2018 Audi R8 vs 2019

What's the difference?

A rear-wheel-drive performance car from Audi? Unheard of. It would be like Tony Abbott officiating a same-sex marriage. Or Richard Dawkins suddenly finding God. It goes against everything we've come to know about the Quattro brand from Ingolstadt.

And yet there is no denying the massively obnoxious sideways drift currently taking place on Phillip Island's Honda Corner, the familiar tail of Audi's R8 sliding sideways like a swinging pendulum the moment the driver buries the accelerator.

Welcome, then, to Audi's R8 V10 RWS. Those three bonus letters stand for "Rear Wheel Series", which makes it not just the first rear-driving R8, but the first rear-driving anything from a brand that has been intrinsically linked with all-wheel-drive Quattro since its inception.

So just what the hell is going on?

There is typically no need for introductions when it comes to the Audi R8. But the 2019 Audi R8 isn’t the one you’ve come to know - its been sharpened up in terms of both its appearance, and its performance.

This heavily facelifted version of the second-generation Audi R8 keeps its high-revving V10 engine, and turbochargers have been kept at bay, too. It can’t hold off the march of progress for much longer, though - it’s almost certain this will be the last V10-engined R8… thankfully it has only just launched, so it should be on sale for a few years yet. 

I got a chance to drive the new Audi R8 V10 Performance model in Spain at the model’s international launch drive this week - but only on Circuito Ascari race track.