Audi R8 advise?
08-25-11 | 12:02 PM
#31
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 588
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From: AZ
According to car and driver the R8 ran a 0-60 in 4.0 and a 1/4 in 12.6@113 while the 09 vantage ran 0-60 in 4.3 and the 1/4 in 12.7@112 so it is very near the performance of a V8 R8, the R8 having the advantage off the line with AWD so I wouldn't say it's as slow as most people think it is. I think eventually the AMV8 and a GTR will both be residing in my garage, but I think I'll pick up the Aston first.
08-25-11 | 06:48 PM
#32
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 295
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From: Alabama
According to car and driver the R8 ran a 0-60 in 4.0 and a 1/4 in 12.6@113 while the 09 vantage ran 0-60 in 4.3 and the 1/4 in 12.7@112 so it is very near the performance of a V8 R8, the R8 having the advantage off the line with AWD so I wouldn't say it's as slow as most people think it is. I think eventually the AMV8 and a GTR will both be residing in my garage, but I think I'll pick up the Aston first.
Last edited by kickhard; 08-25-11 at 07:03 PM.
08-25-11 | 07:02 PM
#33
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 295
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From: Alabama
I know this is an IS-F forum but guys let's keep things in perspective here....we just recently sold my IS-F and I love the car dearly but I've driven the v8 and v10 many times and no matter which tranny you get, it's WAY FASTER than the IS-F. Yes the motor is the RS4 motor in the V8 but it's certainly quicker an an RS4 no matter what you do.
Way back when I was looking to buy my IS-F, I test drove the RS4, M3 sedan and C63 AMG as comparables. The C63 is easily the fastest, m3 is the most nimble. I loved the RS4 the most due to the AWD and 5-passenger + folding rear seats but wifey did not want a manual so we got the IS-F.
The IS-F vs. RS4 is no match, the RS4 gets killed each time but against an R8, the IS-F will lose every time. (there's a youtube video out there go search).
I've been looking at R8's for quite some time now and prices have come down. Keep in mind the 08's are least desire-able as the dash cluster is still using Audi's old display. The 09+ have the nicer LED setup and only in 2010+ did they offer the CF mirrors and CF engine trim options if that's important to you.
A few of my buddies daily drive their R8's in SF and have no issues. I borrowed one for a weekend last month and loved the car. Audi reliability has come a long way from the old days. It's certainly not Lexus reliable yet but definitely pretty good if buy new with warranty. Few supercars can claim a 5 year warranty with maintenance included!
Unless you know a friend at a dealer or have a buddy who has one few people will let you "test drive" their car unless you can show them cash in hand.
My advice is to sign up for the Audi Exclusive event (cost is $3k I think) for a 2-day event where you can test drive the v8 and v10 models on the track. Small price to pay to see if you want to buy the car.
rick
P.S. I just read the rest of the posts on page 2
You have to ask yourself what are you buying the car for? If you want all out speed yes the GTR is a fat pig but no brainer in terms of speed. R8 however will always be more exclusive than the GTR or IS-F, anyone who thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves.
You can use the same argument the R8 is an overpriced VW or the GTR is an overpriced Nissan! (my dad would never let me hear the end of it if I spent $100k on a Nissan ROFL)
For me, any weekend/pleasure cars need to be fun and "somewhat" exclusive. Granted here in the Bay area nothing is exclusive...haha but this is one reason why I love my NSX
It's certainly not the fastest but who cares....
this my nsx and my friend's R8
Way back when I was looking to buy my IS-F, I test drove the RS4, M3 sedan and C63 AMG as comparables. The C63 is easily the fastest, m3 is the most nimble. I loved the RS4 the most due to the AWD and 5-passenger + folding rear seats but wifey did not want a manual so we got the IS-F.
The IS-F vs. RS4 is no match, the RS4 gets killed each time but against an R8, the IS-F will lose every time. (there's a youtube video out there go search).
I've been looking at R8's for quite some time now and prices have come down. Keep in mind the 08's are least desire-able as the dash cluster is still using Audi's old display. The 09+ have the nicer LED setup and only in 2010+ did they offer the CF mirrors and CF engine trim options if that's important to you.
A few of my buddies daily drive their R8's in SF and have no issues. I borrowed one for a weekend last month and loved the car. Audi reliability has come a long way from the old days. It's certainly not Lexus reliable yet but definitely pretty good if buy new with warranty. Few supercars can claim a 5 year warranty with maintenance included!
Unless you know a friend at a dealer or have a buddy who has one few people will let you "test drive" their car unless you can show them cash in hand.
My advice is to sign up for the Audi Exclusive event (cost is $3k I think) for a 2-day event where you can test drive the v8 and v10 models on the track. Small price to pay to see if you want to buy the car.
rick
P.S. I just read the rest of the posts on page 2
You have to ask yourself what are you buying the car for? If you want all out speed yes the GTR is a fat pig but no brainer in terms of speed. R8 however will always be more exclusive than the GTR or IS-F, anyone who thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves.
You can use the same argument the R8 is an overpriced VW or the GTR is an overpriced Nissan! (my dad would never let me hear the end of it if I spent $100k on a Nissan ROFL)
For me, any weekend/pleasure cars need to be fun and "somewhat" exclusive. Granted here in the Bay area nothing is exclusive...haha but this is one reason why I love my NSX
It's certainly not the fastest but who cares....this my nsx and my friend's R8
Also I am really sorry for you to have that ugly car parked next to your NSX. That car after all these years still looks good
Last edited by kickhard; 08-25-11 at 07:08 PM.
08-25-11 | 07:22 PM
#34
Lexus Champion
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 3,544
Likes: 6
From: South Florida
. I kid but seriously, OP just echoing what everyone else said, I think you should go w/ the R35.
08-25-11 | 07:26 PM
#35
^kickhard: No disagreement there, the GTR is one fast motha for sure, I've driven a few and they are scary fast even stock! My only wish list for the GTR was a manual tranny...
Hey since you have an 09 GTR, what is your opinion of the 2012 GTR? Do you think it's worth the money, love the new LED upgrade lights!
Thanks for the words on the NSX, it really is a nice timeless design but I just wish it was a bit wider like the newer cars (ZR1, Gallardo, R8, etc)
Hey since you have an 09 GTR, what is your opinion of the 2012 GTR? Do you think it's worth the money, love the new LED upgrade lights!
Thanks for the words on the NSX, it really is a nice timeless design but I just wish it was a bit wider like the newer cars (ZR1, Gallardo, R8, etc)
08-25-11 | 08:27 PM
#36
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 295
Likes: 0
From: Alabama
^kickhard: No disagreement there, the GTR is one fast motha for sure, I've driven a few and they are scary fast even stock! My only wish list for the GTR was a manual tranny...
Hey since you have an 09 GTR, what is your opinion of the 2012 GTR? Do you think it's worth the money, love the new LED upgrade lights!
Thanks for the words on the NSX, it really is a nice timeless design but I just wish it was a bit wider like the newer cars (ZR1, Gallardo, R8, etc)
Hey since you have an 09 GTR, what is your opinion of the 2012 GTR? Do you think it's worth the money, love the new LED upgrade lights!
Thanks for the words on the NSX, it really is a nice timeless design but I just wish it was a bit wider like the newer cars (ZR1, Gallardo, R8, etc)
My opinion on the 2012 GTR is this: I love the small upgrades like a stiffer chassis, slightly bigger brakes, better shocks, higher boost which gives it the higher HP rating, bigger down pipe tubes and intake tubes for better breathing, new style wheels, new blue color and the addition of the Black series. All these little things are nice but if I were in the market for a GTR I would get the 09,10,11 and save 20k-30k. The power output can be matched and exceeded with the cobb ecu tuning and all the upgrades on the 2012 will be barely noticeable to the average GTR owner. Now if I were a serious track junkie then the 2012 premium or Black Series might be my choice but I could still upgrade all those items on a 09 or as they call it now a CBA first chassis-DBA second chassis. Oh ya you will have to make sure the pre 2012 GTR you get is in warranty because the 2009's are starting to get out of warranty(3years/36,000mi) now. Although I feel Nissan should have made the warranty on the GTR longer for customer service sake and since this is Nissans "super car" they didn't :-(
Sorry for the long winded explanation but IMO a low mile 2009-2010-2011 would be more than adequate with the cobb tuning maps or custom tune
Oh ya about the manual trans i felt the same way as you do until I got use to and drove the GTR. It really is amazing. I never drive my car in the auto mode. It is so much fun and the shifts are so quick that I didn't miss the manual trans. The Trans IMO is what makes the GTR what it is. Without the trans none of the performance bench marks would have been achieved.
