The first question to address is one of provenance; so is the R8 anything more than a restyled and slightly re-engineered Lamborghini Gallardo with an RS4 engine in place of the Gallardo’s V10? In a word, yes. Despite the fact that Audi owns Lamborghini and could have reclothed the Gallardo and given it a different name, the R8 shares surprisingly few technical details with its Italian cousin.
In truth it is an entirely separate car despite being mid-engined, four wheel drive and built largely from extruded and pressed aluminium. The R8’s four wheel drive system, for example, is entirely different from the Gallardo’s, and although the two cars share the same gearbox casing the R8’s ratios are bespoke and the optional R-Tronic system (not fitted to the test car) is quite different from the Gallardo’s less than satisfactory e-gear paddle shift system.
At the heart of the R8 is the same 4.2-litre direct injection V8 found in the RS4 but fitted with a dry sump, and the exhaust system has been redesigned to fit with the R8’s mid-engined configuration. It’s a fine engine in the RS4 and delivers even more thrust in the marginally lighter R8. Peak power is the same at 414bhp delivered at 7800rpm while peak torque is 317lb ft delivered between 4500-6000rpm.
Styling of the R8 was done entirely in-house at Ingolstadt, and the results are pretty stunning. Unusually, the production R8 very closely resembles the original concept car – the Le Mans – right down to that car’s various LED lights. In total the R8 boasts 210 of these; you'll even find them inside its engine bay.
Inside, the R8 feels like a class act, no question. Audi has a reputation for producing great car interiors and in this instance its designers have genuinely hit the bullseye. True, the wraparound dash may not be entirely original in design (the Honda NSX pioneered this look in the late 1980s) but visually as well as ergonomically, the R8’s cabin just works.