For Audi, one in all simply two automakers nonetheless mass producing the V10, the 2023 Audi R8 GT is a watershed second in historical past. The V10 has been a uncommon and enduring second of emotion for the German model that has typically been criticized for being too medical and chilly in the way it engineers its automobiles – and the R8 through which it has been housed has been a class-redefining supercar that not solely shocked visually in each incarnation, however gave new which means to the phrase ‘on a regular basis supercar.’ However the R8 will not be lengthy for this world, and neither is the V10 that powers it, and the R8 GT is the ultimate farewell to 2 automotive icons. With this data looming menacingly, Audi despatched CarBuzz to Seville, Spain, to get acquainted with one of many world’s final roadgoing V10 supercars on the Circuito Monteblanco.
The 2023 R8 GT, in case you missed the small print earlier than, revives the GT suffix for the primary time because the first technology in 2010. On this remaining iteration, the R8 turns into a rear-wheel-drive-only supercar with outputs dialed as much as 602 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque, and its transmission, suspension, and aerodynamics turned as much as 11. It sheds weight, too, 55 kilos of the stuff in comparison with the lesser RWD R8, because of a weight loss plan that impacts the inside, exterior, and even beneath the pores and skin.
Simply 333 can be constructed, leading to a automotive as unique as it’s particular. A becoming farewell, then? We took to the observe to seek out out.
Powertrain: A ten-Cylinder Symphony
Earlier than we delve into the small print of the way it drives, we should first have a look at the variations between the R8 GT and its stablemates. Arguably most necessary is the powertrain, the place Audi has turned up the wick on the 5.2-liter naturally-aspirated V10.
602 hp within the US may appear down in comparison with the European claims of 620 metric horsepower, but it surely’s no typo, only a fruits of conversions, measurement strategies, and variations between the 2 areas. What’s necessary is that the R8 GT is probably the most highly effective RWD Audi ever made, and it has as a lot energy because the common R8 V10 efficiency quattro, simply despatched to 2 fewer pushed wheels.
The seven-speed dual-clutch computerized gearbox stays the only technique of shifting gears, however in comparison with the usual RWD R8, the ratios have been shortened and are a lot nearer to these discovered within the AWD variant.
Regardless of on-paper outputs being lesser within the US, the R8 GT will sing louder stateside because of a regular efficiency exhaust that is freed from the binding emissions laws of Europe. These 602 ponies are additionally greater than plentiful, propelling the R8 GT from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds and on to a 199-mph V-max. Not gradual, then.
Driving Impressions: Disrespect It At Your Personal Peril
Numbers imply little once you tear out of the pit lane with a ten-cylinder symphony screaming behind your head. From that second on, all left-brained logic will get summarily dismissed, and the limbic system takes over.
First issues first – that is quick! Any of the newer turbocharged monsters from Ferrari or McLaren will hit triple digits faster, however behind the wheel, this feels about as quick as anybody with the desire to proceed residing could be snug with. The sense of velocity is aided by pantomime, because the V10’s soundtrack elicits involuntary bodily responses that construct in equal depth.
A tingle begins on the base of your backbone, rising with each notch on the tachometer till the hair on the again of your neck stands on finish. I defy you to seek out me an engine that sounds higher than a V10 at 8,700 rpm.
Each upshift rattled off by the DCT – whether or not of the automotive’s personal accord or a immediate of the tactile shift paddles behind the steering wheel – is accompanied by a buck and a kick within the kidneys – maybe a bit extra vicious than is completely mandatory, however robust sufficient to reinforce the theater of the event.
However lately, something is fast in a straight line. It is once you drop anchors and the fastened aluminum brake calipers clamp down on the 15-inch entrance and 14-inch rear carbon ceramic rotors that the velocity turns into obvious. The stoppers shed velocity at a fast price, and the brake pedal gives a good chunk of suggestions as to the grip available, however even the sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 summer season rubber cannot defy physics should you are available too scorching. A tell-tale pair of black stripes left by one in all my business colleagues just a few days prior serves as a warning no quite a lot of corners in.
