In association with MotorEasy
Car of the Year Awards 2023: Best sports car for noise
More than anything, sports cars need to thrill you. Acceleration is important, but it’s finesse and feel through corners that matter most...
Audi R8 V10 Performance RWD
Rapid acceleration and nimble cornering are big parts of the visceral sports car experience, but noise is the key to true theatre, and there’s nothing like the orchestral symphony of the Audi R8’s 5.2-litre V10.
Key to its explosive soundtrack is the same quirk that makes this engine a bit of an oddity these days: while most other cars have small engines boosted by turbochargers, the R8 relies on the sheer size of its lungs for brute power. And while this hurts your fuel economy, it also means there’s absolutely no delay between you putting your foot down and 562bhp being sent to the rear wheels.
It’s true that the smaller, more nimble (and much cheaper) Porsche Cayman GTS makes its performance more accessible on a country lane or tight circuit, but the experience of punching through the gears in the R8 on the open road, while being bathed in that V10 melody
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