I despise valet parking. Unless the lot is only 1,000 square feet or the nearest public parking lot is a mile away, I avoid valet like the plague. I don't need some dude in a maroon vest joy riding in my car -- even if it's not really my car. I don't need to show off at the valet stand. When I'm driving something like the R8, it's even worse. But twice I've been driving the R8 and had to valet. The first time (photo above) was because the lot was about 1000 square feet, but it's right next to the restaurant so I don't mind. And the second time occured this weekend when the nearest public parking was a mile away. I reluctantly handed over the keys to maroon vest dude who was working solo. It's a tough feeling handing $130,000 over to somebody.
Anyway, when I got out of dinner, I handed the guy a $20 for the $7 parking charge. To make it easy, I even just asked for a 10 back. He informed me he had no change, only a 1 and a 20. I would have to check in the restaurant for change. They had none. I came back to the guy empty handed and the little snot was giving me attitude as if it was my fault he didn't have the change to do his job. "You have to pay for your service, sir." "Service? What, driving my car 30 feet to the other side of this building? Do you expect me to just pay you $13 extra for that? I may be allegedly rich, but I didn't get allegedly rich by being stupid." But I didn't say that. Instead, I ran over to a gas station for change and paid the little bastard -- no tip. I should've just driven off.
It sullied my evening and I couldn't help but feeling that he was treating me like this because I was a 20-something driving a flashy 130-thousand-something car. The sort of unwelcome attention I was lamenting over in Riswickland. Perhaps it would've been the same had I been driving the Focus, I don't know. Either way, my distaste for valet parking continues. Next time, I'll say, "Get in the car buddy. I'm parking her myself."
Among the few imperfections on our Audi R8 long-termer, you know other than the garbage gearbox, is the cheap door handle. Yeah, a petty shot, but for a six-figure car it feels ridiculously cheap. I mean like using coupons at Wal-Mart cheap. I even made a video so you can hear the hollow pop it makes every time you let go. Thankfully I only have to use it once per drive.
My high school reunion is coming up. It's a multiple of ten, but I won't say which one.
I have to drive something. Why not take advantage of the Audi R8? Or is turning up in Ironman's car the most utterly tool-ish move I could make? "Nice car, Dan. How long have you had it?" "Well, it's like this..."
The Nissan GT-R perhaps? Only the truly car saavy (and heavy-duty gamers) will know what it is. To everyone else it might simply register as yet another 350Z with an overwrought body kit. This one is a good car-guy filter. Fellow motorheads are always easy to talk to at awkward parties.
How about the Smart? Nah. Everyone thought I was a dork in high school (I drove a Ranchero with side pipes back then.) I'm not sure I want to remove all doubt with this one. But this is Southern California, after all, and I'd like to think we've all grown up a bit. Yeah, right.
The Pontiac G8 GT? Why not the Evo or STI? The Cadillac CTS is another good one.
I must point out that I am happily married and am not trolling in any way. Besides, no one but the valet (if there is one) is likely to see my borrowed ride.
Oh, sure. I could drive my own car--if it'll start. But who wants to turn up in a beater Miata with faded red paint and no A/C? Or in a minivan full of crumbs, for that matter? My wife sure doesn't, and she didn't even go to my high school!
What would you pick?
At this point I'm leaning toward the GT-R, myself.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 18,150 miles
One thing I dig about our medium-term 2008 Audi R8 is how light it feels from the driver seat. The Nissan GT-R feels lighter than 3,900 lbs, but it's still obviously a substantial car. The Corvette Z06 somehow doesn't feel notably lighter than the GT-R, despite being the lightest of the bunch by a longshot (3,162 lbs). But the 3,634-lb R8 -- trust us, we weighed it -- has a light-on-its-feet character in corners that the other two supercars just can't match. It feels compact, tossable and playful; the others feel a bit piggish by comparison.
Over at the Austrian's recent R8 post, however, three astute commenters gave voice to something I've thought from the first moment I laid eyes on the R8 in our garage: that front overhang is out of control! Go to Austria's post and check out the first picture -- looks like the car is about to tip forward and fall on its face, particularly given the clipped rear end. I know there's a (largely useless) frunk up there, but, dude. Those front wheels need to be moved about a foot closer to the front of the car.
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com @ 18,022 miles
Slummed it in the Audi R8 again this weekend. Had to drive to Monterey
to see what all the rich people were doing in Pebble Beach. Apparently
all that news of a recession hasn't hit the upper classes as there were
more new Ferrari's, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces than I could count.
