the-missile:
limited edition on sale with very low lease deal something is wrong in this world
There is nothing wrong, people don't want this car.
Lately, I get the feeling that the R8 sells bad in Germany because people care about brand images much more than in the past. Talked to a couple of my friends, people I know and unlike before, they want to put their money only into brands like Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren and so on... Even Lamborghini seems to be now more popular than getting a 200k Audi, as sad as this is.
The reputation of the R8 over here is pretty good in sportscar circles but...and here comes the thing "it is an Audi...". I am well "accepted" with the sportscar driving crowd over here but they can't stop making jokes about "why an Audi..." and stuff like that, not that I really care, especially since the Audi kicks some ass pretty often.
My kids and their friends absolutely love the R8 but adults seem to have a different relationship to the car. Which is good in another way...envy seems to be quite low, lower than for my Porsche GTS cab for example.
For me, the R8 is a dream come true because I basically drive a Lamborghini for the cost of an...Audi. I know how this sounds but since the R8 is my weekend fun car, I cannot afford putting thousands of EUR per month into such a toy. Maintenance cost is at an exceptionally low level for such a car, same goes to insurance cost. I couldn't be happier. The lease cost is ridiculous for such a car and I actually plan to continue the lease or buy the car after the lease if I'm not switching to the facelift or a V10 Plus Spyder (not sure about it since my wife always gets a cab for herself, so there isn't really a need for another open top car).
Interesting: There is a very popular German tuner on YouTube (actually, he became popular through YouTube), his name is JP (JP Performance). This guy just got himself a R8 V10 Plus and while he is always doing some projects around the car (new exhaust, new chassis, new intake, now probably supercharging it, new clutch, bla bla bla), he always says that the car is perfect as it is and you cannot make the R8 better with tuning. This comes from a tuner who actually wants to sell stuff. He loves the car, also has an Aventador (which says something about the fun driving the R8) and other cars. Loved it when he installed an aftermarket exhaust (which he got from a company to test), drove around with it and actually said that it doesn't sound good, the OEM sound is better. What I love about this guy (probably also the reason why he is so popular): He seems to be very honest and passionate about his job.
Long story short: If someone doesn't want to pay big bucks (incl. maintenance/repair cost) for a super sportscar, the R8 is really a great deal and extremely fun to drive. You just need to be thick skinned if you run with a bunch of expensive cars enthusiasts because make no mistake, they are going to mock you, even if it is for fun only and sometimes you hear unintentional sudden comments like "I cannot believe how good this car sounds...".
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991.2 Carrera GTS Cabriolet (2018), Porsche Cayenne S Diesel (2017), Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mini JCW (2015)