Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

2 6 1 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I I f there was a defining sports car of the noughties, it had to be the Audi R8. It arrived in the Middle East back in 2008 after its global reveal in 2007 and instantly became a benchmark sports car of its generation. The R8 was voted the 2008 Autocar Middle East Car Of The Year by a panel of judges who spent a full week testing over 50 candidates on road, track and literally under the spotlight in the studio. It still ranks today as the most definitive consumer road test ever undertaken in the Middle East, and it was a clear winner. Its combination of Italian-rivalling supercar looks mixed with German functionality was wrapped around Audi’s proven 4.2-litre V8, which was potent enough to be quick but not developed so far to the point of being unreliable. It really was, and remains, the everyday supercar. Fast forward to 2016 and we have its successor, the all-new R8; and while it looks familiar, it’s a completely new beast with the biggest change being that the V8 has been ditched in favour of the Lamborghini-derived 5.2-litre V10 in regular and plus guises. That bit concerns me. I’m hoping that by being exclusively Lambo V10-powered, Audi hasn’t chased horsepower figures and marketing hyperbole over good old-fashioned ease of driving and reliability. I know that just made me sound like an old man, but I can now admit that I wrote this line as part of my prelude to the car before climbing behind the wheel. Only time will tell on the reliability part but as far as driving is concerned, rest assured it’s even better from the driver’s seat. The only concern I had with