2023 Audi R8 GT: Farewell to V-10s, rwd with 602-hp greatest hits package

The road is coming to an end for Audi's R8 midengine coupe, including its 5.2-liter V-10 variant — and pretty much all V-10s — as the electric vehicle era unfolds.

So the V-10-powered R8 supercar, which debuted in 2006, is bowing out with the R8 GT, whose production run will be capped at just 333 vehicles globally.

The rear-wheel-drive car packs 602 hp and 413 pound-feet of torque. The transmission is a seven-speed dual-clutch, though the GT gets an altered gear ratio that allows for a higher top speed: 199 mph. It can vroom from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, Audi says.

New 20-inch, 10-spoke forged wheels cut more than 20 pounds off the R8 GT's curb weight, while carbon brakes eliminated 27.6 pounds more, and the aluminum and carbon front anti-roll bar lobbed off 4.4.

The U.S.-spec curb weight comes in at 3,516 pounds, or 55 pounds less than the standard rwd R8 V-10, Audi says.

An upgraded carbon-fiber aerodynamics kit features a larger front splitter, larger side sills, additional flicks on the leading corners, vertical aero planes on the rear fenders and a rear wing with gooseneck supports.

Journalists had a chance to get behind the wheel at a racetrack in Spain. Here are some early reviews.

"We swapped into 2023 Audi R8 GTs on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires and hit the 2.8-mile, 18-turn Circuito Monteblanco for a few hot laps to assess this hottest R8's dynamics. As it happens, we'd just lapped its evil twin, the Huracan LP 640-2 Tecnica, two weeks earlier in California. So is the R8 GT a Lambo lite? Maybe. It's certainly as close as the R8 is going to come to rivaling an STO- or Tecnica-spec Huracan, but sadly just before each of our two lapping sessions, the leaden skies leaked just enough to preclude our rendering an absolute verdict on grip levels and the overall degree of confidence the car imparts.

"We ran Dynamic mode and engaged the Sport stability-control setting — no drift mode — and still felt the rear end come around frequently, whether on the brakes or throttle. We never developed the confidence to switch off stability control and attack a series of corners as we had in the Tecnica; we also noticed the R8 GT's ESC intervening when we hadn't sensed slippage ourselves, and we felt the transmission slowing and softening some shifts to prevent upsetting the chassis. It wasn't feeling sure-footed itself, so neither were we. We can say the standard carbon brakes performed impressively, even in the damp. Braking force builds in direct relation to pedal force and travel, unlike in the Huracan Tecnica, which felt grabby and engaged too abruptly near the top. As validation, we got a few hot laps with DTM ace Frank Stippler in a full-on R8 GT3 race car, which wasn't getting around the corners too much faster than we'd managed in these conditions."

— Frank Markus, Motor Trend

"Press the Drive Select button under the left steering wheel spoke. A dial appears in the left corner of the digital gauge cluster with the words 'Torque Rear' and seven hash marks. In drifting terms, each mark represents an increase in allowable slip angle — how far you can swing the back out and hold it there.

"In the mathematical terms used by the system, each hash mark represents the maximum rear wheel speed as a percentage above forward speed. Say you hit the drift pad doing about 22 miles per hour. In setting 1, the system allows the rear wheels to spin 20 percent faster than the fronts, or at roughly 26 mph. In setting 5, the system permits 52 percent more wheelspin out back, the rear wheels able to turn at 33 mph. Cranked to 7, the system allows 67 percent more wheelspin, about 37 mph. Faster rear wheelspin means more slip.

"The percentages decrease as forward speed increases. When driving 45 mph, setting 1 only permits 5 percent more wheelspin, setting 7 permits 34 percent more. At 112 mph of forward velocity, all the settings converge and only 4 percent more rear wheel speed is allowed. The math equations have the same effect as capping slip angle in each of the seven settings, but with a narrowly flexible cap as opposed to a hard cap.

"If Iron Man needs to do some sliding at 150 mph for the next MCU tentpole, he'll have to turn off ESC and make sure his arc reactor is fully charged. He'll need all his reflexes.

"The mechanical limited-slip differential on the rear axle doesn't take software commands, so in settings 1 to 3 the system uses the front brake activation and throttle cutouts to enforce slip angle limits. From 4 through 7, only throttle cutouts are used.

"Audi set up a drift course at the Monteblanco track outside Seville, Spain, to give us a trial. What we learned is that the system makes drifting easier, not easy. Get the pedal play right, even for a moment, and each setting's boundaries are immediately clear, the tail coming around progressively to match those hash marks.

