2008 Audi R8 4.2

Miles to Date: 27,669
Months in Fleet: seven

Your eyes do not deceive you: We are spending one full year with our 2008 Automobile of the Year, the Audi R8. Our Four Seasons R8 has been in the Automobile Magazine fleet for seven months, and we all still pinch ourselves when we walk out to the parking structure, see it sitting there in all its sleek beauty, and realize, it's ours! Ours, ours, ours! At least for five more months, that is. There was a slight glitch in getting our R8. When we request a loaner car from a manufacturer for a one-year test, we usually prefer that the car be brand-spanking new, with as few miles on the odometer as possible, so that we can more closely replicate the experience of a real-world new-car buyer.

Audi of America was not able to spare a car from its press fleet for us until after it had already spent some 15,000 miles, presumably some of them hard miles, at the hands of other journalists. So, when our Blue Pearl Effect 2008 R8 Coupe Quattro arrived at our editorial offices on July 7, 2008, it was already very well broken-in. But we didn't care, so thrilled were we with the prospect of having this car for our exclusive use for 365 days. Feeling privileged? Yes, indeed.

Our R8 is pretty well loaded up. Its base price of $109,000 (since raised to $114,200) was augmented by some $20K in options, including a $5500 leather package; $5300 for the striking carbon fiber exterior side blades; a cool $2200 for the pieces of carbon fiber decorating the cabin; $2000 for navigation; and $3500 for a premium package with parking alert, Hill Holder, CD changer, and the like. And, oh, let's not forget $2100 in gas guzzler tax (13/20 EPA city/highway) and $995 destination charge. It all added up to $131,245. Not cheap, but by the standards of mid-engine supercars with major street cred, not bad. Not bad at all.

We asked for and received an R8 with the six-speed manual transmission, which operates through a traditional metal gated shifter and which we thought would evoke the romance of driving old Ferraris and Lamborghinis, before the days of twin-clutch automatics and single-clutch automated manuals and F1 paddle-shifters. It does elicit a few misty water-colored memories of the way things were, but its corrugated head also rubs fingers raw if you don't grab it just so. Worse, we've had problems shifting into third gear for the entire duration of the test, and the dealer hasn't managed to figure out why.

We wasted no time crisscrossing the upper Midwest in our R8 after it arrived last summer in the heart of vacation season. It's amazing how quickly two people can pare down their luggage for the privilege of taking this car, which has limited cargo space, for a weekend jaunt. The parcel shelf behind the seats, which is about six inches deep, fits more than you might think, though, as does the front trunk, a deep cavity that must be packed carefully.