I’m a diehard Porsche fan and I have been since I saw the wide hips of an early 911 Turbo and slapped the poster on my wall. That being said, when I cheat on Porsche, it tends to be with Audi. S5, S5 Cab, modded Q5, I’ve had fun with a number of them. Audi set the high-water mark for raising the cachet of a brand with a halo car when they launched the R8 in 2006 and then raised the bar again in 2008 when they added the 5.2 V10 engine to the lineup.

I’ve had the R8 V10 on my bucket list since I first saw one fly by me on I90 like I was standing still. The first generation R8 V10 (2008 to 2015) shares a lot of parts including the drivetrain with the Lamborghini Gallardo. It’s essentially a Lamborghini in a tuxedo which is one of the main reasons I love it. For Marvel fans, the R8 has been featured extensively as the supercar of choice by Tony Stark / Iron Man.

As I started thinking about my next fun car, the R8 was on the top of the list. Specifically the first generation R8 with the V10 engine and a gated manual transmission. Audi didn’t make a ton of these cars, and many have been driven hard and modified poorly. After a few months of searching, I came across a very low mileage example, with zero modifications, a clear history and from a dealer close by that has a good reputation. After some quick negotiation, they gave me a great trade value for the Spyder (more than I paid), a good price for the R8, and I made the drive down to Portland to GrandPrix Motors to finalize the swap. It will be a fun car to experience for a year or two, and I think it will hold it’s value so the miles should be close to free.

Some photos from my first few weeks with the R8:

A few photos from a fellow photographer, Darren Flemming (_flemingphotography on IG) at some recent Avants events: