24 Votes

How not to drive the Audi R8

007vehispy1 submitted on 6/29/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 2:56:53 PM

32 user comments | Category: Videos | Source: | SOURCE: luxvelocity.typepad.com

Hitting up those great track days are suppose to be fun.

Clearly the absolute last thing on your mind when getting out there is thinking you are going to crash your new Audi R8. Click ahead on the video to see what happens inside the cockpit of an Audi R8 when the driver loses control.
What do you think went wrong here?

Amateur driver that can't handle the almighty R8?

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About the Author

i am the stig
— 007vehispy1 (View Profile)

User Comments

feel bad for the driver of this R8, great video of the crash though
— 007vehispy1 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 2:57:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

damn.
thats gotta leave a mark.
— Jordanski (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 4:23:08 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5

Sounded almost like the owner was the passanger & "Tim" was the driver.
— aarononymous (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 4:44:25 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

in other news..germany got thier ass kicked today.
— 528i (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 5:10:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1

I saw a Lexus car getting crashed, should I say Japan has got their ass kicked today, just as usual?
— MercedesBenz00Z (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 10:15:09 PM | | Votes: 0

He's talking about football.

Just for knowledge, England didn't even make it to the competition. Ouch :P
— M53R (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 2:56:47 AM | | Votes: 4

Bummer.
— 204E60 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 6:34:45 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

I can't imagine the fear of the driver if the owner was the passenger. Damn.
— nsmatt (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 7:15:07 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

way too fast and nasty for that turn .. the Viper in the front slowed down a lot, the R8 not. R8 is a great car but won't be that much better than the Viper, if any.
— rg12345 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 7:40:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

he's speed wasn't the problem. he was slow to line the next apex. he should have started doing so during the first apex. that car should have been able to handle that slalom at that pace with ease.
— Gennissen (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 2:44:18 AM | | Votes: 1

His pace wasn't the problem. His mistake was letting off the throttle right over the creast because he was coming up on the viper so quick.
— mmmpowr (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 11:05:37 AM | | Votes: 1

R8 is a great car car to drive to the country club, a well driven Viper is a track monster. BTW, it has been reported that the crashed R8 was borrowed from a friend.
— pcar4evr (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 8:46:06 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0

So much for quattro being the be-all, end-all, rewrite the laws of physics layout that Audi fans make it out to be.
— tattedtwice (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 9:06:03 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1

I have driven on the Virginia International Raceway at least 4 times. Those esses are treacherous - you think you can drive flat-out through them, but looks are deceiving. If the grass has not dried out from an earlier rainstorm, driving on it is like driving on green ice. The last 2 times I drove at VIR (during an Audi Club driver's school), two cars - a Lotus Elise and a Porsche - driven by rookie drivers went off the road at that same spot or very close to it.

The best way for a rookie to drive a car like the R8 through the VIR esses is to turn the traction control off, but leave the stability control on.
— Audiphile (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 9:18:16 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

Thanks for that commentary. I was wondering how it happened but this makes sense. Makes me think of some dumb things I did a couple times in FWD cars..inertia can whip you!
— t_bone (View Profile)

Posted on 6/29/2008 9:53:28 PM | | Votes: 3

I've driven my R8 to the limit on a track and even on some twisty highway roads but I haven't had lost control like that although the tail did kinda slip out due to gravel on road construction areas.

But that's not even him not able to drive. It's simply just bad judgment on a right-turn part of the track.
— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 6:06:28 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

Nope not me.
— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 12:54:13 PM | | Votes: 1

haha funny how some laws state
"you should be in control of your vehicle at all times"
yeah sure
im in control
when my car hydroplanes
yep just gotta love that cruise control
— Jordanski (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 1:54:07 PM | | Votes: 1

That was hilarious!
— 993Turbo (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 9:53:51 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

Many factors to take into account when a person loses control of a vehicle...some of which don't have anything at all to do with the driver or car. From this video it is hard to determine what caused the loss of traction.

It is easy to blame the driver however it could be the track itself (oil,debris,water) that could have caused it. I have been on VIR myself as well (where are you from Audiphile?) and if your chassis and tires are not set up to handle the course, you can be all over the place at speed.

...however if I were to make an educated guess at what happened (track conditions being perfect...which they never are) it looks like his chassis didnt settle from the decending left bend before he started entry into the right bend. He might have gotten on the gas too soon while the rear end was still light and anyone who has driven a porshe can tell you what happens after that.

AWD makes average drivers good and good drivers better...however it can't perform miracles.
— Spectator (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 10:28:21 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

Hey Spectator,

I'm from Richmond, Virginia, by the way.

Your educated guess is pretty good. You have to stay "on line" through those esses, or you will be swerving all over the place. I know from experience - I went off that track in the esses once (at a left bend), but fortunately the grass wasn't wet, and I had braked my car almost to a complete stop when the wheels left the track. No damage to the car, but I did kill a few cones.

The Lotus and Porsche drivers I mentioned earlier were less fortunate - they hit the tire wall.
— Audiphile (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 10:48:22 AM | | Votes: 2

Nice.
Cones need a good killing every once and a while. God knows I've killed a couple in autocross events.

It always scary when a lotus hits a wall at speed. Hopfully the driver survived.

Oh BTW I'm from D.C.
— Spectator (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 3:14:16 PM | | Votes: 1

...oh BTW, your right on about those esses(+1), most people who are new to racing don't realize they are a kind of optical illusion. Our brains being so hardwired that when we see a turn we have to turn, we don't look/think ahead. An almost straight line is exactly the correct call.
— Spectator (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 3:29:27 PM | | Votes: 1

Cool. I belong to the Audi Club of North America. They always reserve VIR for a few days in April and for the weekend before Thanksgiving. I plan to be there. Maybe we will cross paths.

By the way, you don't have to own an Audi in order to become a member of the Audi Club or participate in their events.

Finally, don't worry about the Lotus and Porsche drivers. They weresuffering from some whiplash the next day, but that was the extent of their injuries. Both of them were soloing for the first time. I saw them at the next Audi Driver's School, but this time they both had instructors with them!

The Lotus Elise lost a right rearview mirror, lost a right foglight, and the right door wouldn't open because of the damage done to the right side of the car. Not really serious, but I hope the guy could pay to repair the car without notifying his insurance company.

I couldn't tell how badly the Porsche was damaged because I didn't see the car after the accident.
— Audiphile (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 6:00:11 PM | | Votes: 1

It probably wasn't even his car.
— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 3:25:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

regardless of what happened or why it happened..you gotta feel bad for this guy.

"Please don't hit the wall!"

LOL, aww.
— dwatson (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 7:35:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

was this even real?
if i was in an r8
and hit a wall
damn
i'd be cursing in every possible way
— Jordanski (View Profile)

Posted on 6/30/2008 8:53:01 PM | | Votes: 1

There is a longer version of this video showing the damage:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ixBsfuShUyQ
— RatherBeDriving (View Profile)

Posted on 7/1/2008 7:27:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

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How not to drive the Audi R8

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