for 2017 audi has redesigned the car
that in 2010 I declared my single
favorite car the r8 now I had resisted
picking a single favorite car for a long
time but I was overcome by the styling
the driving experience and the price now
that attended second-generation i'm
going to go through some of the changes
and decide whether it's still a favorite
hee-hee-hee styling has evolved but not
too much
the most noticeable difference is the
sides wait here used to run all the way
from the top to the bottom it's now
split into two pieces of the previous
generation some design critics that this
element was designed to trick the eye
and make the car look a little less
awkward and flat-sided now that side
plates / can kind of see what they mean
some angles one of the most compelling
outside elements is actually an inside
element proudly displayed under the rear
glass a 5.2 liter v10 engine one of my
favorite experiences with the ra is
walking up to it after dark worth parks
unlocking it with a remote and seeing
the engine bays in a bluish light it
never gets old
unlike so many cars these days the
engine doesn't have forced air induction
but it does have a red line of 8,500 rpm
in the base r8 it makes 540 horsepower
and in the RA plus like this one 610
horsepower good enough 40 to 60 time
estimated is 3.2 seconds and it sounds
spectacular in the process
there were many complaints about the
interior quality of the previous
generation are eight of OD stepped up
for 2017 and David are richer interior
one thing to know about is the seat in
the RA plus our standard racing shell
style sheets which has fewer adjustments
we found them left comfortable so you
either have to stick with the regular r8
if you care about that or if you get an
RA plus you might want to opt for the
diamond stitching leather package which
restores the original seats with more
adjustment and talk $5,000 we really
like the new steering wheel it has lots
of well-executed buttons including the
engine start/stop where you can see it
music the active exhaust a few stability
control mode and the drive select button
a one thing we don't love is what he
calls the virtual cockpit display which
is the only display in the car behind
the steering wheel and that's the
problem it behind the steering wheel it
can easily be blocked if you like to
have the steering wheel low it has
beautiful graphics a really fast
processor you can even see the
navigation here that's not that but the
instruction is the thing and also even
though you can control that both with
the steering wheel and the multimedia
interface not here in the center console
your passenger can't we all seem to
agree charge com that you'd be better
off either with the center mounted
display or maybe both
so how does it drive it's still great
it remains a well-balanced fire with the
engine and tab and well between the
assholes and Quattro all-wheel-drive
standard with a bias to the rear which
gives it a rear-wheel-drive field if
anything that actually like more torque
to the rear but given that most of the
weight is in the back it's probably
safer to have it the way it is the
steering turn in is really sharp and
typical about either feedback isn't
great but it's certainly livable even
with the dynamic steering system that's
an option livable really defined the RA
and a lot of ways at least in the base
are a version which has standard
magnetic ride control the comfort
position of which really makes it
reasonably comfortable for the type of
car it is in either trim level you feel
like you're in the fulcrum of a seesaw
where the front and rear of the car
moving the fair amount that you're not
as much but i have to say the ra plus
with it fixed sports suspension is
probably a little too firm unless you
have really great roads to drive it up
so is this still my favorite car i have
nothing to replace it with but I'm still
going to say no and this is a primary
reason right here the seven-speed
dual-clutch automatic transmission
now there's nothing wrong with it it
with the exception of a little bit of
lag
it works really well and it actually
behaves better at low speed more refined
in the previous generation its what's
not here and that is a six-speed manual
transmission it has been discontinued
now I would always want a manual
transmission but especially that one
because it had a gated shifter which is
both unique and now essentially extinct
and because it makes wonderful clacking
noises when you move through the gears
not the quickest way of shifting but it
sounded great a compliment to the v10
engine and then there's a price now that
the very good v8 engine has been
discontinued the starting price for the
ra is over 164,000 dollars or over 191
for the ra plus that's a far pride from
2015 faith price of a hundred seventeen
thousand dollars now for this much money
I would want even better handling
road-holding and three petals integrated
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