Tip the Alcantara-clad steering wheel – which feels elegant in hand – in in direction of the apex of a nook, and there is a stunning quantity of suggestions for a automotive with out the burden of an engine over the entrance axle. The variable-ratio steering rack adjusts the extent of help primarily based in your velocity, however the system has improved from the early days when such setups had been frowned upon. In managed circumstances, I by no means as soon as felt unable to learn what the entrance finish was doing.
Adhesion ranges are excessive, with a nostril that does not push huge simply and a way of the place the boundaries of grip are telegraphed strongly to my fingertips. A lot credit score deserves to be positioned on the Michelin rubber – as a set of Pilot Sport 4 S footwear used on the drift pad later within the day yielded much more understeer than the Cup 2s the automotive ships with – because the Cup 2s managed even the marginally damp situations with aplomb.
Within the occasion the nostril does push huge, the R8 GT may be steered on the throttle to tighten your line. A phrase of warning, nevertheless: a rear-wheel-drive supercar with hair-trigger throttle response is very happy to swap ends on you. As soon as the mass of the V10 behind you units the pendulum in movement, catching it in time is trickier than you would possibly assume, and should you swap the nannies off, you will shortly end up pointing within the improper route – ask me how I do know.
Deal with it with respect, and there are various rewards available. Feeding the throttle in gently on nook exit lets the Cup 2s do their greatest work as you catapult in direction of the subsequent turn-in level, and thru fast left-right nook complexes, the automotive is fast to vary route with out turning into unsettled.
A brand new carbon fiber strengthened plastic (CFRP) anti-roll bar outfitted to the R8 GT is simply one of many many small upgrades that assist preserve issues balanced beneath duress, however the automotive we drove was additionally outfitted with adjustable coilovers on the rear of the automotive – one thing the US automobiles will ditch in favor of a set setup. Having solely skilled the automotive on a well-maintained circuit the place attacking just a few clean curbs was all of the ‘tough surfacing’ we needed to take care of, I can not say a lot for the R8’s experience high quality. Then once more, should you’re shopping for a limited-run remaining version automotive like this for its on-road experience consolation, you most likely should not even be taking a look at it.
The R8 GT is a weapon of precision, however that does not imply it is not enjoyable, and may the scenario current itself, and you are feeling courageous or cocky sufficient, Audi Sport engineers have outfitted the GT with a brand new toy you would possibly prefer to mess around with referred to as Torque Rear mode. For the layman, that is drift mode.
Drift Mode In A RWD {Car}?
However wait, is not drift mode in a RWD automotive merely what you do along with your proper foot? Not fairly.
Torque Rear, whereas it shares its identify with the so-called drift mode of the Audi RS3, is one thing solely totally different right here. As an alternative of shunting all the ability to the surface rear wheel because it does within the RS3, within the R8 GT, it is a seven-stage stability management system akin to the one within the Mercedes-AMG GT R, catering to numerous angles of slip relying on the extent you select. Ranges one by means of three characteristic brake intervention on the entrance axle to assist provoke a slide, making minor drifts fairly accessible for even a relative novice – relative being the key phrase right here as it is not one thing simply anyone can do.
Levels 4 by means of seven dispose of the entrance intervention, however do not mistake this for a point-and-drift expertise. You continue to must stability throttle and steering inputs, and being too aggressive on both will shortly see you pointing the improper approach, as I came upon on each the drift pad and the observe.
It is on this setting that the variable steering setup does not do the R8 GT the favors it does on the observe, as typically your drift angle locations the steering proper on the cusp of a altering ratio, making it tough to manage. Couple this with a DCT gearbox that does not prefer to allow you to bang off the limiter of the V10, and it is plain to see that Torque Rear is supposed extra for when you have got a observe with a great deal of run-off than making an attempt to hyperlink up lurid slides in an try to emulate Ken Block.
Exterior Design: Winging It
I’ll not win over any mates in Neckarsulm, the place the R8 was developed, for this remark, however the second-generation R8’s design has by no means been my favourite. Do not get me improper, it is a looker, but it surely lacks the timeless magnificence and class the unique had, and any designer making an attempt to comply with up on that piece of perfection would have a tricky time.
That stated, the 2023 R8 GT seems suitably aggro, removing the suave Iron Man swimsuit of lesser fashions and donning a top-hung carbon fiber wing – nowhere close to 911 GT3 RS proportions, fortunately – and carbon fiber aero flics and splitters to set it aside. These are useful components, too, producing further downforce to help with high-speed stability.
