If you haven't heard all about the new R8 from Audi yet, then you must be either living as a hermit, or residing on the planet Zogg. After all, the vehicle has won just about every award that the automotive industry has to offer this year, and lately, there appears to be more photos of the R8 covering media desks than those of the delightful Paris Hilton (wow, now that's a first eh!).

If you haven't heard all about the new R8 yet, then you must be living as a hermit.

Naturally, just about every automobile journalist with a pulse has tried to book the R8 to review. In fact, if you float around the Web, you'll find several penned by bloggers who haven't managed to even sit in one yet! The vehicle is so popular that every automotive publication simply has to have a story on it, even to the point of doing a "Hans Christian Anderson" and entering into the land of make believe!

To be fair, that's what happens when a manufacturer produces a vehicle which turns the automotive world on its head, which is exactly what Audi has managed to do with the release of its R8.

Think about that for a moment. If I had told you ten years ago, that Audi would one day produce a 420hp V8 All-Wheel-Drive super car that would have the Ferrari designers quivering in their Gucci shoes, you would have laughed your heads off and thought that I belonged on Zogg. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd called my editor demanding my resignation, or even phoned and arrange for the padded van!

You see, Audi went though a bad patch several years ago. Its reputation was tarnished by a couple of, shall we say "less than worthy automobiles". Since then, the company has fought hard to turn that image around, and has been so successful that today, the Audi nameplate is being held up as an industry standard.

But Audi, a Super Car manufacturer??
Well, let's look at that for a moment. They certainly have a racing background. In fact, the Auto Union nameplate, which eventually evolved into Audi, had a strong heritage in racing several decades ago. Even today, Audi continues to be a dominant force in European saloon car racing.

The Auto Union nameplate, which evolved into Audi, had a strong heritage in racing several decades ago.