Audi
The R8 Performance drops Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system, shedding a claimed 110 pounds and facilitating a (relatively) bargain price. This is now the most affordable way to gain access to the spectacular 5.2-liter V-10 that powers both the R8 and Lamborghini Huracán.
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The rear-wheel drive R8 Performance replaces the former RWD base model, gaining an extra 30 horsepower over the outgoing car but sharing the same suspension settings. Both Coupe and Spyder versions will be offered.
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As with every other R8, power comes from a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V-10 closely related to the one in the Lamborghini Huracán.
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Rear-wheel drive doesn’t transform the R8’s character when compared with the all-wheel-drive Performance Quattro, with plentiful grip at real-world speeds.
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The big visual distinction over the R8 Performance Quattro is a body-colored side blade around the engine’s air intakes and 19-inch wheels. However, both a carbon finish and 20-inch rims can be spec’d.
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As well as having a naturally aspirated engine in what is now an almost entirely turbocharged part of the market, the R8 RWD Performance also does without active dampers or one of the increasingly fashionable torque-biasing differentials. It is an analog car in a digital world.
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Harder use, or circuit driving, does reveal the traction limitations of having half the driven wheels of the Quattro, but the RWD Performance is happiest being driven within its limits rather than over them.
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Steering remains a mild disappointment, with impressively keen front-end responses but little sensation getting to the rim.
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The R8’s lack of a central display screen seemed brave when the car was launched five years ago—the reconfigurable digital instrument cluster displays navigation and infotainment details as well as driving data. But now it just feels old-fashioned, especially given the lack of touchscreen functionality.
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While Euro-market R8s now have gasoline-particulate filters in their exhausts, muting them slightly, U.S. models still do without. The R8’s V-10 remains one of the world’s finest-sounding production-car engines when wrung out, revving all the way to 8700 rpm.
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The optional fixed-back bucket seats look great and grip hard in corners, but we found the backrest angle a few degrees short of true comfort after a couple of hours at the wheel.
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