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Audi R8 V10 quick review: Teutonic Taurean

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The Audi R8 V10 may be a German beast by birth, but it shares it bloodline with some of the most ferocious Italian bulls. We just had a ride!

Words: Amit Chhangani
Images: Hanoz Patel

The Rendezvous

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Every face stupefied, every eye jealous, every throat parched, every heart pounding – the spectacle of the R8 left the onlookers in sheer awe wherever the enchanting car went. In its V10 avatar, the R8 had an even sharper edge to it, making it command both adulation and envy in measures which would be termed high even for a supercar.

Parked between those lesser 250bhp machines – wide, low and shapely, the razor sharp R8 exuded pedigree, dynamism and a sense of speed without turning a wheel. The R8 looks its murderous best when viewed head on front on or from behind – wide, low and sharp as a blade. In profile, the signature carbon fiber cowl adds character as well as a dash of oddball distinction to the shape.

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Even with all our understanding of cars and having driven various other supercars previously, we were left gasping at the first sight of this exotic. We looked at the mystic machine, Hanoz and I, and then we looked at each other – a stunned expression writ large over both our faces. The R8’s shape does not belong to this world – for those used to flowy, traditionally styled supercars, the R8 offers shock treatment. It’s a projection of what road going cars of the 21st century should look like.

Step closer from behind and you get to witness the V10 monster through the rear window. It’s legendary stuff, that engine – the same power-plant that goads the smaller Raging Bulls. Sitting at the top of the R8 pyramid, the Audi R8 V10 tend a stable of 525 steeds – beastly, impatient horses – all of them, with a hankering to rear up at the slightest opportunity. There is close to 530Nm of torque too, but it’s the power figures which have us drooling at this instance.

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Available only as a hardtop (no wobbly topless bodies here) the V10 fires itself to 100 km/h in a shameless 3.6 seconds and to 200 km/h in a little more than 8 extra seconds. It’ll go all the way to nigh 314km/h if you could find a patch of tar long enough, which in this case would be really short. A sharp and swift shifting seven speed S-tronic transmission takes you up and down the rev counter in probably the fastest way possible for an automobile.

The sound

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Pull open that door with rimless windows, and you’ll have to bend and contort yourself to get inside the cabin – typical supercar stuff. You fire those pairs of five opposing cylinders the good old way by twisting the key in the slot. No fancy proximity keys or push button start here. The two dials behind the steering wheel have some unsual markings on them. The one of the left is marked 1 through 10, with red paint appearing halfway past the eighth marking. On the right the last marking reads 350. Slurp!

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Twist the key and the engine fires up with a hoarse, testosterone laced sound. There is enough happening under that glass window behind the driver, with those ten cylinders laid out in a V configuration to create a thunderous, ominous sound. You can make out that some large and extremely well engineered machinery is at work as the R8 V10  idles. The torrent of power barraged within that chassis makes its restlessness to break loose evident with that gruff, throaty sound.

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Rev harder and the R8 V10’s cylinders spin up with an incredible urgency. There is no holding back, no progressive build up, press the paddle and the engine hits its peak in a blink. Even when it’s revving hard, there’s not a molecule of femininity to the note – dry and manly, the engine and exhaust notes denote sheer aggression and testicular fortitude. When 550 thoroughbred stallions are ready to pounce forth with that sort of alacrity, you can only imagine the mayhem that would ensue once you put the contraption in motion.

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