Audi R8 crowned World Performance Car

The Audi R8 has been named ‘World Performance Car’ at the World Car of the Year Awards ceremony in New York this week. The announcement came as the New York Auto Show opened its doors over the weekend.It is the second time the R8 has claimed the award: the V8 powered R8 took the award in 2008.

The World Car Awards jurors commented: “In the opinion of many on the World Car Awards jury, Audi has at long last satisfied our hunger for a street car that lives up to the excitement of the original Le Mans series-dominating R8 LMP1 race car.”

Developed jointly with quattro GmbH, the Audi R8 V10 is powered by a 5.2 litre direct injection ten-cylinder engine which develops 525PS, enabling it to sprint from zero to 62mph in just 3.9 seconds and then to a top speed of 196mph. It features Audi technologies such as quattro permanent all-wheel drive, a lightweight aluminium body and innovative all-LED lights.

This is the second World Performance Car award win for the Audi R8: the original V8-powered version won the same award in 2008.  Whether a customer chooses an R8 with a V8 or a V10 engine, they will get a World Performance Car award winner.

Audi R8 car leasing deals

Audi R8 road test reports

This is also the third Word Performance Car award for Audi in the five years that the award has been on offer: the RS 4 was named as the 2007 World Performance Car.

The truly global nature of the World Car jury is evidence that Audi is hitting the performance car sweet spot of car lovers around the world.

Author: Faye Sunderland, April 6th, 2010
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