Audi R8 V8 Spyder.

Since the release of the original R8 in 2007 or whenever it was it's been a supercar staple, taking on the Porsche 911 and mixing with the best.

The original had a 4.2 litre V8 producing around 414bhp and doing 60 in 4.3 seconds. Its top speed was just shy of 190mph and despite this lack of pace the auto press went mad for it. They praised its handling and Jeremy Clarkson loved the fact you could drift it, despite its four wheel drive system. Others loved the styling saying that it looked futuristic and clean. It introduced the now common LED daytime running lights but most importantly, it gained a strong footing in the supercar world.

After this huge success there was still the question of power to be dealt with. To address the situation along came the R8, this time powered by the very same 5.2 V10 you would find in the Lamborghini Gallardo. Power shot up to 500bhp and 60 came along in 3.9 seconds and the top speed was raised to 196mph. The handling dynamics that so pleased the motoring world remained and the R8 really arrived.

A Spyder edition arrived and 60 once again took just over four seconds and the top speed remained the same. The handling was OK, not as great as the coupe version, it was heavier, but it still served up great sized helpings of fun and now we come full circle.

The Spyder now comes with a 4.2 V8 producing 424 horses of power. The 0-60 time is reduced to 4.8 seconds and the top speed is 186mph. The 0-60 time is actually slower than the proposed RS3 mega hatch. So it's a supercar that can be out dragged at the lights by a hatchback. That's likely to be a little bit embarrassing and not true, eventually the R8 will claw the RS3 back in, it'll overtake at around 75mph. So at illegal speeds in other words. The handling dynamics remain in place due to much technical cleverness at Audi, the main thing being, a stack load of strengthening beams in the doors. It's interesting this. We start the story with a V8 powered supercar, we then get more power, we then get more power and more head room and finally we get less power but more head room. In any case the R8 is every bit the supercar Audi hoped it would be.

News on the blog now. I am getting closer to developing the opening titles for the Friday Vlog series. It's more an introduction rather than some opening titles but they're coming along. It's like to include a in front of camera piece by me to start the tune and then will go to a few action sequences of cars, ending with a car drifting across the screen, hopefully.

Here's a picture of the R8 Spyder for the meantime.

Thanks for reading.