WATCH: Iconic Audi R8 shows its racing pedigree during testing

We finally managed to get our hands on the Audi R8 Performance this week and reckon it might take months to get the smiles off our faces after reluctantly giving the keys back.

Ingolstadt recently revised its halo car and although the update includes a few exterior tweaks and tech upgrades, the heart has been left untouched and thanks heaven for that.

The high-revving 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 FSI engine offers an almighty 449 kW of power and 560 Nm peak torque. This is sent to all four wheels via seven-speed S tronic transmission.

Audi claims the coupe can reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 3.2 sec and has a top whack of 330 km/h. During our testing at Gerotek it became clear that it will struggle to match that sprint time on the highveld. Being naturally aspirated, the engine loses around a fifth of its output. Five years ago, Road Test Editor Mark Jones could only manage to clock 3.71 sec with the R8 Plus which has the same power outputs as the now newly named Performance.

Watch the Audi R8 accelerate below: 

Technically, the R8’s sprint time might be slower than the new BMW M3 Competition, but straight-line speed isn’t what this magnificent R3 336 000 beast is built for. Being billed as the “closest Audi to motorsport” and sharing a platform with the Lamborghini Huracan, the R8 is an all-round exceptional sports car.

It’s low centre of gravity and balance is as good as you’ll find on a production sports car. Cornering at high speeds is ridiculously easy, while the braking power has also been improved. Enhanced Electronic Stabilisation Control enables the R8 to come to a complete stop five metres earlier when braking at 200 km/h.

Fitted with R8 sports seats, the interior will falsely make any driver think he is a racing driver, just much more comfortable than in an actual race car. Having no infotainment screen on the centre console, all the R8’s functions can be controlled via the steering wheel and viewed on the 12.3-inch digital instrument panel.

Be sure to read the full road test report and test results once we have crunched the numbers.