The Audi R8 Thread

Sad news! Audi has built its last ever R8 supercar

This 612bhp Vegas Yellow R8 will be the last one. RIP, old friend

We’ve known this day was coming for a good while now, but it still doesn’t make it any easier. The Audi R8 is officially dead.

Well, technically we still don’t know for sure if Audi has any plans to build an all-electric supercar and revive the name, but it’s curtains for the proper internal combustion R8 after just two generations. Sad times.

Audi pieced together the final car at its Böllinger Höfe plant near Stuttgart recently, and TG was there to witness the occasion. You’ll be able to read the full story in the upcoming issue of Top Gear magazine, but all you need to know now is that the R8 you see above will be the last example of the ‘sensible supercar’ that Audi ever builds.

Good way to bow out though, isn’t it? That’s a 612bhp ‘Performance quattro Edition’ with Vegas Yellow paint, bronze 20in alloys and the exterior carbon pack. Also, in sticking with its 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10, the Audi R8 became anything but a sensible supercar. This particular example won’t be going to a customer though – it’s destined for Audi Tradition and a relaxing, museum-based life. Please someone show it 8,700rpm.

 
Rest in Peace Audi R8, it was great knowing you

The Audi R8 is no more, with numerous sources reporting that the last unit has rolled off the assembly line at the Bollinger Hofe plant in Germany.

This follows the axing of the smaller Audi TT Coupe and Roadster models in late 2023, meaning that the German brand now has no dedicated sports cars in its line-up.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time. Not only is the industry shifting rapidly towards electrification but R8 sales weren’t all that great, especially in recent times.

According to Motor1, Audi sold just 1,591 units last year, which was admittedly a 50% improvement over its 2022 figure, but still some way off its 2008 peak of 5,016 units.

The R8 survived through two generations, first seeing light of day in 2007 as Audi’s first mid-engined supercar.

 
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