the Interceptor
I LUV MY PRIUS!!!
I just got the latest issue of the AutoBild Sportscars. And what should I find browsing through it? An Audi R8 vs. Corvette C6 shootout. And the Vette wins. In a German car mag .... wait, what??? Yes, read for yourself. I added some editorial notes in square brackets.
**************************************************
Watch out, Audi!
More displacement, more power, more driving pleasure: the renewed Corvette C6 blares to take on the well established competition. One of her first combatants is the Audi R8. How well will the rear wheel drive and the 437 hp of the American put up with the all wheel drive and the 420 hp of the German?
The stop light break as an inquiry in etiquette: don't forget the good manners just now. One who sits in the Audi R8 and, lost in thought, picks his nose right now has already lost. Everyone would see. Even after almost two years since it was first introduced, the sportscar from Ingolstadt still is a matter of public interest, stamped into aluminium and carbon fiber.
Despite the new V8 with 6.2 liters of displacement and 437 horses, enhanced steering and upgraded interior, the freshly reworked Corvette knows no such hype. Compared to the glorified-from-birth Audi, it had a heavy childhood. Since 1953, General Motors positions the Corvette to be an appropriate contender to European sportscars ? always intending to build the best sportscar of the world. Always with limited success. From the beginning, the design fulfilled the attributes of a proper sportscar, yet the handling never held what the promising sound of the voluminous eightcylinders promised.
The critic always stayed the same. The handling: not sporty enough. The steering: too dull. The build quality: well, you know. And then there was the unfavorable preference of the red light district for the two seater from Michigan. Although the pimps of this world have long transfered to models from Stuttgart [*coughMercedescough*], the bad reputation sticks to the Vette like super glue. However, the current generation is the best ever and serious competition for sportscars from good old Europe.
That basically is a sensation, given the antiquated design of the Corvette. After all, details such as leafsprings at the rear axle and a V8 with one central camshaft and pushrods [come on, you knew they'd say the evil words] from a time when later foreign minister Joschka Fischer attended wild riots with the police [around 1968].
Who underestimates the Corvette out of an old habit will quickly be beaten by it. The new steering makes the C6 naviagte with unprecedented precision. Even the formerly critical corrections at the limit are noted well-tempered by the steering and the also reworked suspension. But woe you go overboard! Despite the active stability control, the rear kicks out quicker than you will say ?ESP? [electronic stability program]. Deactivate the aide all along (there are three settings), and you'll soon find yourself drifting around every corner thanks to the exuberant torque of 575 newtonmeters. At all, the 6.2 liter V8 brings tears of joy to your eyes. Regardless of doing 5000 revs in secord or 900 in sixth ? the engine responds to the throttle perfectly jerk-free, revs like a dervish and hammers an easy smile in your face that would put John Wayne to shame. What a bummer that the likewise reworked six speed manual still acts a tad too stiff.
Let's talk about the Audi. Despite its classically appearing, deliciously clicking, yet notchy gearbox with an open shifting gate, it appears to be a research lab on wheels compared to the sixties technique of the Corvette. Aluminium body, direct injection, adaptive damping, permanent all wheel drive ? the R8 possesses almost all ingredients of a modern sportscar. And it drives like one, too. Thanks to the balancing mid-engine layout and the variable, yet always rear-biased all wheel drive (distribution: 10:90 to 35:65 %), the Audi sweeps a bend faster than the passenger wishes to.
Under full acceleration, the 100 [km/h] fall after just 4.7 seconds and accompanied by suspiciously-Nascar-like V8-roar; another 12.9 seconds later the two-seater already does 200 [km/h]. Meanwhile, you can't help the odd feeling that the Audi could use at least 100 hp more. The brilliant traction and the excellent roadholding make the R8 feel slower than it actually is. The steering seems to be too easy and numb on the first meters, but soon works its way to the pilots heart through its immediate way and the felicitous feedback. Talking of hearts: if you intend to drift with the Audi, you need to be brave. Where other rear ends already peep around the corner, the R8 stays put even with a deactivated stability control. Only if you keep your foot down beyond what your mind tells you to do, the R8 allows its behind free play. Experienced drivers will pilot the Audi through the bends like this with suprising ease, beginners should let it alone in the first place. Or brake hard. The standard brake already bites like Mike Tyson, the ceramic stops in our test car (8820 Euros extra) glue whole swarms of flies to the cars tail. The breaking figures from 100 [km/h] to zero speak for themselves: 35.8 meters cold and 36.2 meters warm.
