R8 to F-Type

[MarcFTR]

Hello,

Been on the hunt for a good active forum with more UK based members and hopefully some local gatherings. Looks like this is the place to be!

Just traded my R8 for a F-Type R AWD 2 weeks ago. So far loving the more modern feel and the car is certainly not disappointing on the performance side of things. It also nearly gets as much attention as the R8 did.

No big plans at the moment, other than booking it in for a good paint correction and ceramic coating, and maybe stone chip protection. The day after I picked it up I managed to put a nice chip just above the headlight, obviously ruined my day!

[dezzy]

Welcome! Would be interested to hear the differences between the R8 and the F-Type R.

[MarcFTR]

I would say even though they are both 2 seat awd V8 coupes they are very different from a driving point of view.

Even though I don't use my fun cars for daily use and typically only do around 3000 miles a year the F-type already feels the easier car to live with. As much as getting the R8 out was an enjoyable event, it did sometimes feel a bit of a chore. On the open road it was great and the manual box was good too. Taking it places wasn't the most enjoyable though. Huge doors being the biggest issue with parking spaces, if someone got to close you're knackered! The V8 is often classed as slow by a lot of experts. For a 10 year old designed car it was still pretty swift. I haven't driven a V6 F-type, but I'd imagine performance would be very similar. Even though I have enjoyed owning a few N/A V8's, I am definitely a fan of forced induction. This is my first Supercharged car, and so far I am over the moon with it.

For some reason it gets more attention than any car I've owned. I would often get kids loitering outside my house when it was on the drive. Luckily i'm not a single man living on my own lol . Though I went to my monthly Pistonheads meet last weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised by the response the car got. Even with some other impressive cars like a 458 and V12 Vantage in attendance.

The final bonus the F-type has over the R8 is the general running costs. From what I am told an extended warranty on a F-type v8 is around £1000 a year. The R8 was £2300. So even though mine has a warranty, when the time comes it will be something i'd certainly consider.

I think servicing will be around the same. A lot of people even with R8 only service them every 2 years, but if you're doing things properly you should still be servicing every year if you're doing low miles.

If modifying is your thing the F-type is by far cheaper again. I'd say an exhaust is probably double the price. Carbon fibre parts seem a good bit cheaper too. I had considered supercharging the R8, but as cool as it would have been it was going to cost around £20,000, for "only" 550BHP. Obviously would't make any sense. The one off coolness wasn't worth that!

[dezzy]

Thanks for the really detailed response. Great to hear that comparison.

Personally I think the F-type is a better looking car than the R8 (but then I am biased!) so it's good to hear you're getting even more attention in the F-type!

[Ricky's jag]

I actually considered the r8 before the f type, personaly I was hugely disappointed! I went in thinking I'm sold even before the drive! It looks stunning so low slung and sleek. The spanner in the works was in the name of the transmission. I'm normally a manual man and love the extra interaction but the gearbox throw in the r8 is shockingly long and clutch and throttle positioning just didn't corispond with each other. I couldn't get comfortable with it and it just didn't flow! Never have I walked away from a car so disappointed as I loved everything else and wanted it so bad. It's one of those meet your hero moments and knowing you can take him home to live with, but he disappoints and you have to walk away from a hero with a heavy heart.