That said, I didn't see another R8 once. Maybe I wasn't looking hard
enough, maybe there was a Deutsches Autoerscheinen that I missed, who
knows, but the R8's rarity cemented its status as the ultimate
anti-Ferrari. People waved, smiled and otherwise seemed to enjoy seeing
something other than a bright red F430 with shiny tires. The fact that
I left our long-termer covered in bugs and brake dust only added to the
effect.
"Why are those people staring at us?" my girlfriend asks. We're just trying to get some fruit, albeit from the popular Farmer's Market at the Grove in Los Angeles, but the facts don't change: The two of us are just doing some grocery shopping and people won't leave us alone.
"Ignore them" I tell her, "the poor don't deserve our attention." By the time my head stopped ringing from the smack to the head, we had miraculously found a parking space, exited the car and were sipping tripple iced espressos.
When returning to the car, bags in hand, we were startled by a group of teens surrounding the R8. "Great car!" "I saw this at the auto show!" "Is it fast?" My replies were pleasant and I didn't bludgeon or threaten any of them with the cane I had been carrying due to a knee injury. (I did make various threats to children playing, upset that they were on the lawn.)
I just wanted to put my groceries into the absurdly small frunk (front trunk), go home and go to bed. This wasn't Cars and Coffee, this wasn't Hot Import Nights; it was simply a hot Wednesday night where I happened to have a car and some coffee.
And this brings me to my thesis statement: Supercars are dumb.
Before you get your Countach poster all in a bunch, follow the jump.
What's that old joke about the ultimate in mixed emotions?
"Your ex-wife going over a cliff in your new Porsche."
I remembered that joke when I walked through the garage today and saw these three cars parked together. I kept trying to tell myself how cool it was to see the R8 and GT-R in close proximity, but the Smart Fortwo kept trashing my "dream garage" fantasy.
Maybe it was actually a good thing. Having two such amazing vehicles right next to each other might cause some sort of "cool-car overload," creating a temporal anomaly, unraveling the time-space continuum and destroying the universe! Admittedly, that's a worst-case scenario; the destruction might be confined to our own galaxy.
Either way, the Smart does an effective job of equalizing the "cool car" energy that could otherwise risk our total annihilation.
As part of my job writing model reviews for Edmunds, I take the opportunity to drive as many short-term cars that pass through here as possible. The more I drive the better, with more volume-selling cars being a wiser use of my time than limited production GT500KR-like things. But as I was about to grab the keys to the 2009 Mazda 6, I saw the Audi R8's switchblade hanging on the board beckoning me. I gave into temptation.
I was lucky enough to style in the R8 this past weekend, my first time to drive it. Although it was penned by Walter de'Silva, its modern sexy looks could easily have been shaped by architects Frank Gehry (Disney Hall shown) or Santiago Calatrava.
The R8 attracts so much positive attention not only because of its exotic looks, but because it -- or its driver -- doesn't have a negative image. Remember the old BMW and porcupines joke? Well the same thing could apply to Porsches, Ferraris, and Lambos too. But the Audi doesn't have such baggage. And although Lambos aren't uncommon on the fashionable West side of LA, I've only seen one other R8.
I didn't experience the psycho pursuit or cell-phone stalkarazzi that the other staff members have gone through. But my friends, co-workers, and a few strangers went absolutely bananas over it. As I was fueling, one guy asked to take some pics. "Go ahead and sit in it," I said. When he was finished, he looked like a kid who just opened his Christmas presents. And when I was rolling on Melrose, one guy saw the window was down, and shouted while smiling, "Hey, are you Ironman?" I just smiled and pointed to him. A female friend, begged for -- and got -- a ride.
Recently somebody told me that the Toyota Prius was being bought by poeple that don't like cars. I argued the point. "Everybody likes cars," I said. "Everybody."
And last week I was proven right. I was driving our long term 2008 Audi R8 to work, which essentially means inching along in traffic, while drinking coffee and talking on my cell phone. Normal morning. But imagine my delight when I looked over and saw this guy in the pictured slate gray Prius taking a picture of my car. He photographed it from several angles before lowering his camera and giving me the thumbs up, all while smiling like Theo Epstein the day the Dodgers took Manny.
Now, when you're in the R8 people take your picture. Happens 100 times a day. But the fact that this guy got it, despite being signed up for years of payments on that Prius should tell you something.
Yesterday around 4 pm, while stuck in a traffic jam near downtown Los Angeles, our long-term 2008 Audi R8 insisted it was 118 degrees outside. Trouble is, it was near room temperature in the City of Angels at the moment.
