Hey everyone, I am a 997 tt owner. I love this car have had a couple other fast cars in the past. I have always had my eyes on the R8 but know nothing about it. Thinking about making a switch this fall. Not sure my price range is in the 160's for the V10 model but am looking at couple low mile V8's.

Besides the looks which I have studied over and over, whats the drive like? How is the R-tronic work compaired to the E gear in a lambo? I have heard the 997tt is going to be faster but by how much? Night and Day or just alittle faster? Am I going to be able to put a lot of miles on it before I have to dump a lot on money into it?

Not sure if I am making any sense with the question I am shooting out there but if I could get some feed back that would be great.

Thanks,
Mike

 

I don't own a R8, but have driven one (V8) and ridden in one (V10).
Honestly, you are probably getting more bang for your buck with the porsche (and thats coming from a true audi enthusiast).
The only reason I would buy a r8 is for the styling + out of the box handling.
There is no other car that has the looks of an R8 with the quattro drive.
I can't vouch for how fast the R8 is compared to a porsche (never been in one)...
I do know that the R-Tronic is a good tranny though, and you should not run into any major problems with it.
If I were you I would buy a V8 for ~100K and throw an exhaust + chip + intake, save 50K, and be happy with the car. It won't be as fast as the V10, but IMO it isn't worth the extra 40-50k for 100 HP, when you could get a TT kit from a few dif companies and be pulling on a v10 for less then 25K...
But that is if you are looking to modify the car.
If you have the money, grab the V10...
hope that helps

 

I have driven the v8 R8 and it was very disappointing. The car is significantly slower then my 996tt with a flash. Instead of trading the 997tt for the r8 just put some mods on and enjoy! R8 looks great but does not have the performance to back it up. Now the v10 thats a different story.

 

Thanks for the great post Jack. I have a couple mods already on the 997tt and have zero complaints for the car. I just love the look of the R8. Plus I am looking forward to the R-tronic shifting. I guess I should just wait a little while for prices of the V10 to come down a bit then.

 

yeah, you will be displeased with the v8 compared to your 997tt.
unless you TT the v8

 

Check R8talk.com, there is a lot of discussion on 997TT vs R8. I like both(had 997.1 2S for a few years, but not turbo). R8 is definitely the super car look, and so far I do not have one person react negatively about the car after almost 1.5 yr of ownership. A great DD too, very easy to live with. Can’t comment anything about racing because that is not what I bought it for.

 

To answer your question if the tt is going to be just a little faster or night and day compared to the r8, I would say night and day. If you got a slightly used new turbo with PDK (which is better then r-tronic) then it should be way faster then the v8 or v10 r8.
But you cant deny how hot the R8 looks going coming at you. It depends in what is most important to you.

 

I guess when it comes down to it I am okay with losing some of the power and whatnot. I am surprised to hear even the V10 is a lot slower tho. I just love the looks and interior more than anything. Could I be guessing in saying the V10 R8 is as bullet proof as the 997tt? I have an 08 with 5800 miles on (not many miles I know) but it seem this car will never have issues. Also seeing a lot of other 997tt with 20k plus miles still running great without any issues.

Thanks MDC for the R8talk.com. It is helping a lot

 

I wouldn`t say it is night and day.
The 997 TT MKI Tiptronic and the R8 V10 R-Tronic are pretty evenly matched.
The new 997 TT MKII PDK is significantly faster on a straight line tho.
(but then the MKII-PDK is faster than almost all other sports cars except for Veyrons, Koenigseggs or highly modded cars.)

The R8 V8´s direct competition is the 997Carrera4S.
Both are pretty equal in performance figures.

The R8 V10`s performance is in one league with the MB SLS, Nissan GT-R, Gallardo LP 560-4.

The R8 has a sound and looks that kill and if u don`t need the 2 extra seats the R8 wins in my book. It may not be superfast like the new 997TT-PDK but it is very fast and most important: sexy as hell!

 

x2 on all of that

 

If you can sell the 997 for a decent price and had your fun with it, then why not sell it and get into the R8. The V8 is a fun car to drive not to mention it looks/sounds amazing. Its not super fast but sure does sound like it is. My co worker has been in the v10 and said its amazing.

 

I might be bias, but my 2 cents outside of speed:
Exterior design: R8/Super-car look, TT/classic 911
Interior design: R8/modern with excellent build quality, TT/a little dated with way too many button
(But I think next gen will be very good with Panamera/Cayenne-ish interior styling and built quality
WOW factor: R8 come with BIG WOW for all audience across all age group, TT/WOW to Porsche crowd and car nuts
Transmissions: R-Tronics and Tip are good, but PDK any day
Comforts: R8 is very comfortable for short/long ride, TT... based on my own c2s experience, need a massage ; }
Exclusivity: Depending on regions, there are a lot of Porsches around

That said, I am still very much in love with the TT even tho I drive an R8. ; }

 

I just got my R8 V10 and wow, what a great ride. It is every bit as fast as my GT-R ( with exhaust) and so much more refined. Look at the stats in Evo and other car mags that test these cars. The V10 Audi is very close. I have the gated shifter MT6 and love the click-click shifting. Also the extra price is not all motor, many great options on the V8 are standard on the V10 that I would have gotten anyway. I looked at ordering a high optioned 997tt and the price was very close to the same. You will love the r8 if you get it. Will

 

So see good oportunity for my first post here!

I owned a V8 R8 for 2 years and many months ago upgraded to the V10. Aside from the outside looks, they are completely different cars. I would have not realized how much until I drove each one on track. At Infineon (The Audi Driving School), the lap times for the V8 and V10 are nearly identical, but each car performs much differently. The V8 feels more "nimble" and has faster corner speeds than the V10. The V10 has that extra 100+hp so can pull out of the corners faster and has slightly faster top speed on the straights. You need to drive both to decide. Honestly the V8 is plenty for around town stuff, but you will feel a slight "want more" at low-end corner exits on track.

I also have had both 6sp manual and R-tronic in the cars. The first gen R-tronics were very jerky and got a lot of bad press. In the new cars, the basic mechanics are the same, but the software has been substantially upgraded so there really is no issue. Its the same tranny as in the lambo. I really prefer the R-tronic for both day-day livablity and track. Its just a matter of personal preference.

Interior and exterior styling, the R8 is fantastic. The 997TT will likely outperform in hard-core driving stats, but the difference is minimal.

You also mentioned maintenance - I had zero issues with my 2008 V8 for the 2 years I owned it. AudiCare covers all maintenance/warranty issues for 4yrs/50K miles aside from tires and wiper blades. These cars will be spendy to repair after warranty, but awfully nice having absolutlely everything covered (including oil changes) for 4 years.

 

@pedah3, what color is ur V10 in the Avatar? sepang blue?