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
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
