It doesn't get much faster than these two. The Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R tear relentlessly at the pavement with four driven wheels and an uninterrupted supply of thrust courtesy of twin-clutch transmissions. Want a quicker all-wheel-drive car? Your options are the Lamborghini Aventador ($400,000) and Bugatti Veyron (add a million).
The GT-R, then, with its 545 hp and $116,710 price, would seem a bargain. A Track Pack adds brake cooling ducts, retuned shocks, higher spring rates, and a rear seat delete, on top of the forged wheels borrowed from the Black Edition. New for the R8 this year is a twin-clutch transmission and a V10 Plus model. The latter hones the car with ceramic rotors, a smaller fuel tank, fixed rate shocks, manual seats, and carbon-fiber trim pieces. That's a total weight savings of 130 pounds. Oh, and it makes 25 hp more.
The engines sit at different ends and the price difference is substantial, but we couldn't resist the temptation of pitting these two AWD juggernauts against each other. So, a drag race? Quick, after all, is easy for these two -- spookily so. Both have launch control procedures, but the gist of it is this: brake, gas, disappear. At a blink over 11 seconds, the race is over. The Nissan wins by 0.3 second with nary a chirp from its Dunlops. Its 2.7-second 0-60-mph time ties it with the fastest production vehicles we've ever tested -- Veyron, 911 Turbo.
Which one's quicker? Done. But which is better? That will take a drive on our favorite mountain roads and a lapping session at Willow Springs to determine.
On an empty mountain highway, editor-in-chief Edward Loh and I attempted, fruitlessly, to stay under the speed limit. These cars sucker you in: the R8 innocently urging you to push incrementally harder through each corner; the GT-R never feeling satisfied going slow and chiding you for it.
"One seldom escapes the other. ""I think only on boost and exiting a tricky corner -- maybe in third, planted -- will the GT-R surprise the R8. The big tell was seeing dual puffs of gray exhaust shoot from the GT-R,"" Loh says. Its Dunlops permit high entry speeds and constantly seem ready for more. You can always get on the gas sooner than you think -- the challenge is finding how early. The reward is a barrage of frenetic acceleration backed by a cacophony of rising engine noise and gear whine. Rinse and repeat. The GT-R generates an onslaught of g-forces, so the firm grip of the blue and gray Pep Boys-inspired seats is welcome. The ride, even with the Bilsteins set to Comfort mode, seems to transmit every road imperfection to your head (""'COMF' is a lie!"" is a frequent refrain). The darn machine is just so capable that it's the humans who wear out."
"Plop down into the Audi, and you find a pervasive sense of refinement. It's a finely crafted timepiece to the GT-R's (hugely successful) physics experiment. With no engine blocking the front axle, your outward view and sense of control seem greater and more direct. You get a feel for the weight balance and how you can bend it with steering inputs and pedal control. Part of it is the fixed shocks, which provide comfort once unfathomable in a supercar, but also a better sense of the road. The ride doesn't isolate you; you still feel what the car's doing, but the unwanted noise is damped out. ""The Audi feels much more special, much more premium, and roughly 2 feet lower than the GT-R,"" Loh notes."
In the battle of transmissions, the R8 has the edge. Its gear changes feel quicker and smoother, and it brings out the best of the V-10's song -- a 7000-rpm downshift will make your neck tingle. The GT-R's box is no less effective, but its shifts are more pronounced.
"We meet MT hot-shoe Randy Pobst at the Streets of Willow Springs early, eager to experience these two without the unjust restrictions of speed limits. He sets out in the R8 first, and the V-10 howl is audible even after he disappears into the far end of the track. Afterward, he exits adoring the powertrain but complaining about late entry oversteer. ""Really didn't think the car would do that,"" he says. ""Everything felt good, and then the tail would just start to come and keep going. It took a lot of steering to stop."""
I head out and find oversteer on turn 2. The R8 unloads in a big way if you crank the wheel with the weight transferred forward. You have to think about power oversteer, too, which I find out exiting turn eight while rolling on in third -- a pants-tightening first. It's manageable -- and huge fun -- but you need precision and restraint if you want to be fast.
"The GT-R is next and has the advantage here. Beyond the ""Track Pack"" badge on its center console, its alignment has been set to a Nissan-specified track setting (a $260 dealer visit or complimentary if performed during an annual calibration service). After a few drama-free laps, Randy jumps out, saying, ""I wish my race car handled like that."" He continues, ""No oversteer. Yet it still comes into the corner very well. It doesn't just razor in the way the Audi will. You can tell you have more polar moment, but it's balanced and the tail stays where it belongs."""
That behavior works. While the R8's 1:21.95 lap is respectable (besting the Ferrari 458 by 0.4 second), the GT-R's 1:19.55 is the fastest we've recorded from a production car. It's also 0.17 faster than what AMA pro Steve Rapp could do with a Ducati 1198 S (an inch or a mile, right?).
The GT-R's secret? Torque and traction in large quantities. It's simply able to exit corners harder, and it doesn't waste any time with spinning tires. Consequently, it offers a level of confidence that allows you to push harder -- see turn 1 and the kink on the track map. But that confidence can make it too easy.
Randy jokes about needing only one hand to lap it, and I'm not smiling as much while driving it. After mulling for a bit, we agree: While the mid-engine, lighter, and more powerful car is slower, it's more fun.
A convincing argument exists for both cars. The GT-R certainly earns respect for being so spectacularly dominant at speed, but it neglects the subtle but hugely enjoyable elements of driving a car. It sees the apex, but misses the road. The R8 has depth. Its ease of use and comfort mean you could drive it every day, and yet that functionality doesn't impede the fun when you drive it fast. Crucially, though, and unlike with the Nissan, you don't have to be at the absolute limit to enjoy it. The R8 wins, not because it's more refined and sounds and looks better, but because, simply, we all want to keep driving it.
Audi R8 The car accelerates so quickly I'm actually braking for turn 1, which I don't usually do. We're just going too bloody fast.
Turn 9 wasn't as frightening as it normally is. Usually cars are just going nuts, bouncing off the bump stops. But the R8 was very well-behaved. It has more travel than it looks like, or good bump stops. It may be very progressive, but I think it's mostly in the shocks.
Nissan GT-R
The 1.55 miles composing the Streets offer a nice arrangement of cracks and bumps -- the better for testing suspension tuning -- and corners, some requiring second gear and others allowing speeds over 120 mph.
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