The new Audi R8 V10 plus Coupe with full Audi Sport Performance Parts package is a long name for a car with a very short UK sales window: just five of the £176,560 supercars will be sold here, strictly on a first-come, first-served basis.
Each finished in Misano red, the Audi Sport Performance Parts R8 has been created as a factory honing programme by Audi Sport. Only 44 will be sold globally. And they’ll all be identical.
So what’s different, to justify that eye-watering price? A full wind tunnel-developed carbon fibre reinforced plastic aero kit for starters, including large fixed rear wing and a diffuser with red elements.
There’s a deep splitter at the front, bigger air inlets, and tuned canards that mimic the previous R8 GT. On the side, Audi’s fitted aero add-ons behind the rear wheelarches to focus airflow, plus side skirts with big Audi Sport logos.
The result? 250kg of downforce at 205mph, 100kg up on the standard car. At a more sensible 93mph, the car still doubles downforce, to 52kg.
Exotic milled alloy wheels, first seen on the latest RS5 Coupe, save 8kg in unsprung mass, and are clothed in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. Behind, there’s a weight-optimised three-way coilover suspension setup and carbon ceramic brakes.
The interior changes are less dramatic, although track drivers will appreciate the grippy Alcantara steering wheel with red 12 o’clock stitching. The naturally-aspirated 5.2-litre V10 doesn’t have any more power than the regular 610hp plus either, although with all that extra downforce, suspension ability and cup tyres, it arguably doesn’t need it.
Audi also amusingly boasts that each one of its 115 dealers will take orders for the new (deep breath) R8 V10 plus Coupe with full Audi Sport Performance Parts package. At least 110 of them risk being disappointed, though.
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