Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro: Answering your power prayers

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro: Answering your power prayers

Nice driving review here of the Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro.

On a gravel-strewn, dead-end road 20 miles north of Sonoma, California's Infineon Raceway, the opportunity finally presents itself. We slot the R8's gated shifter into first, rev the engine to 3,500 RPM and drop the clutch. No wheel spin, no screeching tires, just an immediate and seamless conversion of potential energy into vision-warping thrust. Our skull snaps back into the headrest, our spine compresses against the seat and a few seconds later, we are running into the red.

As we hit the fuel cutoff at 8,750 RPM, it dawns on us: we totally forgot to breathe.

If forward momentum is so seamless and instantaneous that it temporarily halts the most basic of human needs, you know you're piloting something special. And the 2010 Audi R8 V10 is very, very special.