The 2020 Audi R8 Decennium Celebrates Audi's Magnificent V-10

The 5.2-liter V-10 traces its history further back, but for now, just practice this special edition's spelling.

  • Celebrating a decade of Audi V-10 engines installed in the R8 supercar, the Decennium arrives as a very limited 2020 model.
  • Only 50 of these special R8s will be imported to the United States.
  • It is the most expensive R8 for sale.

    One of the best things about being alive right now, as a car lover, is the Audi engine plant in Hungary. Nestled between Budapest and Vienna are 6000 exacting pairs of hands that assemble more than 8800 engines per day and ship them to all 31 of the Volkswagen Group's final assembly plants across the world. Of the nearly two million engines this plant cranks out each year, a small drip of 5.2-liter V-10s—naturally aspirated, race proven, loud as hell—find their way to Neckarsulm, Germany, where more careful hands drop them into the Audi R8. It's been like this for a decade. Or, in Audi's studious Latin, a decennium.

    But Audi is only telling half the story. It has been building this engine since it debuted in the 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo. Originally, it was a 5.0-liter V-10 based off its now-discontinued 4.2-liter V-8, making 493 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque. Extra displacement, direct injection, and more refinements gleaned from the R8 LMS GT3's 78 class wins have led Audi to today, where in the R8 it musters up to 602 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque. In the Lamborghini Huracán Evo, it's 631 hp and 443 lb-ft. In either car, the sound is furious, at times violent, and it revs like a superbike.

    Since quindecim doesn't quite roll off the modern tongue, the 2020 R8 Decennium is a tribute to this engine's Audi-branded manifolds since it appeared in the first 2009 R8. (Unlike in Europe, Audi of America has skipped the 2019 model year.) This R8 has the same exterior refresh, particularly to its grille, front aero, and rear diffuser, as the Euro-spec car we reviewed in January. Among many small updates to all 2020 R8 models are an optional carbon-fiber front anti-roll bar, 30 more horses for the "base" version, new colors, and a name change for the top trim from V10 Plus to V10 Performance. The Decennium is only available in V10 Performance guise and only the last 50 of this car's 222-unit run will come to the U.S., all coupes painted in Mythos Black instead of the photo car's matte Daytona Gray.

    Lest there be any strife with Lamborghini, the Decennium is simply an appearance package that costs $19,095 more than a base V10 Performance coupe. With a 205-mph top speed, that's unlikely to cause any consternation. But it's a striking appearance package, with matte 20-inch bronze wheels and a bronze-painted manifold glowing from the R8's illuminated glass engine compartment. Blacked-out badges, gloss black underbody trim (front spoiler, sills, diffuser), and carbon-fiber wing, side blades, and mirror housings complete the visuals save for one secret: the car's production number is projected onto the ground when you open the doors.

    Inside the R8's minimalist cockpit is copper stitching weaving through the seats, console, doors, dash, and microsuede-covered steering wheel. Audi etched the Decennium logo (with the number 10, just to make sure you get the point) on the carbon-fiber console and stuck two more metal logos on the outer edges of both doors. A little more microsuede for the gear selector, and that about does it.

    Assuming there are no more options, the Decennium starts and ends at $217,545 with destination and gas-guzzler tax. To everyone at Audi Hungary, keep doing what you're doing, even if after 15 years, it was never meant to last forever.

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