Classic Adelaide

The chance to fire all 10 cylinders in anger doesn’t come along often enough when you have the keys to an R8 are in your hand.

Letting this car really stretch its legs on real world roads comes along even more rarely, but every so often, the planets align and the conditions are just right to see the likes of the Audi R8 V10 plus supercar get amongst it on real roads, with a raft of other exotic automotive metal.

And that’ how the latest incarnation of the revolutionary R8 sports coupe made its way to Adelaide as a star attraction in the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, a three-day event fast gaining status as an automotive mecca along the lines of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Taking over parklands used for the Clipsal 500 race, acreage previously reverberated by the roar of Formula 1 cars, the festival brings back F1s of yesteryear for demonstrations to delight – and almost deafen – spectators and it has also resurrected the Classic Adelaide rally.

The two-day closed-road tarmac rally takes in some of the nation’s best driving roads with a field of more than 150 cars winding their way through some of the most scenic parts of the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula.

It sweeps by some of Australia’s best wineries and restaurants – it’s no accident many crews spend a few days winding down from the event revisiting the roads at a more leisurely rate.

Veteran and later-model competition cars take to the stages in full race mode, but organisers have also catered for the less-emphatic end of the spectrum, allowing for ‘spirited driving’.

It’s within this realm that the R8 – a V10 Plus – took part. A perfect forum to demonstrate its pace and poise over tight, twisting, pockmarked country roads.

Were it competing, the rapid blue coupe would be odds-on for an outright victory, but it’s leaving the racing to the likes of a 1985 Mazda RX7 (which took out the Classic honours) ahead of a field of 1970s and 1980s classics – everything from Porsche 911s to Datsun 1600s.

Audi driving experience Chief Instructor, race driver and media personality, Steve Pizzati is official custodian of Audi Australia’s R8. Happily waving and chatting to spectators and potential customers as they admire the look and listen to the offbeat wail of the only V10 in the Classic Adelaide field.

“It’s two-fold, pitching it directly at people who can afford it, but also the bigger picture is getting the Audi Sport message out there, showing them as real sports cars – hugely capable cars and that's at the heart of this, is getting the message out there,” he says.

The event is a chance for spectators to see supercars engage in activity for which they were designed and developed, on roads they might drive every day.

Morning tea and lunch stops also prove popular, as the cars are surrounded and quickly become the subject of ‘selfies.’

Pizzati drives almost as fast as he talks and does both for a living – charged with teaching many of Audi’s customers how to make the most of their vehicles, the affable offspring of Italian parentage looking forward to giving the Adelaide crowds a small taste of the R8’s talents.

“In an event like this you want something in a supercar that excites you but is still on your side, you're not constantly worried it's going to bite you on the bum, it's forgiving and accommodating,” he says.

A stint for the author behind the wheel demonstrates the good manners of the R8 on transport legs, followed by a staggering gathering of speed on stages in short distances between corners; bends don’t bother it at all and the quattro all-wheel drive offers rear-drive bias with back-up from the front.

“It's one of the strengths of this car is that it can do those amazing things and give it to your grandmother to pick up milk and come back, without knowing what it's truly capable of, although the milk would still be cold,” Pizzati quips.

The sharp two-door supercar sits comfortably within a pack of expensive exotica – an Aston Martin, a pair of Ferraris, several BMWs and an Alfa Romeo 4C, more than several million dollars worth in total – but few can match the civil brutality of the Audi's drivetrain.

The V10 Plus is the breed’s fastest production car ever – that’s the top of an exalted and extremely quick list – and it can hit 200km/h in less time it took you to read this sentence out loud – 9.9 seconds.

Just 3.2 seconds is all it needs to reach the state speed limit for much of this country, its 5.2-litre dry-sumped V10 howling magnificently at just over 8000rpm before the seven-speed twin-clutch auto quickly picks the next gear demanded by the paddle shifters on the flat-bottomed sports steering wheel.

The naturally-aspirated V10 produces 449kW of power and 560Nm of torque and it weighs 1454kg before Steve and I get on board – that’s less than an 185kW/370Nm A4 quattro sedan, so the power to weight ratio is something special.

While we're restrained by the Tour regulations, the speed through rough, tightening and undulating bends is unearthly quick.

Carbon ceramic brakes never feel overwhelmed by the job and the well-weighted steering points the nose faithfully into corners.

Many of the day's stages are completed in Comfort mode, which still delivers pin-sharp handling but the extra compliance for the cracked and cranky roads of the Adelaide hills.

Commuting between closed-road stages are journeys of quiet refinement even with the V10 deactivating five cylinders when cruising – again, unlikely to be a regular occurrence when in this car given its talents.

Audi says it uses 13 percent less fuel than its predecessor and on the legs between the special stages, it's hovering around 10 L/100km; special stage duties see that number climb but still well short of a voracious thirst.

There’s no question the handsome blue Audi delighted the crowds with its offbeat V10 wail and sharp aesthetics, as well as its swift stage completions – the brand will certainly be welcome back next year.