The Corvette proves that you can kill midges without racing equipment. Despite the lack of 40 millimeters disc size at the front and 26 millimeters at the back, the Yank [no offense to be taken] only needs 0.2 meters more stopping distance when warm, and even beats the Audi by 1.1 meters when cold. Ouch! Just like the fuel economy. While the eight cylinders of the R8 proudly sing the song of good economy of direct injection, the Corvette uses a healthy 1.8 liters [covering 100 km] less. In the next moment, it hammers from 0 to 100 [km/h] within 4.9 seconds accompanied by a slightly disappointing V8-roar compared to the Audi. The fact that the Audi wins this race is down to its advantage on the first few meters due to its all wheel drive. Beyond highway speeds, the Audi has to admit defeat. The Vette reaches 200 [km/h] a whole 2.1 seconds quicker than Ingolstadt's citizen.
And wins this shootout in the end. When the Audi trumps with perfect bulid quality, noble leather, cool metal and close-locking switches, the Corvette saves itself with a sensational price performance ratio. With a base price of 65,290 Euros, the C6 just beats the Audi R8, which costs at least 106,400 Euros, by a hefty 41,110 Euros. Despite the grip-lacking seats, the inaccurately locking controls and the bad visibility of the body, you will not find any more bang for the buck in the world of sportscars.
That makes you relax, also at the stop light. There, the Corvette driver can sit back comfortably and watch the brouhaha around the Audi R8.
**************************************************
May I, myself being and editor, note that this article has some hostility towards the Vette. That is not uncommon however. If you have a shootout of two things and the underdog wins, you can, if you feel the need to, "lean" the article towards your favorite to give the comparison a specific note.
**************************************************
Watch out, Audi!
More displacement, more power, more driving pleasure: the renewed Corvette C6 blares to take on the well established competition. One of her first combatants is the Audi R8. How well will the rear wheel drive and the 437 hp of the American put up with the all wheel drive and the 420 hp of the German?
The stop light break as an inquiry in etiquette: don't forget the good manners just now. One who sits in the Audi R8 and, lost in thought, picks his nose right now has already lost. Everyone would see. Even after almost two years since it was first introduced, the sportscar from Ingolstadt still is a matter of public interest, stamped into aluminium and carbon fiber.
Despite the new V8 with 6.2 liters of displacement and 437 horses, enhanced steering and upgraded interior, the freshly reworked Corvette knows no such hype. Compared to the glorified-from-birth Audi, it had a heavy childhood. Since 1953, General Motors positions the Corvette to be an appropriate contender to European sportscars ? always intending to build the best sportscar of the world. Always with limited success. From the beginning, the design fulfilled the attributes of a proper sportscar, yet the handling never held what the promising sound of the voluminous eightcylinders promised.
The critic always stayed the same. The handling: not sporty enough. The steering: too dull. The build quality: well, you know. And then there was the unfavorable preference of the red light district for the two seater from Michigan. Although the pimps of this world have long transfered to models from Stuttgart [*coughMercedescough*], the bad reputation sticks to the Vette like super glue. However, the current generation is the best ever and serious competition for sportscars from good old Europe.
That basically is a sensation, given the antiquated design of the Corvette. After all, details such as leafsprings at the rear axle and a V8 with one central camshaft and pushrods [come on, you knew they'd say the evil words] from a time when later foreign minister Joschka Fischer attended wild riots with the police [around 1968].
