SPECIFICATION

Colour: Phantom Black

Interior: Black Leather

Year: 2010

Mileage: 16,000

Engine: 5.2L V10

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual

Body Style: Coupe

Fuel: Petrol

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INVESTMENT THESIS

We spent a long time looking for this beautiful low mileage manual R8 V10. First registered in May 2010, this phantom black car comes with a full Audi service history. Whats more, having covered just 16,000 miles from new, we believe it is one of the most interesting appreciating modern classic investments on the market at the moment.

In a similar vein to the Lamborghini Gallardo, the Audi R8 V10 was one of the last manual gearbox, large capacity, and naturally aspirated supercars to ever be produced. The 5.2 litre 10 cylinder engine coupled to the versatile Audi Quattro system creates a monumentally impressive and usable everyday supercar package. What’s more, being an Audi as opposed to a Lambo makes maintenance and servicing costs a lot more palatable.  

As soon as the big V10 fires up you feel in the presence of something special. The steering and clutch at slow speeds are refreshingly weighty and purposeful but still remarkably usable for city/town driving. However, getting out of town and onto a country road is where you truly realise how capable this car is. Once over 3,000rpm, the engine note comes alive as exhaust valves open and you get the full fat sound that only a V10 can muster. The car pulls beautifully and gear changes are seamless through the gated box. For a big motor, it wants to rev and indulging it to the 8700rpm red line only highlights what a mind blowing engine this is.

Into a corner and the brakes, even in non ceramic form, have incredible stopping power. Its through the bends where the brilliance of this car’s chassis and engineering really come alive. The grip is phenomenal but with the rear wheel drive bias of the Quattro system, the car feels less inclined to understeer like many a fast Audi in the past. In fact, coupled with the brilliant chassis, it allows you to jump on the throttle much earlier coming out of a corner as it slingshots you down the road.

One of the great features of the V10 cars over their V8 brethren, is the high level of factory options included as standard. This means that sort after items such as the magnetic ride suspension and Bang & Olufsen sound system all come as standard on the V10.

From an investment perspective; V10 prices have definitely found a floor in the current market context. That said, cars like our clean, low mileage example are few and far between so it’s worth spending the time and premium to find a good one. With no signs of Audi reintroducing a manual option for the R8 in the near future, we expect prices to rise in a similar vein to what we have seen with manual Ferrari F430 prices in recent years. With that, we wouldn’t be surprised to see cars like this one offered north of £70k in the next couple of years.

TECHNICAL FEATURES