Audi R8 2013

  IT seems scarcely believable,but the R8 is now six years old.Hardly looks like it doesn't it?It boggles the mind that it has stood the test of time as well as it has,looking just us graceful and futuristic today as it did in 2006.Audi has just released pictures and details of the 2013 R8,which has been given a mild nip and tuck incide and out.From the looks of it,there are no major changes visually.That's just as well'as none were needed anyway.
  Before we delve into the details,let's go back to that figure-six full yearsfrom initial introduction to facelift.Within the same amount of time,Porsche transformed its much-criticised 996 into the lovely 997,and still had time to spare to develop and launch the revolutionary 991.So is Audi being lazy,or was the original R8 such an innovative and visionary product that it needed little to no updates to stay competitive?You can draw your own conclusions,but take note of this-Audi launched the R8 in 2006 with its aluminium space frame technology,a feature that no production Porsche has been able to replicate.
  The visual updates include lightly revised front and rear bumpers,larger rear diffuser and most prominent of all,new full-LED headlight (now standard on all variants) and taillight.Exhaust tips on all variants are now circular,following the limited-production R8 GT that was introduced in 2010.The headlight graphics now appear more aggressive than before,arguably losing some of the elegance that made the R8 such a fashion icon in the place.
  There are much bigger changes underneath the sheetmetal.The standard R8 retains the same 4.2-litre V8 engine,though its power output has been increased to 430bhpNM of torque.New R8 V10 owners will not get a power upgrade,the 5-2-litre engine still pegged at 525bhp and 530Nm.Those who insist on having more speed will have to get the 550bhp/540Nm R8 V10 plus,a new flagship model that comes standard with a carbonfibre front splitter,rear diffuser,sideblades and unique black tailpipes.These add-ons however,are available on all variants as cost options.
  New to the line-up is the 7-speed S-tronic dual-clutch gearbox that replaced the old Lamborghini-sourced R-Tronic self-shifting transmission.Audi claims that the new gearbox shaves off three tenths of a second off the R8's 0-100km/h time on all models compared to the manual variants.Such equipped,the 2013 R8 V8 takes 4.3 seconds to get up 100km/h,while the range topping R8 V10 plus annihilates the century sprint in just 3.5 seconds.