We'll have the glitchy thermometer addressed on monday morning when the R8 visits the dealer for a faulty front hood latch.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 16,855 miles
I got handed the keys to go on a short photo shoot location scouting mission. I drove up to Malibu on the PCH, which normally is the land of the rich and famous driving their 911 Turbos and Ferrari F430's. I figured the R8 wouldn't be that big of a deal.
I was wrong.
I stopped in the Malibu Village area to grab a coke. A swarm of people descended on the R8 as I was at the cash register. Normally I don't mind talking about the car I'm driving, but this day I just wanted to get back out on the road and figure out where I was going to shoot a three car comparison.
As I approached the car, I a family of tourists was standing in front of the car taking pictures of it, them with the car and so on. They noticed me standing there and gestured if it was ok for them to continue. I had no problem letting take a few more photos.
Once they finished they waved and nodded with a smile, the international "thank you". The oldest son approached me and said, "Your car is German. We are French."
"I'm happy for you."
I got in the car and drove away, not sure of what to make of their declaration and my reaction. Must have been lost in translation.
At this point, I've used the R8 for basic transportation around town and one long road trip. Yeah, it sounds great and handles nearly perfectly, but what keeps jumping out at me is how comfortable it is along the way.
It's a $120,000 mid-engined exotic, yet you don't have to fall into the driver's seat to get in. And once you're situated, it's not the least bit claustrophobic. The sight lines are good through the windshield and when you look over your shoulder you can actually see out the back window. It rides smoothly too, with none of the bucking and twitching you might expect from a car with low-profile tires and a tight wheelbase. In other words, the R8 is a real car and when it comes to exotics that's saying something. Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 15,830 miles
This job has given me the opportunity to sample a lot of impressive automobiles: Dodge Vipers, the Lotus Elise and Exige, a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Ford GT, Vettes, AMG Benzes, the occasional Ferrari, a plethora of Porsches and the Nissan GT-R. But none of them has elicted the kind of extended gawking, spontaneous cell-phone photography and ill-advised pursuit as this 2008 Audi R8.
It started on the 91 freeway as I was driving home. The guy in the car pool lane next to me held-up his followers for a good 5 minutes while his passenger shot dubious-quality photos with his cell phone. At one point people in three different cars on all sides of me were doing much the same thing. Is this what it's like to be Brad Pitt?
Last night my neighbor's cat let me know that our 2008 Audi R8 is the greatest thing since the Pontiac Solstice and its hammock-style cloth top. The cat, who goes by the name Mr. Fuku, partied hard on the right quarter panel before bedding down over the engine compartment.
This morning the manager at our local car wash let me know it would be $30 to remove the paw prints and dander, which is actually not bad for a true hand wash in West LA. We've decided not to risk putting on long-termer on the tracks for the customary semi-hand wash.
How many times can I get up to look out the window to see this beauty in my driveway?
But we couldn't let if just sit there. So we headed south toward San Diego but then remembered it was the last day of Comic-Con and didn't want anyone to mistake the Audi R8 for the Millennium Falcon. So we stopped off in San Clemente, former home of the former worst President of the U.S.
It's a quaint old town with a little shopping district, some nice restaurants and lots of Spanish mission type of architecture. All of the buildings look like Kim Novak should jump off of them. But I guess that was San Juan Capistrano.
The ride packed the usual excitement for other drivers. It really makes me nervous when you see cars looking at you in the mirror instead of the road. There's always somebody who takes your picture, somebody who wants to race, somebody in a Prius who yells at you as you drive by because you're destroying the environment. The usual crowd.
There is something accessible about the R8 that makes people want to talk to you. I can't imagine getting the same reaction in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Perhaps it's the newness of the R8. People haven't seen it before. And the style is exotic without being ostentatious. It makes people happy.
On the highway, the R8 is fun, fun, fun. Merging? No problem. Speeding? Can be a problem. Once the R8 gets going, its low hum lulls you into thinking you are driving at legal speeds. Until you look at the speedometer and "Whoa."
Starting off is very clunky in the lower gears, very similar to driving the Smart. No fooling. The transition from 1st to 2nd can be awkward until you learn to finesse it. Outside of the attention factor, the similarities end there. I was driving behind a friend in the R8 and he said when he looked in his rear-view mirror, he thought the R8 was going to eat him. The Smart on the other hand looks like it's about to be gobbled up by Ms. Pac-Man.