Last edited by kickhard; 08-25-11 at 08:37 PM.
08-25-11 | 09:03 PM
#37
When people say the r8 is slow, I don't think they really mean the car is actually slow. It's pretty fast, it'll beat the majority of the car on the roads and it'll hit 0-60 in 4 secs.
When people say the r8 is slow, they really mean that its slow for its price. Most cars in the same price bracket as the r8, >100k, have around 500 hp.
However you seem like your not so concern with speed and if your considering buying used, I see the r8 as still a decent option.
When people say the r8 is slow, they really mean that its slow for its price. Most cars in the same price bracket as the r8, >100k, have around 500 hp.
However you seem like your not so concern with speed and if your considering buying used, I see the r8 as still a decent option.
08-26-11 | 01:54 AM
#38
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 588
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From: AZ
Yeah true they are not slow. But I guess after driving my GTR around awhile everything seems slow. My car runs mid 10s in 1/4 and I have clocked a 0-60 in 2.98 on the stock run flats and this is really pretty average for lightly modded GTR's. Both cars you mentioned are just as fast as your ISF so in reality you are not gaining anything performance wise unless you go to the optional engines in either car. Again if it were me I would go the AM vantage route as it is much more exclusive and kills the R8 in the looks department. Post those pics when you get it :-)
I guess we will see which wins out my lust for the sexyness of the Vantage or my lust for the speed of the GTR. Although the GTR would be attainable quicker unless I'm willing to settle for the 380 hp vantage instead of the 420....
08-27-11 | 04:25 PM
#41
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
I haven't heard about these R8 reliability issues. Does anyone have links to forums or anything like that where a lot of R8 owners are complaining?
I don't get the hate on the 4.2 for "slow for price". Even if ignoring the silliness of comparing cars like this on the basis of value, what exactly is the R8 competing with at its price point? At a base MSRP of just over 110k, we're talking in the ballpark of a 997.2 GTS or the base 911 GT3. Maybe the last-gen V8 Vantage. The R8 4.2 is just not a very expensive car at all. The only monster hp car I can think of in that price range is the ZR1, and that's just a ridiculous outlier - it has a lot more hp than pretty much anything out there.
I wouldn't buy an R8, but mostly because I don't like AWD and because it's a car that is over-the-top styling-wise (ask anyone who owns one - it gets a ton of attention). It does have a lot going for it though; it's no performance slouch, has a nice interior, is midengined, and is available in MT - I'd have to think it's a consideration for a lot of people interested in buying performance vehicle.
I think you will see a lot more bargains on used GTRs in the near future as owners get stunned by maintenance costs. A guy who goes to my gym told me he just got rid of his '09 because it was just too expensive to track. I think the main reason we haven't seen a lot of GTRs flooding the used market is that a lot of them don't get much mileage.
The V8 Vantage is an awesome car. It's definitely a car that puts performance second, but it does everything it sets out to do really well and could hardly be considered a performance slouch in any case. I like it for many of the same reasons you do, in that it's different. I'd love for Lexus to make a competitor.
When people say the r8 is slow, I don't think they really mean the car is actually slow. It's pretty fast, it'll beat the majority of the car on the roads and it'll hit 0-60 in 4 secs.
When people say the r8 is slow, they really mean that its slow for its price. Most cars in the same price bracket as the r8, >100k, have around 500 hp.
However you seem like your not so concern with speed and if your considering buying used, I see the r8 as still a decent option.
When people say the r8 is slow, they really mean that its slow for its price. Most cars in the same price bracket as the r8, >100k, have around 500 hp.
However you seem like your not so concern with speed and if your considering buying used, I see the r8 as still a decent option.