Different particulars are extra delicate however simply as impactful. The wheels, for instance, are light-weight 20-inch 10-spoke solid gadgets completed in black with pink Audi Sport decals. They’re lighter in weight than the usual gadgets, too, and the pink brake calipers peaking out from behind look suitably menacing. The badging is all black, and so too is the engine cowl. US fashions get Audi laser lights, carbon mirrors, carbon aspect blades, and carbon aspect sills.
Solely three finishes can be on provide for the US market, with the signature Suzuka Grey Matte launch shade not made out there for American consumers. As an alternative, a selection between Tango Crimson, Daytona Grey, and Mythos Black is current, every setting you again $595.
Inside Design: The Carbon Connection
The carbon-festooned exterior does not stand in isolation because the R8 GT’s cabin is well-decorated with the sixth aspect in woven kind. Decor components on the middle console, air vents, and across the digital instrument cluster are fabricated from the stuff, offset by pink distinction stitching all through the cabin and pink seatbelts. In all places you look, Alcantara and Dinamica are current, together with the steering wheel, which encompasses a pink 12 o’clock marker and bespoke controls for the Torque Rear mode.
The R8 GT bucket seats are upholstered in leather-based and Dinamica. The fastened again and handbook adjustment will not swimsuit all physique varieties, but it surely saves weight and gives bucketloads of help when cornering beneath duress. The seats and the ground mats characteristic R8 GT lettering, whereas a small ‘RWD’ plaque is inlaid on the passenger aspect of the sprint. Denoting its exclusivity, the middle console bears the quantity out of 333 of the automotive you buy.
US fashions once more differ from their worldwide counterparts right here, with a regular Bang & Olufsen sound system – for when by some insanity, you deem a screaming V10 to not be entertaining sufficient – and the Audi unique diamond stitched headliner.
Value & Availability: Exclusivity Assured
With solely 333 items slated for world manufacturing and solely 150 of these coming to america, Audi will promote out this remaining iteration of the V10-powered R8 with ease, regardless of a $249,900 MSRP earlier than vendor markups. This value excludes a $1,495 vacation spot cost, a $1,300 Gasoline Guzzler tax, and a compulsory $595 for every of the three paint choices out there. The 150 items can be cut up evenly between every hue, with 50 available in Tango Crimson, Mythos Black, and Daytona Grey, respectively.
Deliveries within the USA start on the finish of Q1 2023, the Audi R8’s remaining yr of manufacturing.
Verdict: No Extra Encores
As water ranges rise across the globe, so too do the variety of hybrids and EVs, with this rising tide of electrification swallowing up the best combustion engines the world has ever recognized. As we are saying goodbye to nice engine after nice engine, the V10 is the subsequent to be submerged by the electrical wave. Already a uncommon and unique specimen of the automotive world, the V10 has been integral to the success of the R8 by means of two generations and is a refreshing juxtaposition to Audi’s sometimes calm and composed demeanor.
The R8 GT is not going to go down in historical past because the quickest supercar, nor one that may try Nurburgring information of any kind. Others can be faster, extra brutal, set stopwatches ablaze each from a standstill and round a circuit, and but I am inclined to say that none will really feel as particular as this. The dynamic steering might not really feel solely pure in very specific circumstances – though it’s a outstanding enchancment on the genesis of such know-how – and the DCT might not cling onto gears by means of corners when the V10 is wrung out to redline, however neither of those minor faults is of any consequence right here.
The R8 GT is simply too particular for these little particulars to detract from it. Because the final encore from the world’s best-sounding engine configuration, the R8 GT is the ultimate remnant of a bygone period from when emotion mattered extra in a supercar than the numbers its launch management system may aid you report.
This, then, is the ultimate goodbye. Not simply to a automotive, not simply to an engine, however to an ideology. And so far as remaining goodbyes go, the Audi R8 GT is probably the best we may hope for.
When the solar units on the age of inside combustion, the R8 GT and its mighty V10 is not going to go gently into that good night time. As an alternative, it’s going to sing. It should howl. And it’ll rage, rage in opposition to the dying of the sunshine.