[German Moderns] Porsche strongest's competitor : Audi R8

Sorry for the lack of posts folks, work is really taking all my time. Even more, i'm learning to restore with putty, and also working on a computer program to index cars... And of course real life priorities are always more important. But i try to keep on the activity, don't be afraid to leave some comments or suggestions, i'm always open to new ideas to improve my blog :)
Let's start with the subject of the day : The Audi R8!

Inspiration of the Audi R8

Although the R8 has been released in 2007, Audi's idea to invade luxuous sports cars market isn't new : the first concept car around this theme was shown in 1991 at the Tokyo Motor Show, and was called the Avus Quattro. For a 1991 concept, its design was awesomely slick and the silver paint made it look like a Mercedes concept. Avus was an acronym for Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße GmbH, that is a famous german race circuit. The Avus's engine was a W12 (12 cylinders disposed as a W), and its 509 horsepower were able to drive the car up to 340 km/h, and accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds. It was a real beast!

Hot Wheels introduced the Avus in the 1993 regular casting line, with its original silver color. Car lines are well reproduced... but unfortunately, as almost every Hot Wheels, the wheels are completely off. It has been produced until 2001, and even more unfortunately, in a variety of strange colors, just as the two ones i got. Respectively, the dark/gold one is the 1998 Dash 4 Cash's one, and the black with red dots is the 1998 Tech Tones Series's one. The casting and the car is overall good, but these colors.... where's realism? Anyway, these are children favorites, and they will surely stay in my collection for a long time.

2002 R8.

ADT real car skin.

Another inspiration became from the other R8, as the racing car. Introduced in 2000, it's surely one of the most famous modern racing car, especially because of all its pedigree. The Mans Series were really popular among German and English car makers, and Audi thought it would be a good idea to join in. Unveiled in 2000, the R8 is mounted with a twin-turbo V8 engine offering 610 horsepower. The main chassis of the car has been designed like a LEGO model : any part can be changed, and changed quickly. The car was really strong from the beginning, and won the Le Mans 24 hours in all its years of existence : 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. It also won the American Le Mans Series all those years, the European Le Mans in 2001 and the Le Mans Series in 2004. The car was replaced in 2006, even if it was still competitive.

The R8 Race Car has been admirably reproduced by the obscure chinese maker New Ray. New Ray is recognized to do quality 1:18 replicas, but its 1:64 diecasts are quite rare... but they worth the search. The replica is the 2005 edition of the R8, and is just fantastic. Everything falls in place, mirrors and decals are well done, the wheels are perfect : it's truly standing out in my collection. I personally prefer the old silver R8s, but the white suits it well. It even comes in a plastic box! It was quite expensive though, around 5$ for the casting... and was found in a small shop in Quebec's Old Quarter.

Talking about the car now

Still not tired after this long introduction ? Let's talk about the real deal now : the real and awesome R8. Introduced in 2007, it's the first Audi's sports car, and is intended to compete with famous brands such as Porsche, Ferrari and Aston-Martin. Offering an aggressive design, the LED lights are making a real impact the first time you see it. Not happy with being the first offer in this domain by Audi, the car is also featuring the first mid-engine V8 developed by the brand. It offers 420 hp to its client, making it able to reach 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, while offering a "bestial" sound. It has been claimed as a real reference in the segment, because of its near-perfect handling, while offering a high level of interior confort. It was a real success and forced Audi to produced more than 20 units per day. It has also been declined as a V10 version, because of few fans were saying that the car was not enough "radical".

The R8 is a car that has been reproduced many times in diecast, in a large variety of scales. In 1:64, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Siku all made a replica. As i'm not a fan of having multiple variations of the same car (i enjoy the variety), i do simply have the Matchbox, in two units. The Matchbox is an awesome replica of the real car, even if the roof is a tad too high. Wheels suits it well, and the tampos are just perfectly made. I have the 2009 black edition, and the 2010 blue 10-pack one. It has been introduced in 2007 (just as the real car), and has been produced in a large variety of colors since.It's hard to tell which colors fits it best... I might go with the blue, because it makes the car lines stand better. It also includes rear tampos. The 2010 white one and the 2011 recently released red are also really really nice.

Did i say i was a fan of the car ?

An R8 for girls

"For girls" is of course not intended to discriminate R8's fan base. But the R8 Spyder is certainly even sexier than the normal one. Only offered in 2010, the Spyder is made with a soft-top roof, and is equipped with the R8 V10's engine. It is certainly, in my humble opinion, one of the most desirable car of the actual market.

Siku, the german car maker, made a replica of the first R8 Spyder shown, that is with a red colour and silver windshield border. As all the Siku, it is really well detailed, but the scale is off : the car is way bigger than a real 1:64 diecast... And what's wrong with the wheels? I mean, where are the holes? On another side, i must that car lines are just perfect, the interior is so much detailed that it looks real, and the lights are a nice add. The red color makes it real sexy too! Siku are quite rare around here in Quebec, but there's a few in a store called "Le Club Jouet"... at an horrible expensive price : around 8$ for a single casting. But when i saw the R8 Spyder, i had to buy it!

Scale difference is evident here.

Enjoy the pics folks!