Considering going from Z4MR to R8. Thoughts? (UPDATE: Bought a V10 R8!)

[Yorkie Z]

Come on JT, how was the test drive?

[markplant]

To the op, I've just scanned this thread an didn't see it mentioned so here goes
There's a known issue around the front strut tops which will crack the main frame , you won't see this without taking the front trunk liner out , and on one side the wiper linkage is still in the way, according to the YouTube video I'll link to in the US the insurance companies will total loss on a car with this , even though to look you wouldn't see anything wrong, there is a strengthening kit available , I'm unsure if this only effects certain years
https://youtu.be/QOlvG1QbCDU

[ChrisT70]

20170604_123728-2124x1195.jpg (235.1 KiB) Viewed 2300 times

I just sold this earlier in the year for £46k.was very high spec, 18k miles, 2009, full carbon and extended leather, special order colour in 2009 for a v8 (sepang blue metallic with titanium finish rims), 3k stereo upgrade (1200w) and a switchable eisenmann exhaust which was absolutely stunning.
It was a £94k car back in the day when specd up apparently.
All I can say is it got more positive attention than any other car I've had including a 993 S. It went well, gripped well, fab sounds and just had presence.
2 yr service at Audi was £768 and lasted 2 days. Mag ride shocks can be sorted for under 2k. Frame cracks are rare and not after 2009 apparently.
V10 if you can stretch is even better.
R8 clutch is £4k or so fitted with engine out on a v8. A.c. pump fail is engine out. Rare fail tho.

Spec and condition are everything, there are dogs out there in the low 30's now and run by people who can't afford to run them properly.
I'd have another tomorrow and I might yet go v10.

[JT_0306]

Come on JT, how was the test drive?

Sorry for the silence. Mental week or so since I saw the R8

Thanks everyone for the various posts. Some really great write ups, helpful hints and interesting points on the R8. This forum is a great community

Yorkie – how have you been enjoying the MR? I hope it has lived up to expectations and not given you too many headaches?

SEEING THE R8, IN SUMMARY: I wasn't blown away, which I think I need to be given the price tag. However, the context is important (more below - blast in the sun in the MR on the way there, then a quick look at the R8 Couple in the wet). I think I need to give it another go.

More details below for those who want them.

A BLAST IN THE MR ON THE WAY THERE ANCHORED MY EXPECTATIONS. I LOVE THAT CAR:
I started the day leaving London in the sunshine with the roof down in the MR. Although I was mainly on motorways most of the way to the R8, it was a glorious day and there were a few opportunities to give it a blast – including some tunnels. It was a great reminder of how much I love having the roof down, how special the engine is and how awesome the sound is (I’ve got an Eventuri Intake and H&S exhaust – which I love). The Z4M is special

I APPRECIATED BUT DIDN’T LOVE THE R8:
By the time I reached it the weather was grey and raining. I had limited time, as did the dealer. It looked great and it certainly has something special/supercar-esk about it. Can’t deny loving a V8. However, it didn’t appeal to me more than the MR. If anything, I didn’t feel as strongly about it. I think there are two main reasons:
1 / Size and comfort. It felt more spacious inside than the MR. I felt further away from the far door of the car, further back from the windscreen and further away from the corners of the car. There are benefits to this for those who appreciate them. But to me, I just felt a bit less connected to the car / it felt less intimate then the M. It was also a bit more comfortable. In particular, the seats felt a bit more ‘loungy’. Again, there are benefits to this but, for me, it added to the sense of feeling a bit less raw.
2 / Coupe and sound isolation. Hard to know to what degree to difference in sound is due to being in a coupe vs. the setup of the R8 specifically. Regardless, after the blast in the MR on the way, this felt a bit more muted and less ‘sharp’ which again removed some of the raw exhilaration for me.
Some smaller points: I found the slim steering wheel a bit lacking after the chunky M wheel, which I have always loved. The gated shifter is cool, but I didn’t think “I have to have this!”. The rear of the car seemed a little ‘bulbous’ after the MR (I have a thing about the curve of the MR boot lid, the lights and the MR rear generally – I just love them).

VARIOUS OPTIONS FROM HERE:
I left a bit deflated, but recognised it wasn’t the ideal opportunity for the R8. I loved getting back in the MR. I felt like I did the first time I got in one. And started thinking about how the money saved could go towards many other exciting things (cameras, drones and other toys).
As I have reflected on it more, I have four main thoughts:
1 / I should try an R8 V8 again, when my enthusiasm comes back.
2 / I can’t get the idea of a convertible V10 manual R8 out of my head. Most of the time I think that is just a step too far financially (it would start to eat into house money). But sometimes I think you only live once, it is possible at the moment, and I have a window of 1-2 years before I expect to have kids and this all goes out the window. I would say there is a 5-10% chance of me going crazy and doing it.
3 / There are other cars that may better meet my needs. I would love to try an Evora. But I would want to get into an S or ideally 400, which is getting into R8 V10 money so faces the same issue mentioned above. And it is not convertible – which I am increasingly convinced is something critical to me. Another potential is a V8 Vantage, but I suspect that won’t be raw enough for me. Or going in the other direction away from the M. I am finding myself watching Exiges and Caterhams more on YouTube now.
4 / Continue enoying loving the M and save the money for a great ‘dad-mobile’ when the time comes. Perhaps I could find a 10-year-old E9X, or an AMG estate rather than a Mondeo/A4/equivalent

Thanks for reading.

[MrPT]

Great write-up.

5 / Suspension, brakes, lightweight seats, lightweight alloys. Lots more stuff you can do the Z4MR which will make it even better.

