Wörthersee, Austria • As a halo car, the R8 has done a lot for the Audi brand. With striking styling, all-wheel drive and a choice of V8 or V10 engines, the R8 can legitimately be considered a supercar, especially in the case of the 525-horsepower V10-powered 5.2 model, which sat at the very top of Audi’s pyramid — until now. You see, there’s a new kid in town and it’s called the Audi R8 GT. Designed for very demanding customers who occasionally attend track days or club level competitive driving events, the R8 GT has been crafted by the engineers at Quattro GmbH, Audi’s performance division, and their blueprints called for less weight and more power.
The GT version of the R8 gets a thinner windshield, the rear window and engine compartment bulkhead are made from polycarbonate, the engine cover is made of carbon fibre, as opposed to aluminium, and the matte carbon fibre composite fixed wing is mounted to the body with two bars, saving 1.2 kilograms of weight compared with the pop-up spoiler of other R8s. But that’s not all. The exhaust system is both thinner and lighter, the engine subframe is made of magnesium and they even went as far as shaving the carpets … The end result is that the R8 GT weighs 1,525 kg and is thus 100 kg lighter than the R8 5.2 model.
By revising the engine management software, the output of the 5.2-litre V10 has been increased to 560 horsepower, the exact same figure as the Lamborghini Gallardo. However, Lamborghini can still claim to have a more powerful car with its Gallardo Superleggera model, which has 10 more hp and is also lighter. These details become important as Audi and Lamborghini are both part of the Volkswagen Group and these subtle differences become key for the marketing and public relations divisions of their respective brands, but it probably won’t mean much to anybody else. The R8 GT also gets revised suspensions with conventional coil-over springs and different geometry in order to provide more negative camber front and rear.
Fire up the V10 and it comes to life with a deep and low growl that seems louder in the GT than in the R8 5.2. Get moving on the autobahn and the engine sound turns to a loud shriek above 5,000 rpm all the way to its 8,700-rpm redline as the car is hurled forward with a strong and very addictive surge of power. In terms of shear performance, this car is absolutely stellar, with the possible exception of its single-clutch R Tronic gearbox, which does shift gears faster than any driver could with a manual gearbox but is not as outstanding as Audi’s faster and seamless double-clutch S Tronic gearbox. On that front, Audi engineers are working on adapting the double-clutch gearbox for future R8s, but this may not happen for one or two years.
On the secondary roads of Germany and Austria between Munich and Wörthersee, the R8 GT felt more direct and precise in fast corners and showed less understeer than the R8 5.2, owing in part to its lower weight and to the modified calibration of its quattro all-wheel-drive system, which sends only 15% of the available power to the front wheels in normal driving conditions, with 85% being delivered to the rear wheels, giving this car a more rear-drive character. The internally vented and drilled brake discs of carbon fibre ceramic are both extremely powerful and easy to modulate, which is not the case with all ceramic brake disc systems.
Inside the cabin, the R8 GT is appointed with white gauges featuring red GT logos, aluminium and carbon fibre trim parts and a fabulous Alcantara steering wheel with shifter paddles. Despite its more radical character, the R8 GT still features air conditioning, navigation and a killer sound system. In Europe, it is also possible to order the R8 GT with a race option package including a roll cage, racing seats, four-point racing seat belts, a fire extinguisher mounted in the passenger footwell and two battery kill switches, but this option will not be available in Canada.
Exclusivity is assured as Audi will only build 333 R8 GTs for the world market, with 25 of those cars sold to Canadian customers for a price of $228,000, some $55,000 more than the V10-powered R8 5.2. Sorry to crush readers’ hopes, but, as can be expected, all cars are already spoken for. However, Audi has announced that production is now starting on a limited run of 333 R8 GT Spyders with a fold-down soft-top for those who want to combine supercar levels of performance with open-air motoring.
