Ottawa, Ontario - It took 15 seconds flat for the Audi R8 to attract an admirer. She appeared from nowhere, at an empty intersection on a crisp, bright Sunday morning.

"OMG, I love this car!" she gushed, straining to get a look in the cockpit. "This is absolutely….I mean, wow, what a car!"

She didn't want to leave, and this, it turned out, would be a typical response upon encountering an R8. You know, it really slows the car down…

After having the R8 delivered to my front door at 8:00 a.m., my job was to drive it from Ottawa to Toronto; the next leg of its Trans-Canada presentation tour from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia. My companion was John Hoyle, long-time friend and certified car nut. Before leaving, several other friends and colleagues needed to see, touch and ride in Audi's new, $139,000 mid-engined sports car. No problem; hop in!

It's fair to say that many cars I've driven over the years have elicited strong consumer reaction. Heck, the Smart fortwo created a crowd every time it was parked, and may even have caused a slow-speed fender-bender when one driver couldn't take his eyes off of it.

But the Smart was kind of like a cute puppy that people wanted to pet and cuddle. In contrast, life with the Audi R8 was like walking around with a Bengal tiger on the end of a leash. People were blown away, excited, stunned. Some were speechless; others couldn't stop talking.

What was it? The flash of the R8's 19-inch wheels in the sun? The 420-horsepower V8, fully visible behind the seats through its glass cover? The sexy LED daytime running lights? The "sideblade" air intakes? The position of the cabin, pushed forward in the style of a race-inspired performance car? Or maybe it was just the lines, proportions and stance of the R8, sitting so low on its 35 and 30-series tires.

Keeping things in perspective, this is not some million-dollar trinket we're talking about; or an exotic, exclusive supercar, all wings and scoops and sharp edges. At $139,000, the Audi R8 is in the realm of possibility for many dreamers, and a few lucky drivers. It's priced in company with the Porsche 911, Mercedes-Benz SL550, and a few points more than a Cadillac XLR-V, or BMW 6 Series. It's solid luxury pricing for a specialty car, without requiring "private jet" wealth.

But whatever it's got, it just resonates with people almost immediately. On the highway, passengers in other cars had their cell phone cameras out, in parking lots people walked over to get a closer look, from the roadside children pointed, and in Tweed, Ontario, population 5,610, one Dan Roberston promptly executed a nifty U-Turn on Main Street, and parked his 1990 Audi 200 Turbo quattro right behind the R8.

Dan's an Audi fan. With 600,000 kilometers on the odometer of his 200 quattro ("400,000 are mine," said Dan) he'd heard about the production R8 -- namesake of the Le Mans-winning car -- seen pictures, and wanted all the details. If I'd had a little more time, I would have offered Dan a ride, but what with all the talking en route, and the sheer enjoyment of driving this car down the two-lane stretch of the Trans Canada Highway from Ottawa heading west through Perth, Kaladar and Actinolite, we now needed to push the R8 to make Toronto in time for our flight home.

Pushing this car is a task to savour. It's not only the savage acceleration and the instant throttle response that is so thrilling, but the sound of that 4.2-litre V8 as it spins up to 8,000 rpm between each gear change is both sudden and visceral -- the R8 actually roars. Even the sound of the shifter itself is exciting, as it clicks and clacks on its short journey though the thick, billet aluminum gates.

Of course, the R8 has Audi's quattro all-wheel drive, which means it hurtles forward in a reassuringly straight line. And you'll experience a rare blend of physicality and finesse as the R8 takes corners that would fling lesser cars right off the road. Yes, we were happy to push.

Time does fly when you're having fun, and our responsibility to move the R8 westward was over all too soon. Did our presence on Highway 401 near Port Hope inspire minivan drivers - their "Baby on Board" signs prominently displayed - to pass us at 160 km/h? Or do they always drive like that down there?

We were going at a good clip, but in reality, the R8 was hardly working. Its top speed is 301 km/h, and with that in your back pocket, you don't give a second thought to nutcase Caravan and Windstar drivers.

However, on Highway 401 everything comes to a halt as you approach its intersection with Highway 400, especially when the latter carries thousands of returning cottagers late in the summer, with the sun low in the western sky. In an R8, this means an opportunity to wave and smile for the cameras of fellow motorists as we crawled along the superhighway, fielding questions as well as we could through the open windows.

"Thank-you; Thank-you very much," I mumbled like Elvis Presley responding to all the praise. How do you quickly explain that it's not yours; it's a cross-Canada drive to help introduce the car; that you're a journalist with CanadianDriver.com headed to the airport where you'll hand the R8 over to the next lucky driver; that yes, this is my job; and no… thanks… but I don't want your Oldsmobile Achieva in trade?

You know, people like cars. In general, I mean. Aside from all the mundane talk about, warranties, trunk space, maintenance, the cost of gas and the price of tires, most people appreciate a nice car. As far as I can tell, everyone who saw the Audi R8 on Sunday, September 23rd 2007, had a better day because of it.

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M

What a great review.

Canadian Driver has begun some funny stuff with their pics, trying to re-host them is even tricky now!

M

More pics here...

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A couple of related videos from youtube...

Audi R8: Caught in Ottawa on Trans-Canada performance tour


The Audi R8 has been caught in Ottawa by our eagle-eyed reader Steve during the currently running - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Enjoy the pics! Click on the pictures to see the full beauty of the Audi R8 or check Steve's full gallery by clicking on the "read more" link below.



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Looks like I missed it passing in Montreal.