Should you buy the first-gen Audi R8?

Introduced 14 years ago, Audi's first supercar is now affordable. But should you own one?

A while ago, my friend Tejas Kokcha did a review on the Audi R8 first generation, and I remember him writing that this car was ahead of its time. A couple of weeks before confinement, I was given the opportunity to drive a car just like the one Tejas was writing about. I got behind the wheel of a 2006 4.2-litres V8 Audi R8 equipped with R-Tronic gearbox and was ready to make my own mind if, whether or not, the car is a good buy.

First, a little bit of history. The Audi R8 was Ingolstadt's answer to Porsche's 911 and it was the brand's very first supercar. Just like the 911, Audi wanted a car that could be driven any day of the week. The brand with the four circles, who was already the proud owner of Lamborghini, helped develop the Italian brand's entry-level Gallardo, and Audi was like "Why don't we have a car like this?"

Audi was still in the shadow of other German brands like Mercedes-Benz, or BMW. They desperately needed something cool and futuristic to make their image desirable. What they needed was a halo car, and this car was the Audi R8. Stylistically based on the Le Mans Quattro concept car from 2003, the R8 looked spectacular, in fact it might have been one of the most beautiful cars of its generation. But it wasn't only about the looks, Audi equipped the R8 with the RS4's 4.2-litres V8 that made 420 horsepower. Enough to go from 0 to 100 km/h in only 4.3 seconds and get to a maximum speed of 302 km/h. These are amazing specs, even by today's standards. Fourteen years later, the R8 still looks amazing, and it is now more affordable than ever. But is it a good buy?

So, I was looking at second-hand first-generation Audi R8s in Switzerland, and I was shocked to see how cheap that have become. In fact, I saw one for £25K! OK, the car might have had a lot of mileage (113K miles), but still. Otherwise, I found a car in perfect condition with 35K miles on the odd that will cost you just £36K. How come they have become so cheap? Are people afraid to own these cars? The car I was driving was in perfect condition, and it seemed reliable even though it had around 45K miles. I had some worries about the gearbox and feared that it was going to be old-fashioned, but it was actually pretty quick and smooth. Yet, the automatic gearbox is less desirable than the gated-manual that also came with the R8 in 2006. A manual car will be approximately 10% more expensive than a similar car with an automatic. But, back to my initial question, is this car a good buy. First things first, you should know that even cheap used supercars will always be expensive to run. For example, the R8's average fuel consumption is around 20.8 mpg, even though it isn't all that bad, it's still a lot if you plan to drive it a lot. Audi also recommends to have the car serviced once a year, and this will set you back around £800 per service in average. Could be more, could be less.

Are there any known problems with first-generation Audi R8s? Fortunately enough, there aren't many. The engines are pretty solid, but look out for the bottom-end bearing, as it may suffer from failures. The magnetic dampers and lower rear wishbones can also fail, and these parts are very expensive (£3'000 for the wishbones and £800 for the dampers). But the car is really well-built, and the German quality is here. Overall, the R8 has good ratings in terms of reliability, but bare in mind that spare parts are expensive.

The R8 is a very special car that offers amazing performance. Thanks to its Quattro system, the R8 handles and grips like a charm. The V8 makes one of the nicest notes we've ever heard coming out of a car's exhaust, and the specs are still spot on today. Audi has created a truly exciting car, that looks futuristic, and that you can drive everyday. What's better than that? Well, you could also choose an R8 with the mighty 5.2-litres V10. More powerful, faster, louder, but obviously more expensive. I've driven once a V10 R8 Spyder with a manual gearbox, and found it to be one of the best drives in my existence. But if you just want a fun car that looks like a million dollar without having to spend too much, the V8 is the perfect all-rounder you want.

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I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Perego Cars, situated in Switzerland, for giving me the opportunity to review and shoot this car. It is currently on sale on their website. Website: www.peregocars.com/en Facebook: www.facebook.com/peregocars/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/peregocars/