Watched both videos (Chris Harris and Tim Schrick).
I'm not so sure Chris Harris really liked the R8 but if he did, his review certainly lacked some emotions.
He also complained a lot about the 45 different settings (engine, throttle, gearbox, ESP, AWD, etc.) but to be frank, he is wrong. You need two preset settings, the Dynamic Mode for daily driving and the Performance Mode DRY for track racing. You could add the Comfort mode for comfortable commuting but for me, only the previous two matter. No need to play around with the other settings and the gearbox actually has two settings only...D or S (and S is the obvious choice for manual shifting).
I was pretty sure that he won't like the Dynamic Steering but I think he would have warmed up to it after driving the car for a longer period of time. It takes time to get used to it because in the beginning, it feels like a very light power assisted steering but it is much more in reality.
Chris Harris is right with one thing though, the Virtual Cockpit would need an easier and more intuitive user interface but I got used to it...even if it took pretty long.
Tim Schrick on the other hand loved the Dynamic Steering and it is really really a very good steering, razor sharp (maybe a tad too sharp...my wife drove my R8 once and over-corrected all the time, she hated it) and very direct as well (don't let the lightness fool you).
What Tim Schrick actually complained about is that the R8 setup is too safe. I actually do not know why he did that because he obviously liked the car a lot and development engineers certainly want to build safe cars but it is interesting to notice how different the views of Chris Harris and Tim Schrick are. Probably the reason why the R8 is so controversial with reviewers: Some love it, others not so much.
Maybe Audi needs to give everyone what they want, a Performance DRIFT mode wouldn't hurt (easily implementable), improved tires (the upcoming Pirelli PZero R02 would be one, also maybe the option to get the optional Lamborghini Trofeo R instead of the Cup 2) and a third Magnetic Ride setup, if technically possible, which permits maximum track performance. I assume that with the R8 facelift, Audi will correct a few things and add AWS, at least as an option.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Audi R8 V10 Plus (2017), Mini JCW (2015), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)