Audi’s R8 weighs in at 3,600 pounds, but is lightning fast, reaching 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, and capable of 180 mph, according to several magazines.

Jim Fets

On a bright Saturday, I found car-vana in an Audi R8, inner peace on a suburban stretch of road.

Does that make me seem shallow, the sort of smiling empty suit you might find roaming martini bars or, worse, running for president? Maybe. But did I mention that this particular R8 was also as black as a traffic cop’s heart?

Thumbs up, dudes and dudettes.

The Audi R8 is this year’s auto industry moon shot — a sizzling midengine exotic that has won praise from every corner of the industry and was named Automobile magazine’s Automobile of the Year.

With its bold, edgy styling, 420-horsepower V8 and Lamborghini-derived platform, the R8 was sure to be a chic, chiseled winner.

But after spending a week with one recently, I think the R8 succeeds on many levels — including, of course, the highly significant chick-magnet one.

Consider this: the R8 shares its basic layout, all-wheel-drive system, aluminum space frame and several components with the Lamborghini Gallardo.

Its wonderful, snarling V8 comes from the Audi RS4 sedan. As you know, Audi — through corporate parent Volkswagen — oversees Lamborghini, and with the R8, can claim some or all of the credit for two special exotics: the V10 ultra-Italian Gallardo and now the great R8.

Since every automaker on the planet is trying to develop distinctive vehicles that use common platforms and components, the R8 has to blast to the top of all their “must-see” lists. (I’d guess, incidentally, that Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which have always been slightly dismissive of Audi, must feel downright toasted about the R8 — as well they should.)

Matter of fact, with Audi on a fast roll, isn’t it about time for 60 Minutes to make a long-overdue apology to the company for the silly “unintended acceleration” hysteria the crusty TV news show created a couple of decades ago?

Toss me the keys. I’m not waiting around for an answer. Because, as I quickly discovered, the R8 is a total throw-down, high-octane, barely legal blast to drive — even for a hayseed from Denton who couldn’t afford its $134,545 price tag on a 20-year note. (And by the way, 60 Minutes, this car packs serious, serious intended acceleration. Video at 6, I hope.)

My first minutes with the Audi were spent staring Gomer-like into the back window — a place where, golly, on lesser cars you find carpeted hatchback areas. The R8’s “hatch” is stuffed with a striking silver plenum and throttle bodies — the crown, I suppose, atop its hyper midengine V8.

The most controversial styling elements on the R8 are its “blades” — two broad vertical bands of curved stainless steel behind the front doors stretching from the rocker panels to the roof. My black R8 had optional painted panels. And while I’m not totally enamored with the blades, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that my car wasn’t wearing the wacky German jewelry.

That was momentary, however. Maybe some don’t view the R8 as classically beautiful — yet. But its taut, contemporary aluminum-and-composite body stopped me in my tracks every time I walked past it.

Up front, where the top of the grille hit me, the midget, at midthigh, great scowling headlights were flanked by tiny, slightly comical daytime “fairy lights.”

Eight- to 10-inch-deep vents big enough to ingest raccoons and gimme caps are under the headlights to feed air to the front-mounted radiator. Similar-size vents in back beneath the tail lamps exhaust hot air from the engine compartment.

Like most German cars, the R8 has perfect stance, crouching on 10-spoke, 19-inch wheels with 235/35 tires up front and steamroller 295/30s in back.

Though Audis offer some of the best interiors anywhere, I really didn’t pay much attention to the R8’s light-tan leather landscape.

But I can report that it is modern and functional — thoroughly Audi-esque, meaning it has interesting features such as tear-shaped gauge pods, a leather-covered dashboard and a wild steering wheel flattened race-style at the bottom.

Getting into and out of the car was surprisingly easy for an exotic — the R8, not me — and once you plopped down, the seats were supportive and comfortable. In addition, visibility was surprisingly good for a low-boy, midengine racer. (I had no problem negotiating the 12-mph morning stroll on the Dallas North Crawlway.)

Dress lightly. There is only room inside for two people carrying small stuff. But who cares?

Few cars anywhere sound better than this one, especially first thing in the morning. The high-compression, direct-injection V8 initially idles at about 1,500 rpm, sounding as good and cammy as any solid-lifter, small-block Corvette in the ’60s.

It wasn’t blowing hot air, either.

For a car with a relatively small V8 and a fair amount of bulk (about 3,600 pounds), the R is lightning fast, ripping to 60 in a blazing 4.2 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 180 mph — according to several magazines. That’s quicker than all but the fastest two or three Porsches and just a couple of tenths slower than a Ferrari F430.

And the metallic-sounding engine always percolates along at 2,000 or 3,000 rpm, ready for an instant 8,000-rpm blast. Although the engine is rated at 13 miles per gallon city, 18 highway, expect less — unless you’re far more disciplined than I am.

One major piece of advice with the R8: skip the R-Tronic six-speed “manual automatic” gearbox and order the six-speed manual. Basically, the R-Tronic is a six-speed manual shifted and clutched by a computer — a computer, by the way, that I wouldn’t want guiding my lunar landing craft.

In automatic mode, it felt like some drunken friend was doing the shifting, moving sloppily between gears, often at the wrong time, clumsily matching gear ratios to engine rpm.

Here’s the way to live with it: turn off the traction control and all the electronics and shift it yourself — which, of course, raises the question: Why not just buy the manual?

Once you adjust to the stunted transmission — lifted from the Lambo — the R8 is an absolute marvel to maneuver. Audi’s all-wheel-drive system funnels no more than 35 percent of the power to the front wheels, which makes the car feel like a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe with lots of grip.

Push hard into a tight sweeping ramp, and the front feels light and agile. Meanwhile, the rear wheels stick hard, with just a quiver of drift as speeds rise.

And while the steering is a little fuzzy immediately off-center, it livens up quickly, becoming light and tight. I even grew to like the flattened steering wheel, which initially struck me as something you’d find on the Starship Enterprise.

Despite being no more than 5 or 6 inches off the ground, the R8 also has a pretty decent ride — firm, but with enough wheel travel to seem civilized.

In typical German fashion, the brakes are so other-worldly strong that they feel capable of hauling you down quickly and safely at just about any speed.

The bottom line is that the R8 is the best-balanced, most dynamic all-wheel-drive car I’ve driven.

ProjoCars’ archive of test drives is like visiting a single showroom that features all current makes and models: projocars.com