| Week at the Wheel | Audi R8 V10 |

Inside & Out:

It's five stars for presence and charisma - but there are flaws. Let's get those out of the way first. The transmission tunnel looks and feels surprisingly cheap - hatchback parts bin stuff - and the plastic surrounding the satnav screen does too. The satnav itself is a last-generation Audi unit, which is slightly disappointing when you know the A4 has a better one.

Hmm. We've started by having a go at the R8. That's an emphasis fail on our part, because overall the Audi R8 is an awesome thing. Low, wide, with the ardour of a supercar oozing from every crease and panel, it is, as the forums might say, a huge chunk of OMG!

And despite its height (or rather, its lack of), it offers a perfect driving position for any size of person, with loads of room for heads and legs. Visibility is spot on, even backwards, and apart from the aforementioned foibles, quality is Audi plus one. It's the contact points that make it so special; the open-gated manual shift is so delightfully 'haptic' and its click so beautiful to hear that you'll change gears twice as often.

The changes over the V8 R8 are quite limited, but enough. The exhaust pipes are the most striking visual clue - four give way to two huge ones. The front grille is also different. And have a look at the V10 FSI through the glass pane behind the rear bulkhead. Glorious.

Engine & Transmission:

We've just touched on the visceral joy to be had changing gears in the V10, but it's worth saying again. It's maybe a little long of throw, but the lovely thing about the shift is that it handles 518bhp and 391lb.ft while being as easy to use as a diesel A3's 'box. The clutch is light and there's no shunt from the drivetrain as you swap cogs. Very non-supercar, in a positive sense.

The engine is so too, managing to excel at being useable day-to-day, burying its Lamborghini-derived superpower savagery with a Clark Kent-like façade. Gentle it isn't - there's a telling growl even at idle - but manageable it is. Short shift the 'box and you could be driving a TT, and you might even get close to its 19.2mpg combined figure.

But mash the pedal Toyota now calls 'Our Nemesis' and all those TT thoughts disappear. This car is furiously rapid. It feels every inch the sum of its power output and quattro four-wheel drive, because all 518bhp gets to the road with dismissive ease, pinging you forward as though, in actual fact, the world is moving backwards at an alarming rate. It revs to 8,700rpm, peaking 700rpm below that, meaning it provides that dramatic 'I should have changed up earlier' sensation through the gears.

Ride & Handling:

Remember that this is an Audi, and then gape as it becomes apparent that the steering is one of the V10's best qualities. That balance of allowing enough feel from road to rim, while providing enough assistance to make getting through the drive-thru pain-free, is a difficult one to get right; the R8 V10 nails it. (You could fit at least two Quarter Pounders in the luggage space too. Score.)

That real-world-versus-supercar-feel balance is only trumped by the buttery ride. The V10 is a car whose core strength is its damped usability, shutting out the harsh realities of the road for times when the daily grind (whatever that is to a £100,000 car owner) demands quiet comfort. Its ability to dismissively drape a layer of silk over every control and every road make it a low-speed joy. Not even the Mazda MX-5 can do that.

But this is not a car without nuance. In fact, with its supercar hat on (which we like to think of as a baseball cap with a bottle of Cristal attached to each side) it provides safety-netted sharpness of the most engrossing kind. The gnarly unruliness you could expect from a mid-engined V10 just isn't there.

What you do get is balance, cornering feel and grip that, frankly, makes it almost too easy to drive fast. It's the balance, and the way the car communicates its excessive grip levels, that make it phenomenal.

Weight distribution is slightly biased towards the back, naturally; the front-end lightness is felt in the quickness of the turn in. What follows is genuine surprise at how it grips from the front at speed, with the rear reluctant to step out unless you insist it does using the throttle. When you do, it's controllable. Ultimately this is just a very neutral, fulsomely tactile sports car with gluey traction. It's also one that's phenomenally powerful and guttural with it.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

In a nutshell, the V10 costs about £20,000 more than the V8, but it comes with more standard kit. That includes a Bang and Olufsen stereo (a vaguely disappointing one, we should say), full Bluetooth integration, LED lights all round, softer leather, heat and electric adjustment for the seats, and the V10-distinguishing kit, including fresh 19-inch alloys

It gets switchable Audi Magnetic Ride as standard too. It's well judged and worthwhile, exchanging a layer of pliancy for some extra communication between road and driver in Sport mode - but without just locking up the suspension so that the car thumps into every tarmac pockmark.

The question is whether it's worth it? Yes, it is. If you're only in it for the street cred, you might as well stick to eight cylinders, but for our money the V10 turns the R8 into a bona fide supercar. Framed that way, £103,000 is a cheap ticket to the club.

Overall:

Honestly, there's so little wrong with the R8 V10 it's almost silly. As dynamically trenchant and hilariously rapid as it is, the quality that sticks out most is how good it is at being 'normal'. Its spacious cabin and supple ride make it more comfortable than loads of cars whose only job it is to be comfortable. Strap a box to the roof and it's the perfect shopping chariot.

Then take it to your favourite twisty road - or a track - and feel like a hero as its chasmic margins of error allow you go around corners at hitherto unattainable speeds. Fabulous.