Buy an Audi R8 in Rear-Wheel Drive, Save $26,000

The lighter, simpler, more oversteer-y Audi R8 RWS sounds like kind of a bargain!


In 1993, the stripped-out Porsche 911 RS America was a full $10,000 cheaper than a base Carrera. This made sense—the RS America had less stuff than the Carrera, so therefore it was cheaper. Sometime between then and now, Porsche figured out that enthusiasts will often pay more for a stripped-out special. Which is why we're pleasantly surprised that Porsche's corporate sibling, Audi, has priced the new limited-edition, rear-wheel drive R8 cheaper than the all-wheel drive version.

A lot cheaper, in fact. SlashGear reports that the 2018 R8 RWS (for "Rear-Wheel Series") starts at $138,700. That makes it $26,200 cheaper than the base all-wheel drive R8 V10, which starts at $164,900. The RWS makes the all-wheel drive R8's front driveshaft seem quite expensive.

There's a problem though—Audi's only building 999 examples of the R8 RWS and just 320 of those are headed to the US. So, don't expect to head to the dealer and get a steep discount on this decontented R8.

Besides removing the front driveline, Audi doesn't seem to have taken much else out of the R8 RWS. You still get the standard (and amazing) 540-hp 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 and seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox for your $140,000.

This price puts the R8 RWS very close to the Porsche 911 GT3, which starts at $143,600 and also has a naturally aspirated engine driving the rear wheels alone. Which one would you have?

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