Video: AutoCar awards Audi R8 Best Handling Car of 2007

Ok LexusQueen, cant wait to see the IS-F get spanked by everything in its class when its actually tested just to shut you up and every lexus fan girls.

we're talking German compared to Japanese here... Germans are the kings of handling

Lexus F= Vaporware and vaporware is allways better then cars you can actually buy

Its one thing to be a fan its quite another to make stupid comments just to get a rise out of everyone and enjoy it. You must love seeing how far you can get a comment deboosted. What a waste of space between your ears.

"but I'm sure the IS-F will handle as good if not better then the RS4, since the IS 350 handles as good as the S4"

You're incorrect. The RS4 is a massive leap over the S4- their handling characteristics are completely different. You'll eat your words, I swear.

I dread the day the ISF looses all the comparisons. Then we will have to hear all these stupid Lexus Bitches bitch about how biased and unfair it is.

And i hate that i just gave them the satisfaction of bring up lexus on a completely unrealated thread. Your not auto enthusiasts. You are lexus enthusiasts. there is a big difference. A real car enthusiast can recognize great achievments from any brand.

i was just gonna say that, why the hell does lexus come into every post?

I know you are only trying to start a flame war but I might as well give it a shot at educating you a little bit.

The reason mid-engined vehicle generally handles and responds better dynamically than a front heavy vehicle has to do with more than just weight distribution. Longitudinal (front/rear) weight distribution affects the degree of load transfer (weight shift to the rear on launch) in straight line acceleration.

However the biggest effect a front heavy car will have will be due to something called rotational inertia. Inertia is related to the distance a mass (in this case the engine) is from the center of gravity of the car (usually somewhere near the middle of the car).

The heavier and further away a mass is from the CG, the more rotational inertia it will have whenever the car tries to change direction. Think about a lightweight bicycle rim spinning for example. It has a CG at the center of the hub and due to its lack of mass if you stick your hand into the spokes you will be able to stop it pretty easily (low inertia). Now on the other hand imagine a car rim (easily 30lbs or more with a lot of weight on the outer edge) spinning at the same speed, if you stick your hand into the spokes here, the inertia will likely your hand. Changing the direction of something with high inertia is much more difficult.

The result of this is that a car with heavy weight at the front tends to react less sharply to fast steering inputs. Generally this is most noticeable as understeer or a general lack of fast steering response. On the other hand in a car like a Porsche 911, the front end is much lighter than the rear (beacuse the engine is behind the rear axle), so it will react sharply to steering inputs, but the price you pay is that the tail end will want to swing wide (oversteer) during sharp transitions.

Naturally us engineers have developed all kinds of ways of reducing and cheating these effects through suspension tuning and all that, but the basic physics is fixed.

A properly setup mid engined vehicle will have sharper and more balanced transient steering responses than a similar front engined set up.

:-)

Oh and I'm glad to hear they like how the R8 performs...I may have had something to do with that :P

Audi FTW!

Chris from Autocar seems much more enthused about the Ferrari F430 Scuderia
when he tests that vehicle, but then again, it is a Ferrari.

Well, they all awarded the First place to the R8 - watch the other videos on their website (about 10) and you'll see all other testers are clearly liking the R8 (one said the R8 is much better than the M3, for the first time in the history -kinda his words).

you can buy one stateside if you have the $ or want to wait on a list

The R8 is already in the U.S. IS3andME. In fact, customers have already bought them and you can see them driving on the road, if your lucky.

Was I reading that correctly, wet lap times were faster than dry?

I saw that too, thats nuts if its true

Certainly explains why the commentator said the R8 is faster than the GT3 around a wet track.

yes but when you are done you will still be driving a 1995 nissan and the R8 or Veron are works of Art in every way

some people get quality and K-mart still has it's customers

A stock skyline can't lap the ring under 8 minutes stock. Especially not on stock tyres from 1995.

The skyline you'r talking about was a tuned one. If you have proof against me, please show it.

nicad, the R8 IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS. I liked that, at first, you gave it the credit it deserves- but it's not purpose-built to beat a Porsche in a straight line, like the Skyline was. The R8 is a celebration of everything Audi is- it's a champagne bottle on wheels. It's sexy, beautiful, artistic, luxurious, sporty, fast, exclusive... everything that makes a sports car great.

You can go buy a 1995 Nissan Skyline. I will enjoy basking in the beauty of the 2008 Audi R8.

Squashed bugs are art?

A great car a car that quiets haters like myself , Audi can make some great cars , some cars that BMW fans may like, I don't like the front trak versions, quatrro are fine.

Should make a bet. If R8 beats the IS-F in major mags then the Lexus Fans boys will never post in a NON Lexus thread again! If the IS-F wins then German fan boys will not post in Lexus threads. DEAL?!?

Wet track times can be better with a good driver. Reason being...while on the turns the friction on dry tracks will actually slow you down. On wet tracks you can glide around the corners allowing for faster turns. Similar to drifting. R8 all wheel drive obviously helps too :)

Nicad you remind me of the ricers in Los Angeles that drive around in their Civics with stickers and fart pipes. I guarantee your a skinny little Asian kid living with mom and dad and you drive a Tercel or Acura. Stop telling everyone you live in Europe! You're embarrassing!