Audi R8 RWS

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

With half the driveshafts Audi’s sportster comes alive

Cars tend to follow a certain pattern through their lives. As times goes by, demand for more of everything – more power, more comfort, more equipment – means cars tend to get heavier, flabbier, more expensive and less enjoyable over time. You only have to look at the Jaguar E-type to know it. Of course some find a way to reverse this trend, creating special lightweight editions, as Porsche does with its renowned GT-series cars, but these always cost the earth,

Now Audi appears to have decided to reverse the trend. After a dozen years of its R8 supercar gaining weight, power and cylinders, it has taken a substantial step back in the direction from whence it came. Not only that, but the company is charging less, not more, for the privilege. Some £13,680 less, as it happens.

The clue is in the title. ‘RWS’ stands for Rear Wheel Series’, meaning this is an R8 relieved of its front drive shafts, propshaft and differential to make the first ever mid-engined rear-wheel-drive Audi. In all other respects save a softened off front anti-roll bar to compensate for the weight lost in the nose and to quell oversteer, it is a standard R8, complete with the standard 533bhp V10 motor, not the 603bhp engine in the R8 Plus.

And the good news is you don’t have to go drifting it about the place to tell the difference. In fact you don’t need to do more than drive it around the block. It’s not just that the steering is lighter, it has a cleaner, purer feel you can detect at once.

The faster you go, the better it feels. I’ve not been much of a fan of this generation of R8 to date because their prices are close to bottom-end McLaren money and the driving experience simply doesn’t merit it, despite their undoubtedly titanic V10 motors. But the more affordable RWS really made me think.

I couldn’t give a stuff that it’s 0.2sec slower to 62mph than its four-wheel drive sister, not because in the real world the RWS would be quicker because it has the better power to weight ratio, but mainly because it’s so much more rewarding to drive. That slightly aloof feel and remote steering response has all gone, replaced by a helm that’s quick, accurate and as full of feel as you could reasonably hope in these days of electric power steering.

What do you lose? I’m really struggling here. It’s certainly not traction, not in any sense likely to inconvenience customers for whom snow is not a regular fact of life: with a 5.2-litre engine sitting ahead of the rear tyres, it is a traction monster even without four-wheel drive and it would be very surprising were it any other way.

My criticisms – an interior nowhere near worthy of the price, poor seats and a lack of a manual gearbox option – are common to all R8s I’ve driven. The only thing I can’t explain is why Audi has decided to limit RWS production to 999 units across coupé and spider formats. This is not just the cheapest Audi R8 of the current generation, but far and away the best. Audi should make more, and I suspect the strategic use of the word ‘Series’ in its title means that in time it will. At least I hope so.