Friday, June 22, 2007

Auto-Future Car of the Year 2007: Audi R8

We know, it’s June. But we awarded our Concept Car of the Year 2007 back in January to the Chevrolet Volt. Because we know no other concept car in 2007 will be as important as the Volt. And now we know that no other production car will be so significant in 2007 as the Audi R8, hence the award.

Arguably this prize is not such a bold statement. Because it’s easy to predict what production cars are available in 2007 (unlike concepts that are usually surprises), because we knew long ago the Audi R8 would be a great car, and also because the best car magazine in the world (EVO) just compared it to the 911 4CS and stated: New Order. The 911 is no longer the best sportscar of the world (it has been since the 70’s). The Audi R8 is, according to EVO, the best sportscar of the planet. And this statement is historic.

Moreover, while reading the magazine we learn that the R8 is not only hugely competent, real-world comfortable, has fantastic handling, brilliant quality, but also very fast on the track. The magazine compared laptimes with other exotics and the Audi R8 proved faster than the 911 4CS,…911 Turbo(997);…GT3(997);…F430!!!! Wait, we just can’t believe, faster on track than a F430? We are going to be a bit more bold in our predictions. We award the Audi R8 Sportscar of the Decade. Yes, of the decade!




















PS1: before the readers of this joint start accusing Auto-Future of fanboysh behaviour we would like to state that we are well aware that most of regular Audis are nose-heavy overpriced VW derivatives. And the cheaper ones are the same as Seat models but with more tactile plastics. We know their marketing machine is great and that all the perceived quality does not translate to real-world quality and reliability. And we don’t really compare their cars with Mercedes, because if one can afford Mercedes, BMW or Lexus then Audi is just out of the equation. But let’s be fair, the RS4 is great and deserves to be compared with the best and this R8 is just that: the best sportscar of the planet.

PS2: now that Porsche owns about 35% of VW group we wonder if the R8 would even exist if Porsche owned 35% of the company when Audi decided to build it… And what about the future of the R8, its derivatives, its successor… an evolutionary icon like the 911?... with Porsche owning so much of the company?… Predicting the future is fun!

3 comments:

Roman said...

is it faster than enzo ? is it faster than stradale ? hmmmm audi, i agree with the first part of your statement, but not with the rest.

Tonami Playman said...

With all that envy from Porsche towards Audi, could it be possible that the next generation 911 becomes a sister car to the R8. would be very interesting. Porsche's boxer engine in place of the Audi V8. It won't be too difficult to execute as the R8 already has some features that could be easily integrated into the 911.

Anonymous said...

"afford Mercedes, BMW or Lexus then Audi is just out of the equation"

I would say if on could afford Mercedes, BMW or Audi then Lexus is just out of the equation.

You're obviously an American?