If you’ve always dreamed of owning Audi’s V10-powered R8 supercar, you’re almost out of time. The low-slung coupe with the big contrasting-color side vents will disappear from the Audi lineup after the 2023 model year, according to Car and Driver.
The 2023 R8 is available as a coupe with a starting price of $158,600 or a convertible with a minimum sticker of $171,000. In its most tame form (ha!), it gets 562 horsepower from 10 cylinders and sends it all to the rear wheels. But this is an Audi, so all-wheel-drive (AWD) is on the menu. AWD R8 models get 602 horses.
Both send the power through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters to help you take control.
The R8 has been Audi’s performance flagship for almost two decades. Sharing parts with the Lamborghini Gallardo and Huracan (parent company Volkswagen owns both Audi and Lamborghini), it helped redefine Audi’s position in America. Even Iron Man had one.
But Audi has promised to go all-electric and aims to beat its old German rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, to the all-electric starting line. The company says it has already designed its last internal-combustion engine.
That means the R8’s successor, should there be one, will use battery power alone.
