Audi Goes Drifting With First Ever Rear-Wheel Drive R8 V10

Published September 12, 2017
Views : 3308
2 min read

Drifting used to be for kids. But now those kids have grown up and, while donning their corporate suits, they still want to drive something that goes sideways. Enter, the rear-wheel drive Audi R8 RWS.

The Audi R8 has always been a fantastic car to drive. The grip levels from the Quattro all-wheel drive system meant you could carry massive speeds in and out of corners. But, what if you were looking for something that offered less grip and more fun? Welcome the Audi R8 V10 RWS (Rear Wheel Series). Essentially the R8 LMS racing car's street-legal avatar, the RWS is powered by the same V10 block as the AWD, but here, all the power is directed to the rear wheels. What makes the deal even smokier is that Audi has incorporated a drift mode into the setup, which seems apt as if a 540 horsepower RWD super car could do much else. Plus, you can perform this 'controlled drift'/wet your pants with the top down as well.

As mentioned, powering the RWS is the same the mid-mounted 5.2-litre V10 engine of the Audi R8 V10 Plus. It produces 540PS of power and 540Nm of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels and the coupe races from 0 to 100kmph in 3.7 seconds (3.2 seconds for the R8 V10 Plus AWD), whereas the Spyder is a tenth of a second slower. The coupe is 2kmph faster than the Spyder as well at 320kmph.

Engaging the drift mode in the RWS is rather simple. Just choose the “Dynamic” mode in the Audi drive select and set the ESC to “Sport” and watch the beautiful black 19-inch 295/35 wheels choke a Polar Bear. Drifting is also aided by a lighter overall setup. Since there are fewer mechanical components here, the RWS is 50kg lighter than the AWD Coupe and weighs just 1.58 tonnes. The Spyder, on the other hand, is 40kg lighter than the R8 Spyder V10, weighing in at 1.68 tonnes.

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The rear-wheel madness R8 V10 comes with certain design traits to make it look different than the usual lot. For starters, it gets a matt black grille and air intakes at the front and rear. Also, like the R8 LMS GT 4, the Coupe gets a red film running over the entire length of the car. Inside, you get sport seats covered in leather and Alcantara with buckets available as an option. And, lest we forget, it gets a “1 of 999,” badge on the dashboard. “Why”, you ask?

Because all good things need to come to an end. Both Coupé and Spyder variants of the Audi R8 V10 RWS have a limited run of 999 units. The car will be launched early next year in Germany and other European countries. Hopefully, a few units will land on our shores as well. The limited-run RWS will cost about Rs 13 lakh over the standard R8, which has an ex-showroom price of Rs 2.54 crore in the country.