Born out of Audi’s success at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race, the R8 was the road-going supercar that many thought it would never make. With a few rare exceptions, volume car brands just don’t make supercars.
But after purchasing Lamborghini, Audi could leapfrog off its expertise, utilising select parts while putting its own high-quality twist on it. The R8 arrived in 2007, first with a V8 engine and then with a V10 a few years later. It was only the latter that continued for the second generation in 2015, and which has remained on sale for more than a decade.
But as Audi increasingly has to electrify its range and reduce its emissions, the V10 R8’s days are numbered, with its final blessing being this ‘GT’ model here.
The first generation bowed out with a GT version – a racier, lighter and more powerful version of the supercar. It’s much the same recipe applied this time around, with this R8 being the most focused version yet.
Only available in rear-wheel-drive guise, the power is increased to a mighty 612bhp, while also getting a whole range of styling changes to make it look more aggressive. There’s all manner of carbon fibre used across the design, while a large fixed spoiler is quite different to the R8’s usually more subtle rear. Just 333 R8 GTs are also being made.