I wouldn't buy an R8, but mostly because I don't like AWD and because it's a car that is over-the-top styling-wise (ask anyone who owns one - it gets a ton of attention). It does have a lot going for it though; it's no performance slouch, has a nice interior, is midengined, and is available in MT - I'd have to think it's a consideration for a lot of people interested in buying performance vehicle.
A local dealer has a 2010 GTR with 6k miles on it for 65K, man at that price point the GTR sure is tempting, I also found a lotus elise for 30k so for the price of an 09 AMV8 I could get a GTR as a DD and a Lotus as a light weight track day toy to save the wear and tear on the GTR. Damn so many toys so little money I guess we will see which wins out my lust for the sexyness of the Vantage or my lust for the speed of the GTR. Although the GTR would be attainable quicker unless I'm willing to settle for the 380 hp vantage instead of the 420....
I guess we will see which wins out my lust for the sexyness of the Vantage or my lust for the speed of the GTR. Although the GTR would be attainable quicker unless I'm willing to settle for the 380 hp vantage instead of the 420....The V8 Vantage is an awesome car. It's definitely a car that puts performance second, but it does everything it sets out to do really well and could hardly be considered a performance slouch in any case. I like it for many of the same reasons you do, in that it's different. I'd love for Lexus to make a competitor.
Last edited by gengar; 08-27-11 at 05:26 PM.
08-27-11 | 04:51 PM
#42
Lexus Champion
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,439
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From: CA
If you want pure speed: GT-R.
If you want overpriced/underpowered luxury: R8
If you want speed and luxury: M5
I know it's not one of the cars you mentioned, and the 5 series isn't as light as it used to be; but the M5 is a MONSTER!
I think it comes out this year or next.
If you want overpriced/underpowered luxury: R8
If you want speed and luxury: M5
I know it's not one of the cars you mentioned, and the 5 series isn't as light as it used to be; but the M5 is a MONSTER!
I think it comes out this year or next.
08-27-11 | 05:10 PM
#43
^^^
R8 Maybe overpriced, but its not under-powered. Especially with the 5.2 engine in it, that thing is a beast. M5 isn't even the same category if you ask me, that's a performance sedan. The GT-R & R8 are high end sports cars/low end exotics. Also, M5's are known to be nightmares when it comes to repairs/servicing on them.
R8 Maybe overpriced, but its not under-powered. Especially with the 5.2 engine in it, that thing is a beast. M5 isn't even the same category if you ask me, that's a performance sedan. The GT-R & R8 are high end sports cars/low end exotics. Also, M5's are known to be nightmares when it comes to repairs/servicing on them.
08-27-11 | 11:47 PM
#44
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 9,765
Likes: 178
From: California
Audi's reliability has improved greatly over the last six years. I have not read a thing about the R8 being unreliable. Additionally, every article I've read gives it great reviews all around. It's also THEE car to be seen in Hollywood, not to mention in a slew of hip hop videos. Audi is no fad. Along with some other exotic cars, it has been creating the fad for a while now.
As far as the OP's questions, I'd say you can't go wrong with either. I'd put the Audi as the styling winner and the Nissan as the performance winner. What's more important to you?
As far as the OP's questions, I'd say you can't go wrong with either. I'd put the Audi as the styling winner and the Nissan as the performance winner. What's more important to you?
08-28-11 | 01:04 AM
#45
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 588
Likes: 0
From: AZ
I think you will see a lot more bargains on used GTRs in the near future as owners get stunned by maintenance costs. A guy who goes to my gym told me he just got rid of his '09 because it was just too expensive to track. I think the main reason we haven't seen a lot of GTRs flooding the used market is that a lot of them don't get much mileage.
The V8 Vantage is an awesome car. It's definitely a car that puts performance second, but it does everything it sets out to do really well and could hardly be considered a performance slouch in any case. I like it for many of the same reasons you do, in that it's different. I'd love for Lexus to make a competitor.
The V8 Vantage is an awesome car. It's definitely a car that puts performance second, but it does everything it sets out to do really well and could hardly be considered a performance slouch in any case. I like it for many of the same reasons you do, in that it's different. I'd love for Lexus to make a competitor.
I'd love for lexus to make a competitor as well but I don't think it's in the cards. Then again I may be wrong, who thought lexus would come out with something like the LFA.
