Top Gear

'Tonight, I speak German...'

Vorsprung durch!

'.. the German speaks English...'

Go out, go out, go out!

'.. and Matt takes a tour of London with superstar wheel man Ken Block.'

Oh! Westminster Bridge!

Hello, and welcome to Top Gear.

This is it, the wait is over. Tonight is the night.

Yes, the night where more cars go sideways

than ever before on Top Gear.

No, no. No, that's not what I'm talking about. No.

I'm talking about you guys finally getting to see Chris

enjoy his breakfast twice.

Once on the way down and once again on the way back up.

Can we just get this over with, please?

Sure, yeah. Let's roll the Audi R8 film.

Here is the brand-new R8 2.0,

and it's gunning for the big boys.

Cost -- £135,000.

Engine -- the V10 from the Lamborghini Huracan.

Horsepower -- over 600.

And there's no cheaty turbo charging here,

which means you can rev this engine all the way to 8,700 rpm.

Even the slightest tickle of that accelerator delivers all that power

right to the back of your head.

0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

And she will not run out of puff until she hits 205mph,

which makes her the fastest, most powerful,

road going Audi of all time.

Vorsprung durch. Have some of that!

The engine might be supercar old school,

but everything else about the R8 is

reassuringly state-of-the-art.

There's aluminium and carbon fibre all over the shop,

which makes it a bit lighter, but a lot stiffer than before.

And as far as looks go, it's completely an R8 still, obviously.

However, it's just subtly so much sharper and better sculpted,

miles better looking. I love it.

Physical dials? No chance.

The entire dash is a high-def widescreen telly

that can be configured as you desire.

And then there's the stuff you can't see.

Under your fingertips here is a seven-speed, twin-clutch gearbox,

changing gear faster than you can say, "Does it come in manual?"

Which it doesn't, by the way.

And because it's a bonkers fast Audi,

naturally it has to have four-wheel drive.

This, though, is especially clever four-wheel drive

which can shove 100% of the engine's power front or back

depending on which end wants it most.

Every single second this R8 is making a gazillion calculations

based on information drawn from hundreds of sensors

that help it to decide exactly where to push and what to shove.

One of the results of which is that it grips so well through the corners

your internal organs will have to apologise to each other

quite a lot.

Here we go again.

So, the R8 will change gear for you.

It will alter the suspension stiffness

and steering response for you.

It will decide how to divvy up the power for you.

ALL to give you the optimum performance.

There's no doubt that the R8 is a brilliant car.

An amazing bit of kit,

but is it just a bit too friendly to be a genuine supercar?

Or does it have a dark side?

To test whether the Audi computers have removed the V10's venom,

we've come to one of the most extreme,

intimidating race circuits on the planet.

Laguna Seca.

Home to the infamous Corkscrew.

A high-speed descending helter skelter over a blind crest

that throws you into a sheer 30-metre drop.

Clearly there was only one person in Top Gear's arsenal

to take to the wheel.

Sabine Schmitz.

- Sab... - Hm?

How about a challenge?

Challenge? What do you mean?

- Your brain versus Audi's brain. Two flying laps. - Mm-hm.

First lap, the car's in control.

All the computers, all the race aids on, gearbox in automatic.

- You're just a driving monkey. OK? - Yeah, OK.

Second lap,

you're in charge of everything, gearbox in manual.

- Sabine versus the machine. - Oh, cool.

Let's go.

'First lap, dynamic mode.

'That means all of the R8's driver's aids are on --

'launch control, dynamic steering, track spec damping

'and traction control,

'faster throttle response and a quicker gear change.'

Three, two, one. Go!

I'm just a monkey behind the wheel!

I do nothing!

It's shifting itself.

Whoo!

Corner number three.

No gear shift at all.

Are you still there?

We're going on the hill. Corkscrew!

That was fun.

The car has everything under control.

Coming to the final bend.

Oh, baby!

Home straight.

Oh, slow down, Sabine, please.

You need some fresh air?

Oh, .

'After putting a few pounds in the swear jar it was time for lap two.

'This time, all driver's aids off.'

OK, 1.46.78 to beat.

Can Sabine beat the Audi machine?

In three, two, one. Go!

This is the real deal now.

Hairpin bend.

Go on, Sabine.

Feels better from a passenger point of view, if that matters.

Yes, corner number three.

Going well.

Yeah!

Come on, Sabine.

Yeah!

- Feels smoother. - Good traction.

Up the hill. Come on.

All you can see is sky!

Oh, much quicker into the Corkscrew this time.

Hold on tight to your balls, sonny!

- Ah! - Hey!

My stomach wants a divorce.

Two more corners left.

This is great stuff. Yes!

Very late breaking into the last corner.

Come on, Sabine.

You can do it. Sideways into the home straight.

- Go on, Sabine. - Here is the finish line.

Whoo!

Stop! Stop! Stop!

Stop! Please, stop!

Go out, go out, go out!

Why is it red?

Strawberries. For breakfast.

The new Audi R8 and Sabine Schmitz, everyone!

Who did beat the machine by seven seconds. Seven seconds.

Yeah! Thank you very much.

So, Sabine, the Audi R8 V10 Plus, Audi's fastest road car ever.

A hit or a miss?

I like the suspension, I like the response of the steering wheel,

I like the power and the brakes. Everything perfect.

I have a little problem with all that technics inside,

you know the computer stuff.

Doesn't work so easy, you really have to think about it,

- what you're doing. - So, thumbs up? - Thumbs up.

I love it, but I'm not so sure about strawberry boy.

I'm not here.

OK. Didn't say you were.

Now it's time to hand the R8 over to our tame racing driver.

Some say...

es ist der Mann der auch ein Rennfahrer ist.

Er hat zwei... Fuchse!

Oh, it gets me every time. I tell you.

- OK, all we know is he's called... - .. the Stig!

All right. Let's do this.

Off the line, the Audi R8 V10 Plus.

Italian heart, German suit.

Stig, with all the computers firmly switched off,

just like Sabine, of course.

Up to the first corner and that's very, very tidy,

nip and tuck from the Stig.

Stealthy focus, focus stealthy.

Immaculate through Chicago.

Oh, so precise. Oh, so accurate.

Very Teutonic.

Into Hammerhead now.

Will there be any oversteer whatsoever?

Of course there won't.

The R8's four-wheel drive system keeping everything

pointed in the right direction.

Time to open up the taps now and step on that gas.

Up to the tyre wall, then.

Bit of a slide on the exit there.

Second-to-last corner.

Stig stamping on those carbon ceramic brakes.

Still no dramas. Why would there be?

Round Gambon clean as a choirboy's conscience

and across the line.

So, we have the car here and we have the time here.

The Audi R8 V10 Plus, basically a Lamborghini Huracan

dressed for dinner as opposed to ragging it around the track,

so, it should be pretty close.

There's the Lamborghini Huracan at 1.15.8.

And it is... 1.15.7.

There they are.

Happy together.

OK. OK.

Now, here's the film that's made all of us the most jealous,

because we didn't get to make it.

Driving the new Ferrari F12 tdf, it's that damn Chris Harris.

- Hate that guy. - Yeah.

This is the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France.