One of the interesting things about the R8 is that, although you can drive it as an automatic, it has no "Park" gear. You just put on the hand brake, notch the shifter into gear and shut her off.
Behind the seat is a handy storage area that keeps small items from bouncing around yet remain within arm's reach.
The nav system was a pain in the you-know-what. It gave me ridiculous directions and when I chose another path, kept telling me to make a u-turn. I mean, I must have passed twenty-five intersections before it finally shut up and readjusted itself. And then it still tried to re-route me back to its original course. I ended up shutting it off. The tiny map graphics were useless anyway.
Yesterday Santa Monica Audi performed a 15,000 mile service on our long-term Audi R8. Ken Maryan our service advisor could not have been more pleasant to deal with, and the work was done in a single day as promised.
They changed the oil and filter, checked the car over and installed a new dust and pollen filter to our climate control system. That's it. Total for parts: $185.06, which includes 9 quarts of synthetic motor oil.
What killed us was the labor. Two and a half hours at an incredible $160.00 an hour (Labor for our 1984 Ferrari 308 was only $120.00 an hour.) That's $400.00 in labor costs. Total for the job: $600.33.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 15,472 miles
Like Al said, some of us headed to Monterey this weekend for the big MotoGP race. I lucked out and scored the R8 for the 300+ mile drive, yeah rough life I know. Since I had to bolt up there on Sunday morning, I took the fast, but boring, Interstate 5 for most of the way.
True story: I'm rolling with the flow of traffic at around 90mph when our Escort radar detector blows up. I see a CHP on the other side about to cross the median, so I slow down to around 75mph (limit is 70) and wait to see what happens. He sits back for awhile, then fires up the left lane and pulls up alongside me. When I look over, he points to the car, gives a big thumbs up and then pulls away. Score one for the R8.
After surviving the less-than-smooth rural parking lot without a scratch, I took the R8 down some of central California's best roads on the way back. As much as I hate the transmission, it does work well when you're running hard.
Once I got back on the Interstate, I did find a new flaw in the Audi - you can't drive fast with the windows down. The buffeting from the wind creates a horrible resonance that makes it unbearable. Disappointing, but hardly a deal breaker.
It has taken me a while, but I've found a flaw in our long-term 2008 Audi R8.
When the car is equipped with the R-tronic transmission, as ours is, you push the shifter to upshift and pull it back to downshift. That's backassward. When you're upshifting, you're accelerating, so you should pull the lever. And when your downshifting, you're decelerating, so you should push the lever. That's how it's been in race cars for years.
Oddly, only Mazda and BMW get this right, even in their SUVs. The shifters in both our long term BMW X5 and Mazda CX-9 are as they should be, while the shifters in all our other cars, including the Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G8 GT and Hyundai Veracruz are backassward.
I know, I know, use the Audi's paddle shifters and the problem is solved, but I'm old school and still like to reach down and feel the action of the R8's aluminum shifter.
And another thing, the gear readout on the Audi's dash is way too low and too small. When you're flogging this car in manual mode, the gear readout should get larger for quicker reference.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 15,455 miles
We've had our long-term Audi R8 for six weeks, exactly half of its 3-month stay with us. And so far we've driven it 7,493 miles. Not bad.
According to its computer, our silver supercar is almost due for its 15,000 mile service, which would be its second bit of scheduled maintenance (the first was performed at 5,000 miles). We'll easily cover the remaining 700 miles this weekend, and take the car to Santa Monica Audi sometime next week. While it's there, we'll also have a couple of other small problems addressed. Minor stuff, including a slightly loose piece of console trim and a dying keyfob battery.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 14,534 miles
The above was the most expensive fillup we had in the course of our 2,650-mile road trip to Seattle and back. Granted, it was our biggest fillup as we'd always have to stop for food or a bathroom break and were only able to get it down to a little less than half a tank before we allowed ourselves to stop. But it made us glad that we didn't have to pay for the gas ourselves. This one fillup is more than the cost of one-way airfare to Seattle from L.A.! (Virgin America $79).
We had 10 fillups during our trip and burned through 146.9 gallons of premium. Our average fuel economy was 18 mpg; most of that was highway driving with some twisty roads. Best mpg: 19.7 (from biggest fillup). Worst mpg: 15.1 (first fillup).
In its short time with us, we've driven our long-term 2008 Audi R8 along both the X and Y axes of this great land. At this pace, it'll probably pass the Aura's mileage in about three days. And really, if you suddenly had an R8 you didn't pay for, you too would be thinking about driving it to the Yukon for no particular reason. Hey, that's actually sounds appealing.
