Audi was supersmart in its choice of venue for the launch of its latest supercar this week: visitors at the high-rolling holiday moneytrap that is Cape Town's V&A Waterfront suddenly lost interest in Table Mountain's morning-purple grandeur as their heads snapped round to identify the crackle and blare of three high-performance V8 engines igniting.
Within minutes the piazza outside the Paulaner Brauhaus, across from the venerable Clock Tower, was buzzing with people asking in several languages "What are they?" "What's happening"? "Aren't they beautiful?" and then this one, with the answer
"Hey, look guys! That's Audi's new R8 - it's the most gorgeous car in the world!" And, yes, it probably is.
Cellphone cameras flashed. Within minutes, images of Audi's two-seater, mid-engined, V8 sports flagship were hurtling around the globe to friends and family "back home" in place of shots of the Mummy City's mountain and its tablecloth and of an American destroyer moored across the water.
I've been at a Porsche launch in Italy, a Mini launch in Greece - dozens of similar events here in South Africa and others around the world involving some of the planet's most exclusive and expensive cars - but never, ever have I witnessed such a frenzied surge of public interest. Heaven knows what will happen when the V10 version arrives in 2008
One of the R1 255 000 supermachines was to be mine on the freeways, backroads and mountain passes of Cape Town's hinterland for the next three or so hours and I made the most of being the centre of attraction (well, the car, anyway!) as I dropped the clutch and launched across the Brauhaus' car park in a glorious howl of automotive perfection.
Even then the adulation didn't stop. Out on the N1, heading for Paarl and the Du Toit's Kloof tunnel, grinning drivers moved aside then took station alongside, thumbs in the air and lust on their faces. One guy in a white Audi A4 followed for kilometres, alternating between shooting pix with his cellphone and calling friends on it to report the sighting.
Audi's route guide said: "Take the tunnel to Worcester - toll money in white envelope." They had to be joking - right? - so I went left, heading for the serpentine pass that crosses the mountains of the Grape Curtain, and met three guys in overalls working on the grass and weeds where the slip road meets the R101.
Three gap-toothed grins split their faces as I obeyed the STOP sign and the mowing men dropped their weedeaters. "Hey boss! Rev it for us, hey! Rev it " So I did, to the red line, and three grins got even wider as four litres and eight cylinders howled a challenge to the mountain through four matched and tuned pipes.
Unveiled at Frankfurt 2003
For all the adulation, the Audi R8 4.2 FSI quattro - yeah, it has all-wheel drive, too, just like the now totally eclipsed Audi TT two-seater - is not new. In fact you could say it's 70 years old because its heritage reaches back to the first of its kind that raced before the Second World War.
For sure its four years old because the show car that became the R8 was unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt auto show as "the Le Mans quattro and, if you check the pictures on the story we carried at the time, the two are almost identical.
There was, however, a major difference under the glass "tailgate" showing off the naked engine. Back then, the Le Mans was equipped with a twin-turbo V10 for which Audi quoted a distance-shredding 449kW and - just as well it was "quattro" - 750Nm of torque intended to yield a 0-100km/h time of 3.2sec and 0-200km/h in 10.8. In terms of which the roadgoing R8 which it spawned seems kinda tame. Consider
The just-launched car has two fewer cylinders and no turbocharger and its quad-valve, 4163cc delivers 309kW at 7800 and 430Nm from 4500 to 6000rpm driving through either a six-speed manual or a six-speed R-Tronic manual sequential/auto gearbox - the latter with launch control - to deliver 100km/h in 4.6sec and 200km/h in 14.9sec.
Forget the'gentlemen's agreement'
The Le Mans weighed in at 1530kg, the R8 has bulked up a bit to 1560kg but both had/have an aluminium spaceframe chassis, lots of aluminium in other places, and lots of other weight-saving bits. Net result is a power/weight ratio of 198kW/ton - or only five kilograms/kW.
Oh, and the R8 - named for the Audi race car of 1999-2005- will go on up to 301km/h, thereby abandoning the European "gentlemen's agreement" between the Merc-BMW-Audi triumvirate of "electronically limited to 250km/h".
Driving the R8 is something of a Jekyll & Hyde experience. Despite all the clout from the V8 humming away just behind your shoulders - and visible to you through an insulated double-paned glass panel and to the outside world through a toughened glass panel - the car can be a kitten or a tomcat on the prowl.
The clutch is a bit heavy (but then what's wrong with a workout while you're driving?), the open-gate gearshifter takes getting used to and makes a lot of metallic clatter, and the rush of power in the lower gears takes a little taming as you move off but once you're rolling the huge torque means few gear changes - that's the kitten bit.
Find some open road (Du Toit's Kloof, some days, since the tunnel opened, will do) and free the tomcat. A high-pitched keening comes from the differential (or was it the gearbox?), the engine note pounds on the cabin glass and a valve opens in each of the exhausts to release their full aural glory. Add their echo from the mountain face, stir in the awesome grip of all-wheel drive working in electronic harmony with 18" wheels shod with 8J 235/40 rubber up front and 10.5J 285/35 at the back, and you have a heavenly mix.
Totally driver-focused
Downshifts will slam you back in the seat, upshifts into the seat belt and all the time you will be in the performance space occupied by competitors such as BMW's Z4 and M5, Porsche's Boxster and 911 Carrera 4S, Aston Martin's Vantage and even Ferrari's F430- for the price of which you could have a second R8.
The R8's cabin is totally driver-focused; the instrumentation is tilted to the right and there's even a panel on the driver's door against which his/her right leg can be braced (other way around in LHD models, of course!). The deep leather bucket seats beg for a 1000km drive and behind them is plenty space for a couple of overnight cases - or the ubiquitous laptop bag.
If you're planning a weekend - or longer - away then there's luggage space up front (no engine there, remember!) for two. Seeing as you're paying way over a million bucks for the car, you might as well opt for the set of Audi luggage tailored to the curves and crannies in leather and zips to match your upholstery choice - a snip at R25 000 at set.
"This is indeed Vorsprung's finest hour," said Audi SA's sales and marketing manager Greg Levine. "The Audi R8 not only cements Audi's brand credentials but it signals a new and very exciting era.
"The Audi R8 is a pinnacle of design and engineering, a fantastic driver's car that is bound to be centre-stage for some time. And, with a waiting list stretching into 2009, our customers are clearly as excited about the R8 as we are."
The Audi R8 is hand-built on a specialist, dedicated line at a rate of 19 a day. South Africa will be getting just short of 30 to the end of 2007 but supply should rise to between 50 and 80 in the next couple of years. Have your cheque book open and write in one of these two numbers
Audi R8 4.2 FSI manual - R1 255 000
Audi R8 4.2 FSI R-tronic - R1 300 000
and be prepared to haul out your platinum card to pay for items from the long list of options.
- The price includes a five-year or 100 000km full-maintenance plan through one of six dedicated dealers nationwide.
Audi R8 4.2 FSI specifications (click on resulting image to enlarge).