The formidable glaze
coating of Ingolstadt’s reputation was baked long before it indulged an impulse
to make a bona fide mid-engine sports car.
The R8,
in its original V8 format, was an automotive attestation of the boldest sort:
the 911’s status is not sacrosanct and Porsche’s path
to driving nirvana isn’t the sole means of ascent.
Quattro GmbH
had conceived of another way and Audi rallied the ambition, expertise and
investment required to make it happen.
Porsche has gone from
rival to relative, and so the requirement for a more modest V8-powered variant
to challenge the Carrera has
gone, too. Consequently, Audi’s 5.2-litre V10 – still naturally
aspirated – has become the only engine choice and £119,500 has become the
starting price.
So the R8’s
positioning has changed slightly, from sports car to super-sports car – and the
move has been a long time coming. It was previewed by the phalanx of more and
more powerful run-out special editions of the previous R8 but was ultimately
hinted at much earlier, when Audi learnt how much buyers were prepared to pay
for the R8.
0 nhận xét :
Đăng nhận xét