Anywho, our R8 with R-Tronic transmission hit the track last week to see what she could do. Judging my Jacquot's comments, I think he likes it. I've included the numbers we achieved with the short-term R8 we tested a few months back that had the six-speed manual.
Here are just some extra shots taken of our 2008 Audi R8 during the long road to Seattle, Washington, and back. The shot above is taken facing away from that infamous Basshole Bar & Grill, facing the I-5. Temps must have been in the 90s so we parked the R8 under a huge tree.
In the parking lot at the summit of Mary's Peak near Corvallis, Oregon, after Jay tackled the twisties to get here. We had to take a break. That cyclist biked the whole way to the top, stopped for a bit of energy gel and then went back down the way he came. So hard-core.
Oldham has his weapon of choice. But does he know where the bogies are, and how many? This Valentine One I borrowed from my friend (thanks, Sarah F) has saved my bacon time and again on my roadtrip in the 2008 Audi R8.
And talk about range. At one point it alerted about three miles before I actually saw the cruiser.
Another time about 10 miles from the Oregon border, a Washington cop hit us with laser and the V1 exploded with bleeps and lights. With laser, these alerts are too little too late, and you're usually bagged. I had slowed ahead of time, though (call it spidey sense), and escaped unscathed.
Overall, I noticed how the box relieves me from having to constantly scan every overpass, clump of trees and on-ramps for patrol cars, instead allowing me to focus on other things. Like driving.
OK, I get that the 2008 Audi R8 is a totally hot-looking car. Even as I saw it while sitting in another car caravaning behind it, I couldn't help but drool, and I've already ridden in it for over 1,000 miles. And I know that of course people are bound to be curious about it. You don't see many of these on the road. But we've encountered sooo many a-holes on the I-5 because of it. I'm talking people who are cutting off other motorists just to drive beside it, who tailgate us, who squat in our blindspots while on the highway so we can't switch lanes when we need to.
So I thought I'd create a wall of shame, if you will, of said motorists who gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to be a celebutard being hounded by paparazzi. These are only the worst of the offenders.
It wouldn't be worth taking our long-term 2008 Audi R8 on a 2,300-mile road trip if we didn't find some crazy-good roads to experience along the way.
Route 34 lies just outside of Philomath, OR. It winds gently through the countryside and then forms a clump of cambered switchbacks just before the right turn to Mary's Peak Road. Mary is our kind of woman, judging by the way her 9.3-mile ribbon of joy jags through the Oregon woods, gaining 2600 feet of elevation on its way to a clearing near the summit.
The R8 is scintillating on this road. There is zero indication the front wheels are driven other than the fact that you're accelerating away from apexes in a way that few two-wheel-drive cars can (the 911 excepted).
Altitude saps some of the Audi's power up here, but the fact that you can fearlessly thrash a wide, $130,000 mid-engined supercar on bumpy pavement like this is a testament to the R8's versatility. It's forgiving, fast and totally engaging.
This is a special car. The more I drive it, the more the thought of returning its keys pains me.
I can tell that our Daytona Gray Pearl 2008 Audi R8 looks pretty intimidating on the highway by the way most of the left lane squatters skedaddle out of the way upon our approach.
Some motorists switch lanes even if it means falling in behind a slow-moving semi to get out of our path. And one time a Silverado 2500 almost switched lanes in front of us as we were cruising along, saw us in his driver side mirror and then moved back to his original position in the other lane as if to say, "Oops, pardon," he didn't want to get in our way. That NEVER happens.
Stopped our long-term 2008 Audi R8 for burgers and greazy garlic fries at Basshole Bar and Grill in Lakehead, CA. They were about as good as you'd expect from a place named "Basshole." There's a black AMG CLS55 with black wheels and blacked out taillights parked near the door.
An older guy inside the restaurant approaches just after we sit down. I already know he's the AMG owner. "Driving the Audi?" he asks.
Me: "Yup."
Older Guy: "That's the first one I've seen. How much power?"
Me: "About 420."
The guy's face lights up and a broad smile spreads across it. "Oh yeah? I have the Mercedes outside. It has 480 hp. When I race cars on the freeway, it pulls hard. I take it up to 90."
Me: "Hmm."
Older Guy: "What fuel economy are you getting?"
Me: "About 18."
The guy's face lights up again. "Oh yeah? I get 23 in my Mercedes. It pulls hard. Well, have fun with it."
With that he pats me sharply on the back before returning to his barstool as if to say, "Aww, better luck next time, young fella."
