2022 Audi R8 V10 RWD Performance UK review Car News

Cars like this Audi R8 V10 RWD are starting to look time limited. Of course, there are still nearly eight years to go before the law officially bans their sale, but Audi is already working on an all-electric version of its mid-engined supercar, and there’s a V8 hybrid solution on the way for the Lamborghini. Huracán, the model that currently shares most of the V10 lower parts of the Audi R8.

Depending on where you stand, that means if you’re in the market for a £130,000 supercar you have two radically different ways to jump. You can proceed with the purchase now, knowing that you own one of the most practical and well-engineered piston sports cars around. Or you can keep your eyes ruthlessly on the future and wait for the first generation of super-performance electric vehicles to arrive.

It’s an interesting choice. Wait, and you’ll get the latest thing – a very modern design, less mechanically complicated and certain to be more ‘sanitized’ in its handling. Buy today and you’ll get long range and versatility with your traditional high performance.

Even better, you’ll get a slightly upgraded version of that much-loved Audi V10 engine, complete with its famous supernatural roar at full blast. In the RWD it has “only” 562 hp, 50 hp less than its power in the all-wheel-drive Quattro Performance that survives alongside it in a reduced R8 range, with this additional power representing 0.6 s of less than the 0-62 mph acceleration time.

The RWD can both set a 3.7-second acceleration time from 0-62 mph and it can top out at full 200 mph, a combination that future performance EVs won’t be able to deliver, especially if they hope providing even a fraction of the 380-mile range available from the all-wheel-drive’s 73-litre fuel tank.

Admittedly, the R8 styling is getting old (it’s always looked a bit too much like an Audi TT for some observers’ tastes) but on top of all that performance, it offers supreme low-speed rideability, comfort and luggage space. in generous proportions, and there is a dealer in every town of decent size. The price also makes more sense than most: our test car’s £128,510 base price has been increased by just £1685 for the paint and upgraded wheels. The steering has a fixed ratio, there are no adaptive dampers and the limited-slip differential is of a conventional mechanical type.