Travis Vocino Experiments in Art, Science & Technology.

Since I got my new car months ago, I’ve become somewhat of an Audi fanboy — even trying to convince my friend Sara to get a little A3. This means the pinnacle of such a fandom would obviously be the stunning Audi R8.

The Audi R8

The Audi R8 is a mid-engined monster introduced by Audi in 2007. Plus, just look at it — it looks nuts.

The first appearance of the car was in 2006, appearing at auto shows and events all over the world. The R8 is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform, as Audi has full ownership of subsidiary Lamborghini S.p.A..

Audi announced in 2005 that the name of the successful Audi R8 race car would be used for a new road car in 2007, the Audi R8, based on the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, which was based on the earlier Audi RSQ concept vehicle, appearing at the 2003 Geneva Auto Show and 2003 International Motor Show. The R8 was officially launched at the Paris Auto Show on 30 September 2006.

There is some confusion with the name which the car shares with the Le Mans winning R8 LMP. Originally, many thought the car would be called the R9 (as there is a gap in numbering left when Audi announced the R8’s successor, the diesel-powered R10).

Bragging Rights

Many publications were hailing it as the first car to truly be able to beat Porsche - considered by many to be one of the best supercars ever made and the leader in its class.

Initial comparison tests have proven quite positive in this respect; Evo Magazine in its comparison test between the R8, 911 Carrera 4S, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and BMW M6 have claimed that the Audi is a better supercar saying that “Audi humbles Porsche. A new dawn starts today.” Other publications have also made similar reviews of the Audi beating the Porsche in comparison tests.

Supercars

As the technology gets increasingly more awesome, the supercar world gets increasingly more competitive.

It’s pretty sad when $255,000 and 3.7 seconds for 0 to 62 is the bottom of the heap. That’s the Ferrari Fiorano, joined in its exclusive club by such beauties as the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 ($319K, 3.4 sec). The group is led by the amazing Bugatti Beyron, which clocks the 0 to 62 in an astonishing 2.5 seconds and hits 188 mph in only 17 seconds; the damage: only $1.4 million. Here are more pix and models, just in case you haven’t drooled enough.

The R8 isn’t a front runner at a 0 to 60 of 4.0 seconds and a top speed of 187 mph, but it will do. It will tackle the quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds at 113.2 mph.

Superbowl Ad

Watching the superbowl yesterday (eh, my girlfriend is into it unfortunately), one of the best ads had to be this one. Primarily because the car just looks so bad ass. The LED headlights look absolutely stunning and are almost reason enough to run to Audi right now and put down an order.