The day will come when shrieking machines will again fill the world’s highways, but not today. Direct drive from a high-power electric motor would negate the satisfying clicks and snaps of a manual transmission, but this no Today. Rise up, fans, and embrace the sound of power and control in this, the rare Audi R8 V10 with its gated six-speed manual is used to its limits on the Autobahn.
Okay, we’re doing some dramatic touches here, but this video is just inspiring. Not that we haven’t seen a supercar blow up unrestricted parts of the Autobahn before. And we’ve seen plenty of your own line of horsepower monsters in action. To be honest, this Audi R8 hitting 194 mph isn’t all that exciting. To understand why we were inspired enough to write about (and share) this video, raise your voice, hit play, then close your eyes. It is, after You are done reading this.
There’s no mistaking the sound of a high-revving V10 engine, and the 5.2-liter engine in the R8 is one of the best. This eight-minute video gives us plenty of pull up to the 8,500 RPM red line, and in fact, there are a few instances where the engine hits the rev limiter. That’s all well and good, but the gated manual is what really makes this clip fun. You get a noticeable lag in the engine when the driver changes gears slower than the dual clutch box. You occasionally get a click of the handle into the aluminum slot in the bezel. You get a throttle blip for downshifts. This is a legitimate symphony, and the driver is the conductor.
The top speed towards the end of the video is satisfying, but we found ourselves revisiting the previous section of the clip just to absorb the sound of the analog motor. The future is electricity; It will be fast and fun and thrilling in its own way. But we will miss these voices once they are gone.
