2017 Audi R8 to Arrive With V10, Plus More

This is Audi’s brand-new halo car: the 2017 R8.

It’s on display this week at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show ahead of going on sale in Europe this summer for between the equivalent to $184,000 and $209,000. Bear in mind, that price might not accurately reflect what the price will be when it arrives in U.S. dealers.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The R8 has never been an unattractive car. If anything, the V8 model from the previous generation looks hotter than it actually is and Audi isn’t toning things down this go-around. But it also doesn’t look like they’re really being cranked up either because the new R8 barely looks different than the old one. Then again, styling can only say so much.

Whether that’s a good thing or not is up for debate just a few inches down your screen in the comments box, but one thing certainly is not: power.

That’s because this time the R8 comes with ten pots a bangin’ or none at all. Yes, when it arrives you will have the chance to choose between two V10 versions.

The first makes 540 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque while the second makes a very Lamborghini-like 610 hp, 413 lb-ft. It’s almost as if they’re related…

Anyway, other noteworthy mechanical minutiae includes a standard seven-speed dual-clutch Stronic transmission and a new all-wheel drive system that can send 100 percent of the power fore and aft as demand dictates.

2015 Geneva Motor Show Coverage

Variable steering and an adaptive suspension are both available as options, as are 20-inch wheels for the first time on the R8 although 19-inch rims come standard. By default, the car comes with steel brakes, but the V10 Plus model is also available with fade-free carbon ceramics.

Even if the exterior looks more like an update than an all-new model, the inside is thoroughly re-worked to be more driver focused with a new steering wheel, digital gauge cluster and a new gear selector.

Exciting as all of that is, there’s also some bittersweet news. Europeans will have access to the hottest new Audi this summer, but it won’t be stateside until the 2017 model year.

Along with the gasoline powertrains, Audi also plans to offer a significantly revised e-tron electric version. The new electric R8 will have a much larger 92-kWh battery pack that Audi says will allow it to drive up to 280 miles instead of the previous model that could drive up to roughly 140 miles. To speed in the electric models will be limited to 130.5 MPH and 153.3 MPH. Audi didn’t discuss pricing for the e-tron versions, but said that they will be available on request this year.

Discuss this story at our Audi forum