Who underestimates the Corvette out of an old habit will quickly be beaten by it. The new steering makes the C6 naviagte with unprecedented precision. Even the formerly critical corrections at the limit are noted well-tempered by the steering and the also reworked suspension. But woe you go overboard! Despite the active stability control, the rear kicks out quicker than you will say ?ESP? [electronic stability program]. Deactivate the aide all along (there are three settings), and you'll soon find yourself drifting around every corner thanks to the exuberant torque of 575 newtonmeters. At all, the 6.2 liter V8 brings tears of joy to your eyes. Regardless of doing 5000 revs in secord or 900 in sixth ? the engine responds to the throttle perfectly jerk-free, revs like a dervish and hammers an easy smile in your face that would put John Wayne to shame. What a bummer that the likewise reworked six speed manual still acts a tad too stiff.
Let's talk about the Audi. Despite its classically appearing, deliciously clicking, yet notchy gearbox with an open shifting gate, it appears to be a research lab on wheels compared to the sixties technique of the Corvette. Aluminium body, direct injection, adaptive damping, permanent all wheel drive ? the R8 possesses almost all ingredients of a modern sportscar. And it drives like one, too. Thanks to the balancing mid-engine layout and the variable, yet always rear-biased all wheel drive (distribution: 10:90 to 35:65 %), the Audi sweeps a bend faster than the passenger wishes to.
Under full acceleration, the 100 [km/h] fall after just 4.7 seconds and accompanied by suspiciously-Nascar-like V8-roar; another 12.9 seconds later the two-seater already does 200 [km/h]. Meanwhile, you can't help the odd feeling that the Audi could use at least 100 hp more. The brilliant traction and the excellent roadholding make the R8 feel slower than it actually is. The steering seems to be too easy and numb on the first meters, but soon works its way to the pilots heart through its immediate way and the felicitous feedback. Talking of hearts: if you intend to drift with the Audi, you need to be brave. Where other rear ends already peep around the corner, the R8 stays put even with a deactivated stability control. Only if you keep your foot down beyond what your mind tells you to do, the R8 allows its behind free play. Experienced drivers will pilot the Audi through the bends like this with suprising ease, beginners should let it alone in the first place. Or brake hard. The standard brake already bites like Mike Tyson, the ceramic stops in our test car (8820 Euros extra) glue whole swarms of flies to the cars tail. The breaking figures from 100 [km/h] to zero speak for themselves: 35.8 meters cold and 36.2 meters warm.
The Corvette proves that you can kill midges without racing equipment. Despite the lack of 40 millimeters disc size at the front and 26 millimeters at the back, the Yank [no offense to be taken] only needs 0.2 meters more stopping distance when warm, and even beats the Audi by 1.1 meters when cold. Ouch! Just like the fuel economy. While the eight cylinders of the R8 proudly sing the song of good economy of direct injection, the Corvette uses a healthy 1.8 liters [covering 100 km] less. In the next moment, it hammers from 0 to 100 [km/h] within 4.9 seconds accompanied by a slightly disappointing V8-roar compared to the Audi. The fact that the Audi wins this race is down to its advantage on the first few meters due to its all wheel drive. Beyond highway speeds, the Audi has to admit defeat. The Vette reaches 200 [km/h] a whole 2.1 seconds quicker than Ingolstadt's citizen.
And wins this shootout in the end. When the Audi trumps with perfect bulid quality, noble leather, cool metal and close-locking switches, the Corvette saves itself with a sensational price performance ratio. With a base price of 65,290 Euros, the C6 just beats the Audi R8, which costs at least 106,400 Euros, by a hefty 41,110 Euros. Despite the grip-lacking seats, the inaccurately locking controls and the bad visibility of the body, you will not find any more bang for the buck in the world of sportscars.
That makes you relax, also at the stop light. There, the Corvette driver can sit back comfortably and watch the brouhaha around the Audi R8.
**************************************************
May I, myself being and editor, note that this article has some hostility towards the Vette. That is not uncommon however. If you have a shootout of two things and the underdog wins, you can, if you feel the need to, "lean" the article towards your favorite to give the comparison a specific note.
:lol:
