I didn't drive it, my dad did but this is what he told me... Anyway, I was there with him and the car sounded great at idle. At higher revs its quite soft, not something you would expect of a semi-exotic.
Some comments he made:
- It's comfortable for a sports car but definitely not as comfortable as the QP (which I find quite uncomfortable already!)... By the way it was equipped with Magnetic Ride.
- The throttle response is very sensitive which makes it rather difficult to drive because just a little depression on the accelerator might break your neck
- It doesn't feel as powerful as the QP at the higher end but definitely feels torquey
- The gearbox is VERY jerky, more jerky than the Maserati's even (surprisingly)... R-Tronic was the only test drive car available.
- Driveability is very good, vision is better than in the QP because of the large viewing angle
- Interior noise is more than the Mazza, engine noise is clearly heard
- Handling is good, it glues to the road
Well that's all we've discussed so far. He likes it a lot though... He'll definitely get a manual if we decide to buy one. Traffic was bad which may explain the jerkiness and the lack of opportunity to fully exploit the car's power. We're valuing the second hand value of the A8 now to see what price we can get. If it's a good price a R8 might just be on the way.

We need a second test drive and of course my approval first before we buy though!