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Had some R8 fun yesterday

SearchMaster

SearchMaster

Diamond Member
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My brother-in-law's 2014 R8 V10 showed up at my house yesterday. My youngest son wanted to go for a ride and the keys were handed to me - how could I resist?

I've driven her before but briefly and on city streets, so it wasn't much fun. But this was my turf; I have several windy back roads near my house that I've explored in my ST previously, and they are pretty deserted so we headed off.

She was already warmed up, so as soon as I got onto a straight section I tested the acceleration. The streets were damp but not even a hint of slippage, just a neck snapping rush to speed. The seatbelts apparently automatically tighten under acceleration...I laughingly mentioned it to my son and he said he was too busy enjoying the ride to notice.

We decided to go show it off to one of his friends, which conveniently has a back road leading there. She carved up turns that make the ST squeal without even trying. The steering is quite light, she just goes where you point her. We got our first thumbs-up at this point...an early 00s Ford Taurus driven by a young lady going the other way flashed her lights, honked her horn, and raised her thumb out the window. This was a section that has some blind corners and is more populated so we were just cruising at this point. I did keep the engine in 3rd gear most of the time, just to hear the V10 roaring behind us.

In short order we arrived at his friend's neighborhood so we were limited to 25mph. We got several stares driving by, then our second thumbs-up (late 30s dude working in his yard). Unfortunately his friend was not home so he missed his chance to catch a ride in a $160K+ car, but this was about the journey not the destination. We cruised through the neighborhood a bit then started heading back.

I took a different path home and it was a mistake, we got behind an old pickup truck. This was the only vehicle we saw on this section of road but I wasn't comfortable passing him. We didn't get to open up at all until we got a few miles from home. All in all, we may have never broken 70 or 80 mph, not entirely sure...I was more concerned about being safe than anything else because I sure as hell didn't want to wreck the thing. When we got home, I let her idle for 10 minutes or so to cool off. The aerodynamics of the car caused the back of it to get very dirty, so while she was idling my son and I cleaned her up with some detailing spray. The whole rear of the car has cooling vents and it gets extremely hot. The coolant temp gauge was barely above half but there was a lot of heat to release.

I can't say I explored the car's limits, I never felt like I was getting near any limits. It's obviously an amazing car. I would love to get her on a track or closed streets.
 
Heh - my wife had taken my middle son to pick the car up from the detailer just before my excursion. He said it was fun but he REALLY had wanted to go with me (she nearly craps herself every time I exercise the ST with her in the car, it's quite entertaining really). He did convince her to take him through the drive-through at Taco Bell...I'm sure that was interesting (and I wonder how far down the cashier had to reach to deliver the food).

I was impressed with my son's knowledge about the car. He said, "it's made from aluminum, right?" Then later I asked him what he thought the carbon fiber blades were made of and he said, "Carbon, right?" Then he asked how much it weighed, and guessed 3200 pounds (figuring it was about half the weight of a large pickup truck which he'd recently read was 6000+). I told him that's probably about right (I wasn't sure myself), and that it probably still weighed more than my ST because of the drivetrain technology. He's not really into cars (that's more my middle son's domain) so I was surprised he knew or deduced so much.
 
The R8 is a great car because you can drive it like a Prius or drive it like a F1 car...your choice, it will do either well.
 
I have been an Audi fanboi for many years....my first car in high school was an Audi. I absolutely love the R8 V10. I read the V8 is a little underwhelming, but nice to look at regardless. Sex on wheels.

On a side note, I saw an RS5 yesterday, also a beauty.
 
DaTT said:
I have been an Audi fanboi for many years....my first car in high school was an Audi. I absolutely love the R8 V10. I read the V8 is a little underwhelming, but nice to look at regardless. Sex on wheels.

On a side note, I saw an RS5 yesterday, also a beauty.
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He previously had the V8 version (2011 or 2012 model). He contends that he can't really tell a difference but again, on public streets it's hard to explore the limits of the engine or chassis. The only reason he got the V10 this time was that he got tired of everyone saying, "V8 or V10?" Then after he answered, the inevitable disappointed "oh." response.

It's a difference of 0.7s in 0-60, and the 4.3s for the V8 is no slouch. But yeah, if you're going to get a hugely impractical car you may as well go all out (if you have the means).

He really wanted a 911 GT3 and had an order in, but Porsche kept dicking him around on delivery dates so he finally cancelled it.
 
Which would I pick?

V8: 4.2L, 430hp/317tq
V10: 5.2L, 525hp/391tq

Neither.

Give me the engine from the 2014 RS6...
4.0L V8, 560hp/516tq
 
I let her idle for 10 minutes or so to cool off.
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Does that work? I figured cars need to be in motion to get the air to flow past. Wouldn't you cool faster with the engine off?
 
Dunno if it was proper or not but figured coolant flow > no coolant flow. I'm on my second turbo car and was always told to do that if I'd driven hard in the last few miles though the R8 is n/a. It probably would cool faster while off but I figured it would be less of a shock to its system if the coolant was moving.
 
SearchMaster said:
The only reason he got the V10 this time was that he got tired of everyone saying, "V8 or V10?" Then after he answered, the inevitable disappointed "oh." response.
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LOL- his proper response should have been "Does it matter? It's way better than what you drive..." 😀
 
Does your brother-in-law have a son maybe 18-20 years old? I saw a kid driving the same colored R8 last Thursday night at the Windward Parkway Walmart.
 
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