News: Audi R8 2013

Audi has updated their flagship, R8. And by saying update, Audi being Audi, it is nothing much. But as the saying goes, don't fix it if it hasn't gone wrong. 

New front headlamps. Looks good in blue

Rear lights are very very modern. Note that the exhaust end is round now. 

What has been changed has been subtle.The front splitter, rear diffuser, grille, exhaust pipes and most notably, the light clusters are all new. The tail pipes has been revised to a single circular pipe at two ends, the front and rear bumpers have been revised very mildly and the lights have been redesigned to a more updated look. 

With the roof off

Now this is what I call sexy.

A huge change in the car has to be its transmission. Instead of the dreaded R-tronic gearbox, you now get a 7 speed S-tronic gearbox which improves gear changes to a mere hundredth of a second. The S-tronic gear is basically two multi-plate clutches that engages with two independent sub-transmissions to select gears alternately. You still get the manual one for this car and trust me, it's good.

Interior remains the same to me

The engines are the same but the power from it has been bumped. The 4.2l FSI V8 now pushes 424 bhp & 430 Nm. The 5.2l FSI V10 though gets 2 variants. The base version produces 518 bhp & 530 Nm while the Plus model is bumped up to 542 bhp and 540 Nm. Mated to the new S-tronic transmission, the V8 makes the century sprint in 4.3 seconds (4.6 in the spyder) and the V10 Plus gets it done in 3.5 seconds ( 3.8 for the spyder. The base V10 though does it in 3.6 seconds, just shy of 0.1 seconds, not that you'd notice.

Yeap, definitely the same.

This new update is set to roll on the European streets at the end of this year. Prices start at €113,500 (coupe) and €124,800 (spyder) for the base model while the V10 is priced at €154,600 (coupe) and €165,900 (spyder). The range topping V10 Plus is priced at a cool €173,200. You only get one price for the plus version only because it comes in coupe only form. You want one? Not me though, I'd have the roofless MP4-12C instead.