2008 Audi R8

Mark Richardson

WHEELS EDITOR

The Audi R8 is a splendid vehicle, but covered in a storm's worth of snow and ice it's just a low-slung bump in the driveway.

I pushed the unlock button on the key fob and the car's fancy display of LED driving lights flashed through the deep white cover. Digging out the door handle and pulling open the wide door dropped handfuls of snow onto the $6,900 "enhanced leather package" of the driver's seat.

The cockpit was dark inside, shielded by a deep snow cover on the glass. I lowered myself inside and started the engine, which roared keenly into life from the compartment behind the two seats. The outside temperature gauge read —9 C.

I thumbed the dainty dash buttons clumsily with frozen fingers to turn on the front and rear defrosters, grabbed the snow brush from the passenger well and heaved myself out again. Time to get the car ready for a drive.

Audi claims that unlike many other exotic cars of its ilk, "the R8 is naturally suitable for driving all the year round," though few owners will want to coat their wheels and aluminum space frame body with Ontario's cruel winter salt.

The snow of last weekend's storm was blowing especially hard on the Niagara Escarpment near my home in Milton. Traffic on many north-south routes was stalled by blinding whiteouts. I needed to go west, to Campbellville, and since the Audi R8 is such a nice car, I wanted to take the scenic route.

After all, it was voted 2008 Car of the Year by the voting members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. It has Audi's storied all-wheel drive, and this $160,000 tester in my driveway was shod with expensive Pirelli winter tires.

Despite Sgt. Cam Woolley's radio messages, there seemed no reason to stay at home.

If there is any pleasure to be found during a winter storm, it can come from sweeping the R8 clear of snow. The car is just 1.25 m high, making it an easy reach to clear the roof. The true glory comes as the frost on the rear window melts, and the snow is brushed clear from the glass engine cover.

Framed under that glass, the mid-mounted 4.2 L V8 reveals itself like a showroom exhibit, pristine in the compartment's protection. Audi's taken a cue here from Ferrari's similarly displayed engines, and has even installed inside lights to better illuminate the sculpture. This tester came with carbon fibre engine bay trim, a $4,200 option to help bump up its $139,000 base price.

The engine settled into a steady rhythm as the last of the snow was swept clear, then I threw the brush back inside and settled deep down again into the driver's seat.

I backed out the drive, slipped the six-speed metal gate shift into first, feathered the clutch, pressed gingerly on the throttle and promptly threw the car sideways on the uncleared side street.

An engine that makes 420 hp will do that to a 1,560 kg car on a snowy road. The Pirellis are capable tires, but their hugely wide 285/35 profiles find it difficult to cut through the snow to the ice and cold pavement beneath.

The electronically nannied four-wheel drive quickly straightened out the car, and I started again, in second gear this time. The R8 pulled forward as it should.

Driving in appalling winter weather should never be taken lightly, but you can stack the odds in your favour by being prepared.

Get trained to control a skidding vehicle, drive alert, make sure the vehicle has decent winter tires and wiper blades and plenty of windshield washer fluid, keep a charged cellphone handy, a paid-up CAA card and carry warm clothing – just in case. Even a drive around the corner on familiar roads can quickly turn brutal during winter's fury.

There's room in the front trunk of the R8 for a couple of small cases – about on par with the space of the average Porsche, which is among its competition, and I'd stowed my coat there once the heated seat warmed up. Driving slowly along Derry Rd., squinting into the white, I wondered if this venture was so smart. If the car ended up stuffed in a snowbank, the trunk wouldn't open and I'd be jiggered.

I pulled over at Appleby Line, took the coat from the trunk and folded it on the passenger seat.

This was the base of Rattlesnake Point, one of the steepest public roads in Ontario with a gradient of at least 25 per cent. The road was unplowed, but a set of deep tire tracks pressed through the fallen snow. This is also the scenic route to Campbellville.

I snicked the R8 into second gear and pressed forward.

The car reached the start of the grade and began to climb slowly. Several times the instrument light came on to show the wheels were slipping, but each time the Electronic Stabilization Program kicked in to stop the spin. I kept well away from dabbing the brake pads against the monstrous 380 mm, eight-piston studded composite discs and just kept steering upwards, thinking positive thoughts.

Of course the car made it. There was no doubt, provided the snow was no deeper than its minimal ground clearance, and a few times it just wedged its way through snow deeper than the front fender.

Driving home on Hwy. 401, with no other cars to be seen headed in my direction and the electro-magnetic fluid in the shock absorbers set to Non-Sport, the R8 was sure-footed and comfortable, relaxed with neutral steering on the slippery highway.

The next day, looking forward to driving the R8 under now sunny skies and on clear roads, I dug it out again and backed down the driveway.

The Milton plow had been along and pushed an extra load of snow against the end of the drive, which I thought I'd push through and shovel later.

The R8 rode right up on the snow and turtled itself, two diagonal wheels lifted from the ground. It took two hours to dig it out.

Mark Richardson is the editor of Wheels. mrichardson@thestar.ca

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