/ 3/09
Lived near Sacra-hell-o for 13 years. Parents still live there (going on 31 years) and most people we know call it Sac.
Love how they don't have any N-S freeways between I-80 and Highway 50. If you're in Roseville and you want to get to Carmichael you're pretty well screwed unless you have 1 hour to kill taking surface streets. Great urban planning...gridlocked surface streets.
actualsize says:
12:00 PM, 09/ 3/09
@fuhteng: I'm not certain about this R8, but a silimar manual transmission with launch control combination appeared on the Lotus Exige S240 I tested.
That car had a manually adjustable launch rpm setting and a clutch damper. The adjustable launch rpm allows you to play with the setting to match conditions: wet, dry, dusty, etc. Simply dial in the desired rpm (up to 8 grand, I think), put the clutch in, floor the throttle then sidestep the clutch and hang on.
The clutch doesn't go "bang" and scatter the clutch into tiny fragments because that clutch damper regulates the engagement of the clutch to a pre-determined level of agressiveness that delivers a solid launch that's not distructive to the components. Simply awesome in that car.
canddmeyer says:
02:26 PM, 09/ 3/09
Bummer. Next time ya'll come to town post it in advance. Maybe I missed it, but I sure would have tried to make it as part of the Edmunds fan club!
Still, even with the Raceway for Wednesday night drags there are still plenty of folks killing themselves street racing.