[Mister T]

I think you should definitely try a 4.7 Vantage with the Sports Pack.

[JT_0306]

Great write-up.

5 / Suspension, brakes, lightweight seats, lightweight alloys. Lots more stuff you can do the Z4MR which will make it even better.

Thanks! And indeed. Some of that is on my to-do list

[JT_0306]

I think you should definitely try a 4.7 Vantage with the Sports Pack.

Thanks. I'll have a look around!

[Mister T]

I think you should definitely try a 4.7 Vantage with the Sports Pack.

Thanks. I'll have a look around!

If you're anywhere near Oxford I can take you out in mine

[Vanne]

20170604_123728-2124x1195.jpg

I just sold this earlier in the year for £46k.was very high spec, 18k miles, 2009, full carbon and extended leather, special order colour in 2009 for a v8 (sepang blue metallic with titanium finish rims), 3k stereo upgrade (1200w) and a switchable eisenmann exhaust which was absolutely stunning.
It was a £94k car back in the day when specd up apparently.
All I can say is it got more positive attention than any other car I've had including a 993 S. It went well, gripped well, fab sounds and just had presence.
2 yr service at Audi was £768 and lasted 2 days. Mag ride shocks can be sorted for under 2k. Frame cracks are rare and not after 2009 apparently.
V10 if you can stretch is even better.
R8 clutch is £4k or so fitted with engine out on a v8. A.c. pump fail is engine out. Rare fail tho.

Spec and condition are everything, there are dogs out there in the low 30's now and run by people who can't afford to run them properly.
I'd have another tomorrow and I might yet go v10.

I don't get this, you get a thorough bred of an engine frame combination, and then Chuck in a 3k radio...

Complete waste of money. Only one song should be playing on that radio, and that's the note of that glorious power house.

I guess people use these things for other things than what they are made for, which is spirited driving.

4k clutch in comparison to our cars is crazy. Parts are the lower part of 1k us and then you can pretty easily drop and replace it yourself.

Thinking of pulling my aircon out ATM. Weighs a lot that stuff..

Beautiful cars , shity interiors and even worse dash and controls. Awesome engines though and sorted frames. But yeah sounds like maintenance is even a worse nightmare that the special m tax our cars attract if you can't swing your own spanners a bit.

[Jaw]

Recently came very, very close to buying an R8. The only thing that kept it in the list was the super car feel. With the 911 and more so with the AMV8 there was just a certain x factor that they had which you don't get in a lot of other cars - I think it's the only reason I moved on from the Z, wanting to try a few new cars and wanting some of that x factor. They cost about the same as the boxster s here and again until you get up to serious speeds, are no faster ( in fact the 911, r8, boxster s, m3 and v8 vantage are all closely aligned if we're talking 'ring times, z4m not far behind, not to mention with the toys you could add for the cost of buying and running an r8)

I've test driven a few including on track (the gated gearbox is beautiful - the S-tronic felt too slow imo). It just didn't feel that exciting dynamically, I actually enjoyed the Z4MR and boxster I went for in the end much more on the road (probably because convertible?) So thats a big factor maybe. Looks aside, it felt very much 'just' like an Audi

But - and it was the same with my Aston, every time I stepped away from one, I just had to look back.

Cost wise, it's a halo car essentially - so you have to expect the associated premium. In the Z it was a bit of a good position in that body parts largely were shared with the non-M z4's and performance wise parts were often shared with the M3's which means more volume and cheaper parts whereas the R8 is more of a unique proposition.. I really love the interior and exteriors of the things, I just found them strangely boring - too well rounded maybe?

That said, I've always lusted after a gallardo which is largely the same car in principle, so I think it's much more an emotive stance rather than any real tangible one.

That said, all the above was on 2011-2013 v8's so maybe with a later model I might have a completely different experience

[JT_0306]

I think you should definitely try a 4.7 Vantage with the Sports Pack.

Thanks. I'll have a look around!

If you're anywhere near Oxford I can take you out in mine

Thank you Mister T. Very generous.

In case you don't stumble across it elsewhere, you may appreciate this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sObYXczsFrY

[Mister T]

Thanks. I'll have a look around!

If you're anywhere near Oxford I can take you out in mine

Thank you Mister T. Very generous.

In case you don't stumble across it elsewhere, you may appreciate this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sObYXczsFrY

V12S is next for me

Think Catchpole sums it up quite nicely - the Vantage is a very analogue car. It might not be the fastest, but there's just something about the way it feels.

[Mad Professor]

AS few years back I drove H2H on an expereince day : E92M , Gallardo , Vantage and an R8
-and the lasting memory was def the Audi
The way it handled was in a truly different league - I would love one but prob cant afford to maintain it
Would like to try an Evora sometime

[Babw]

If you're anywhere near Oxford I can take you out in mine

Thank you Mister T. Very generous.

In case you don't stumble across it elsewhere, you may appreciate this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sObYXczsFrY

V12S is next for me

Think Catchpole sums it up quite nicely - the Vantage is a very analogue car. It might not be the fastest, but there's just something about the way it feels.

I agree but it's a rather lack of engineering rather than something that's been engineered in. Same goes for a Jag compared to a BMW or Land Rover compared to an Audi. The non German cars have a certain unquantifiable "feel" that makes them stand out compared to the superior German engineering.

The only manufacturer I find that bucks the trend is Porsche, they manage to engineer in exceptional quality but also bags of feel into all their cars, I drove a Cayenne for the first time recently and that drove better than some sports cars.