"Push the car beyond a setting's mathematical walls and ESC kicks in to straighten the car out. This is really only possible in the low settings, though. Even at 35 miles per hour, bad footwork in setting 7 has the tail doing a 180 before ESC can pull the plug.

"We got six more laps of a compact, kinked-up track, but it rained again just as we pulled out of the pits, and Audi didn't give us time with the car on public roads. Ah well. We drove the base car a year ago, we know how good it is."

— Jonathon Ramsey, Motor1.com

"Getting the 602-hp state of tune that was previously only available in all-wheel-drive R8s, the GT is 40 horses stronger than the regular rear-drive R8 and the most powerful rear-drive car ever from Audi. Maybe that's why the Quattro brand is really leaning into drifting talk. In fact, the R8 GT is the only R8 to get a new feature called Torque Rear — Audi officials say labeling it drift mode is too iffy from a regulatory perspective — with seven settings of escalating allowability of rear-wheel slip. It's more of a fun mode than a track tool, programmed to allow a goodly amount of wheelspin while making it a bit more difficult for an under-skilled driver to go all Mustang exiting Cars & Coffee. Click the new checkered flag button that's sprouted on the steering wheel and then turn a knob to adjust. Level 1 doesn't allow enough slip for a recognizable drift while Level 7 provides only the lightest touches of power reduction. Unlike Ferrari's Side Slip Angle Control, however, Torque Rear isn't a spin preventer. Ask us how we know.

"The GT isn't entirely a parts-bin car, but it does borrow more than a few bits from the existing lineup. The carbon-fiber front anti-roll bar, for instance, is an $1100 option on other R8s. It has exactly the same stiffness as the bar it replaces and saves 4.4 pounds. The GT also gets the shorter gearing from the all-wheel-drive variants, with the third through seventh ratios shorter by 4 to 29 percent, and standard carbon-ceramic brakes and bucket seats, which are part of the $12,900 Dynamic package on other R8s. Forged 20-inch wheels are new for the GT and are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber in the same sizes as the rest of the lineup. European R8 GTs get an optional coil-over suspension that's adjustable for height and damping, but it's not available on U.S. cars. Ours stick to a fixed setup, skipping even the adaptive dampers from the all-wheel-drive variants."

— Dave Vanderwerp, Car and Driver

"The new Audi R8 GT is simultaneously a triple tribute to Audi's role in sports car racing, a throwback to the same-named car from 2011, and a low-volume swan song to the naturally-aspirated V10 engine, which will be going away for good at the end of 2023. While no individual component breaks new ground, the sum of its carefully selected parts result in the purest, most agile R8 ever. It's a fitting end to an often overlooked, but rarely underestimated supercar. ...

"As we all come to terms with the fact that naturally-aspirated engines with this many cylinders are going away and likely will never return, it's nice to see Audi celebrating purity with this variant. As the last of its kind with such low production numbers, odds are the R8 GT will be a collector's item. That would be a shame; on the road and at track days, or even on the skidpad shredding rubber, is where it belongs."

— Matt Farah, Road & Track
 

"Audi's engineers expected these cars to be driven hard, and I didn't want to disappoint them. Which is how our group of journalists found ourselves at the Circuito Monteblanco, a great little test track just outside Seville, Spain.
"Monteblanco has one of the highest FIA rating of any track in Europe (FIA T1/F2), meaning it's approved to host everything including Formula 1 testing. It's a mix of high-speed sweepers and low-speed hairpins that test the mettle of even the best race cars, exposing flaws that might otherwise remain hidden on a lesser track.
"Making things even tougher for the R8 GT was the light rain that made an unexpected appearance just before we were to take to the track. Fortunately our first few out-laps were lead-follows behind one of Audi's test drivers, allowing us to get a feel for the track's grip level and the car's balance. Power in excess of 600 horses on a slippery track is not the most confidence inspiring thing — for us drivers or the assembled Audi brass alike.
"There needn't have been any concern, because as powerful at the GT is, it's also one of the most accessible supercars I've ever driven. You would expect it to be a handful trying to put that much power down in damp conditions, but Audi's engineers got it very right with the GT, allowing me to push harder and harder on a track that was never fully dry.
"Fortunately, we were able to sneak in another session toward the end of the day, when the track had completely dried out, allowing me to really start testing the limits of the car. And those limits are very, very high.
"With Torque Rear mode in Level 1, the car allows for very little wheelspin, basically saving you from doing anything silly. Level 7 basically says 'you're on your own, good luck,' giving you the ability to get very sideways without any electronic intervention."

— Robb Holland, Jalopnik