Personally.. If I were seriously looking for a new sports car, I'd want it NOW.. get the GTR in spring!

If you wanted to wait to pick up an R8, I'd definitely be weighing my other options: some Porsche, Gallardo, or maybe something even cooler, that I dont even know about, coming out in 2 years. I dont care for the R8.

 

there a reason u dont see too many r8 around.. lol.. there in the shop... I would go for the GTR...if you want speed.. if you owant confort i would go for aston martin.. or mercedes cl550 they have one comfy seats..

 

^^ The V8 / V12 Vantage makes my knees go weak. There's something so sexy about that car.

 

^ amen!! The V8/V12 Vantage is one sick ride!!!

 

New R8 front end?

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/23/i...-next-audi-r8/

 

^^ Meh, I think I like the current one more. Audi's going a little far with this "LED ribbon" thing

 

Wow, a lot of food for thought.. I knew i could count on you guys for info!
Now i am seriously reconsidering.. I am a longtime Datsun Z fan/driver, so the GT-R has been my dream. Guess i will have to convince the Mrs that the Nissan is the better choice. I think the R8 is a beautiful machine, but i am not a fan of poor reliability- hence my love for Z cars: Great looks, cheap and easy to maintain. And terrific performance for the early seventies- but i feel the need for more than 1973 performance at this point! Again, thanks for your input.
Jeremiah

 

GT-R over the R8 any day of the week! You get a tune, downpipe, intake, exhaust, that thing would be a ****ing monster!

 

Get the Nissan GTR instead. The Audi is not going to last as long

 

This is actually what I've been going through in my head. The ISF is very nearly paid off, and while I love it (track day was epic) I really do want to try a new ride. I was debating the R8/GTR/AMV8/911TT

My thoughts:
R8 still overpriced imo, and I've had bad experiences with Audi's reliability
GTR a beast best bang for the buck but to anyone other than a car guy it has no prestige
911TT fast, has prestige but too common among people I know, plus the interior styling doesn't appeal to me.

I think I've settled on getting the AMV8 (09+). Its sexy as hell, sounds amazing, with 420 hp has just as much power as a stock F. Its a hand built exotic that turns heads, who cares if it's "slow" compared to the rest. I figure the AM is the least practical car so I might as well get it now while I'm young and single, then later if I need back seats get a GTR, then when I need 4 doors I can go back to an F (or if I'm smitten with AM get a rapide haha).

 

I think a lot of you guys are over estimating the GT-R and underestimating the R8

And infinus I would definitely swap the AMv8 and 911TT. AM V8 is way too slow and the 911 TT has TONS of modding capability

 

Some of the former Audi workers have even confirmed my last statement. Zero reliability. It's amazing to me to see so many of these cars on the road ..... and everyone says the same thing, an overpriced Volks with problems. Great thing to have with a car you're spending big money on. Like I said, the car line is just a current fad. Hopefully people will smarten up at some point.

 

Well one of the reasons I chose the AMV8 over the 911 is for the same reasons I chose the ISF over the M3. Exclusivity. For me its not as fun owning a car when I pull into a parking lot and there are the same car. I go to work and there are 911TT's and M3's in the lot, I go to church and the same thing, yet no AM's. For me exclusivity is an important factor. I think that for a change I'd like to try comfort and style over just raw speed. The Vantage still has plenty of power to beat most cars you'll run across on a daily basis. Also as far as speed I'm going to stick to taking it to the track, we have monthly meets and I can go fast with no worry about tickets. I think I may be purchasing a lotus as a track car, the elise has come down considerably in price.

 

The proof is in the performance and right now the audi spends more time in the service department than on the road.
There is a reason why these guys are over estimating the GTR

Unless you are a Porsche nut all 911's look the same.

infinus-It sounds to me like you really are not concerned with the best performance rather to me it sounds like you want something to be seen in that has some exclusivity. if that is the case then get the AM v8. Its a beautiful ride

 

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