The new Audi R8 was a big hit at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, and while there were several R8s to choose from, the model in general pulled off a major coup for the German automaker, as it won this year’s World Performance Car award at the annual show.
It’s a bit of an upset for Audi – not because the R8 isn’t a spectacular car, but because Audi is traditionally a luxury car maker that happens to make a single supercar in the R8. Meanwhile, many of the R8’s Italian, British and German rivals make exclusively hypercars.
That said, Audi already took home its share of bowling trophies from NYIAS in the past. The automaker took the 2014 and 2005 World Car of the Year, 2008 and 2007 World Performance Car and 2008 and 2007 World Car Design of the Year awards.
As the automaker was collecting its performance car accolades, Audi was introducing the 2017 version of the R8 during a special NYIAS 2016 press event. With its price tag north of $162,000, we’ll see if the latest version takes a run at performance car of the year at the next NYIAS. This new R8 again offers a V10 engine hitting 60 mph in 3.6 seconds.
Agencies/Canadajournal