-It's "cool" to grow old with the 911 and not so much the R8 since it lacks the heritage. For example, imagine you bought the V8 version. You're going to want the V10 really bad. You have the 997.1TT and it's down on power and tech compared to the 997.2, yet you have the Mezger/GT1 block which won LeMans.

-R8 is definitely much more extroverted and you will be the center of attn whereas the 911 takes a back seat. R8 kills the 911 in this dept.

 

Having spent a good amount of time driving both, this is what I would say.

Stock vs Stock = R8 V10 all day.

If you have any plans to modify, even just chip/exhaust = 997.1 or 997.2 Turbo without a doubt. The rush of driving a modded 997 Turbo outweighs any possible benefit the R8 can offer.

 

That is the only thing that scares me away from the R8...To much attention.Don't really like the attention.However, sitting in that beautiful cabin with that wonderful exhaust tone I could probably keep my eyes on the road and deal with it.The second of time that the R8 is slower really does not phase me because how often are, or can you drive ***** out in the city of Los Angeles.

 

My impression comes from an R8 4.2 vs. a 997 Tiptronic.

I found the interior layout of the Audi better and felt roomier. My impression of the 997 is it's rather noisy (tire/road) for a daily driver and the first impression of the Audi was, "I can drive this all day, every day.".

That being said the appeal of a 997 TT PDK overcomes everything.

 

No matter what the 8700 RPM of a screaming V-10 must be a rush. Something I have always dreamed of in a GT3RS turbo fantasy.

Audi had about as a good of a first effort as is possible with the R8.

Interestingly, it seems that Audi/VW/Porsche/Lambo are on a convergent path as far as platforms and engineering goes. Probably not the best long term outcome as there won't be as much as much "competition" per se, but there will be a lot of technology and economies of scale. I wonder if 10-15 years years from now people will be lamenting the VWinzaton of Porsche and lambo Of course as far as the lambo crowd is concerned there is nothing better than Audi interiors and reliability...

 

Since some assh*le neg-repped me for saying it felt roomier maybe I should explain for the simple-minded one...

The dash slopes away from the occupants giving a more roomy feel and apparently it has more shoulder room as well. If I also remember correctly, the windshield is also further away.

Got it, Tool?

 

I still don't think there is any better daily driver high performance car than the TT. Back seats for toting people around in a pinch or for travelling with lots of stuff, proven reliability for daily commutes and a few DEs a year, relatively low maintenance cost (I was surprised my 4 year topped out at $1500 otd from a major dealer!), massive community and the benefits that go with it (lots of indy shops, aftermarket parts, wealth of information online, etc).

The technology in the 997.1 is a bit dated but the aftermarket bluetooth/ipod setups help. Nav is old but I use my phone these days anyway for that.

If I wanted to satiate a desire for a wide, exotic, mid-engined two seater that wasn't my daily, I'd probably opt for a Ferrari. Slower in a straight line but that wouldn't be a big deal -- with the right exhaust when they're screaming by they sound like an F1 car to me I have yet to feel the need to touch the motors in either my M3 or the 911.