When choosing a car from our fleet to take on a long road trip, one of the things we usually factor in is does it have an auxiliary input or a way to connect an iPod/MP3 for road trip tuneage.
Surprisingly, the 2008 Audi R8, the car of Iron Man -- every technogeek's superhero -- doesn't come equipped with an aux input. Even our 2007 Nissan Versa had one. But our Audi only has two SD card slots. And who uses those?
Instead we had to resort to using an FM transmitter to hook our iPod up to the stereo...and change the station every time it gets static-y, which will probably happen a lot during this long trip.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 11,425 miles
Here's a foible I noticed while rocketing up the road in our long-term 2008 Audi R8. The sun visors.
The visors flip down, but they don't swivel over to the side. So when the day draws to a close, the sun makes an obnoxious appearance in the side windows.
Driving north in the flat, cloudless desert in the middle of the summer, this means the sun dazzles the driver of the R8 for roughly half an hour.
Then the sun sets and the R8 returns to 100% Awesome status.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 11,424 miles.
Who would be dumb enough to take our long term 2008 Audi R8 on a six-day, 2,300 mile road trip?
*raises hand*
Last time I drove an Audi R8, I proclaimed to those in our office whom would listen (thanks Mr. Goldfish) that the car is compliant and comfortable enough that one could drive it across the country without a moment's hesitation.
So now I'm putting that claim to the test. I'm taking it on a roadtrip to Seattle and back with a few stops along the way to visit family and to explore some cool roads.
First things first. Need to pack. How much stuff can you put in a mid-engine two seater? Turns out not much. The two duffels pictured above hold the brunt of stuff for two people and six days.
They fit quite nicely in the R8's trunk along with a gift for my sister, and there's at least two cubic centimeters left over:
Bonus space behind the seats:
Time to hit the road.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 11,155 miles.
When the tire shop said it would have to order a tire for our Audi R8 after last weekend’s blowout, I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap. Sure enough, when the tire arrived a couple days later the final tally after mounting and balancing was $450. No one ever said living with a supermodel was cheap.
So I get the coveted keys to the R8 for the weekend, doesn't get much better right? Well, yes and no. Saturday morning started out well enough. Clear skies, minimal traffic and a quick run to Angeles Crest Highway. I know it well, so the R8 was a good companion on its ridiculously pristine stretches of twisty asphalt.
Well, I should say, mostly pristine. About 30 miles in I came around a medium speed right hander only to find a random collection of granite sprayed across the pavement. My initial thought was to straddle the big rock on the right to avoid the several smaller stones on the left, but at the last second I figured tire damage was better than body damage.
And tire damage is what I got. The sizable boulder on the right took a chunk out of the sidewall and the air came pouring out in one big blast of "you're screwed dude". I pulled into a turnout to plot my next move. I didn't expect a spare, so I wasn't surprised to see a useless tire inflator kit. There was no cell phone service that far into the mountains, so I made the four mile walk to the nearest call box.
A couple hours later, the R8 was deposited into the parking lot of our local tire dealer. No shops in L.A. had one of the R8's front tires in stock so it would have to wait until later in the week to get fixed. Such is life with a brand new supercar. We'll let you know what it costs us when it returns.
After four days, 10 states, 2,877 miles, one quart of Castrol Synthetic, one mullet head, and two fantastic BBQ lunches, we coasted into Santa Monica on fumes.
Over the course of the trip, the Audi R8 drank 144.8 gallons of premium gasoline and averaged 19.8 mpg.
At nearly $5 a gallon, you do the math. But I'll tell you this...
We're finally out of Texas. Five states to go; New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California. We could just bang due west and get this trip over with, but come on, we're in an Audi R8 and if there's anyplace in this country you can still go fast it's in the wide open spaces of New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and California.
Plus Monument Valley is just a few short hours away. As is Route 66. It'll add about 500 miles to our trip but so what. We're having fun, and the Audi R8 is comfortable enough that another 500 miles won't be much trouble.
Here are some photographic highlights. Not much to tell, besides the R8 is running perfectly (it got an scheduled oil change at 5,000 miles and will be due for another at 15,000), and my co-driver Scott Jacobs has a bladder the size of a pea.
I'd also like to report that all that BBQ back in Lockhart, Texas has not come back to haunt us.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 9,022 miles
That green in this blurred image of the R8's speedometer reads cruise. You gotta love a car that lets you set the cruise control at a buck twenty. Most don't. The Audi's awesome high speed stability doesn't even make it a moment...
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 8,697 miles
