i want to address many criticisms of the R8 off the bat.
1. reasonable expectations here. the car was hyped up by the media to be a supercar. the car is on the level between a 997 C4S with power pack (100K USD) and a 997 TT. so it seems it is priced just right. that is reality. a beautiful reality. you probably cannot drive anything faster more comfortably on a daily basis than this car. even the 997 with the adaptive dampers is not as comfortable as the RS4 with it's "lowly" DRC. imagine the R8.
2. i happen to know from many sources that the engine benches more than 425 hp. i do not know how much but reports still remain close to 440hp. i stand by that. i for one am anxious to see for myself if audi adjusts the official power output like they did the S6's.
3. the car reaches almost the same top speed as the latest gallardo. while keeping 75k in your bank account. i'll take a $12 martini over the bragging rights about top speed with a gallardo or F430 owner at a cocktail party.
4. by socratic deduction the 4.6 seconds 0-62.5 estimate is very conservative. the RS4's is 4.8 and it can do 4.5 quite easily. that means the R8 can do 4.2 or so. and it has
.....read further.
---4.2. do you know how fast that is? that's a gallardo-style number. for 75K less. again.
5. the car. especially at its price point, offers a degree of technical advancement unheard of. when you think about it it puts all cars short of the veyron to shame. it really does.
6. and no one has yet been able to comment on its handling. i can't wait to read the articles. if the porky RS4 has been lavished so. can you imagine this car?
7. finally. the style point. perhaps the least pragmatic of all to discuss because it is a subjective one. you can discuss this one with yourself.
8. and last. the M5. M6 argument. on a good day. based on the numbers that the R8 is "really" capable of (0-60 in 4.0 was quite easy for test drivers while developing the car) the R8 will be just as fast. and this will apply on a nice dry day. on any other forget about it.
a note: my neighbor's CRX, at 12K (USD) with mods, could embarass a stock Z06 in a drag race any day. to me an isolated number (thank you qisha) cannot harness the meaning of an specific machine. catch my drift? (no pun intended)
and finally. ask yourselves this. why would you spend 100K on a car? it is a ridiculous sum to spend for a car by any means. but if you did what would you expect in return? a comfortable, sexy, safe, solid, exclusive car that will be driven everywhere. rain or snow. track. grocery store. movies. dinner. the beach, perhaps? in short, everywhere. and hard. that's what i expect from my money. sounds like the R8 would do. and just about no other car. and it happens to be an audi.
what about you?