BUYER’S GUIDE: Audi R8 Mk2

WHEN Audi unveiled the original

R8 in 2006, it really set the cat among the pigeons. Here was a car that was ferociously quick and looked sensational, and yet it was as easy to drive as Audi’s more mainstream saloons and hatchbacks.

While the original R8 was available with a choice of V8 or V10 engines, the Mk2 car only came with the latter. That meant even the entry-level model could do almost 200mph, with its incredible acceleration made all the more accessible because four-wheel drive was fitted as standard.

Now the R8 Mk2 is no more, because after an eight-year production run, it was axed last summer. There will be no direct replacement, so if you want one of the most usable supercars ever built, now is the time to track down your perfect R8.

History

THE R8 Mk2 coupé arrived in summer 2015, with either 532bhp or 601bhp 5.2-litre V10 engines, the latter sold as the V10 Plus. By the end of 2016, the first examples of the R8 V10 Spyder had been delivered in the UK. At first only the 532bhp engine was available, but by summer 2017 there was also a Spyder V10 Plus, too.

All R8s featured quattro four-wheel drive until March 2018, when the 532bhp rearwheel-drive V10 RWS coupé and Spyder went on sale, limited to 999 units globally. All 4WD R8s got more power from spring 2019, producing 562bhp, or 611bhp for the V10 Plus, which was renamed the V10 Performance. By January 2020 the RWS was a standard part of the range, and from October 2021 it had 562bhp.