R8: Manual or R-Tronic?

[theturbs]

Don't know the extent to which this has been debated on here, nor whether this question has a well-known answer. From what I have read the manual gearbox gets better press.

I was impressed with the R-Tronic but haven't experienced the manual.

Any opinions welcome, thanks.

[martynj]

Tried both, bought the manual, can't beat the sound of a gated gearshift, its part of the whole appeal of the car to me. Plus never been a fan of low speed (traffic) behaviour of paddle shift, personally I like the clutch modulation. Its a great manual box as well, very positive, short throw and clutch is a sensible weight. Mines only done 1000 miles now so still not done any hard starts, but to be honest I'm not really a "traffic light hero" anyway.

[Tame Technician]

Manual all the way.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Dr G]

martynj said:

Tried both, bought the manual, can't beat the sound of a gated gearshift, its part of the whole appeal of the car to me. Plus never been a fan of low speed (traffic) behaviour of paddle shift, personally I like the clutch modulation. Its a great manual box as well, very positive, short throw and clutch is a sensible weight. Mines only done 1000 miles now so still not done any hard starts, but to be honest I'm not really a "traffic light hero" anyway.

Dead on - manual shift in an R8 is absolutely magic as a thing to behold, let alone use!

[VAG1]

drove an R8 R-Tronic and have to say its amazing at speed, the way it changes gear at speed is a real kick in back (in a good way). however around town I could feel the jerking on gear changes and waiting for it to change gear sometimes, but I'd have the R-Tronic simply because im lazy.

[steve z]

martynj said:

Tried both, bought the manual, can't beat the sound of a gated gearshift, its part of the whole appeal of the car to me. Plus never been a fan of low speed (traffic) behaviour of paddle shift, personally I like the clutch modulation. Its a great manual box as well, very positive, short throw and clutch is a sensible weight. Mines only done 1000 miles now so still not done any hard starts, but to be honest I'm not really a "traffic light hero" anyway.

What he said.

[MrsAdenau]

In my little experience of the R8 R-tronic is not a positive one....
Not sure if it was just the R8 I was driving but...the gear when stood still was just jumping out of gear which was really annoying.

Also discussed at http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17717

HTH

[Tame Technician]

It jumps out of gear when you have been sitting still so as not to overheat the clucth. If you haven't moved after so many seconds (might be 45 I cant remember) but it selects neutral and you have to reselect the gear. Customers (and my manager actually) confused by this because the lever remains in the same position so you think its in gear.

This is not a fault its a feature.

[theturbs]

Thanks for the responses guys - I had been under the impression that the R-Tronic was more in line with the ethos of the R8, but it looks as though it's not as good as I originally thought and that the manual should definitely be considered.

[propaganda]

R-tronic is fun, flatters your driving. I have never regretted getting the R-tronic over the manual.

Visit www.R8talk.com for extensive discussions on this topic.

Edited by propaganda on Friday 27th March 20:44