Audi's R8 sports car captures triple crown

The all-new 2008 Audi R8 captured the triple crown of Canadian automotive awards by being named as AJAC's "Canadian Car of the Year", being designated as AJAC's "Best New Design" of the year and winning AJAC's "Most Coveted Vehicle" award.

Photograph by: CNW Group/ Audi Canada, Canwest News Service

Audi Canada captured the triple crown of Canadian automotive awards with the new R8 mid-engined sports car.

At the opening of the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, the Audi R8 was presented the 2008 Canadian Car of the Year award by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada.

The Audi R8 beat 11 other "best new" category winners to secure the Canadian Car of the Year honours.

The Audi R8 was also declared the winner of AJAC's Best New Design award for 2008. In addition, Canada's automotive writers and editors also selected the Audi R8 for the rarely presented AJAC Most Coveted Vehicle award.

Audi's first premium mid-engine sports car began appearing in Canadian Audi retailer showrooms last September.

"Inspired by every great idea Audi has ever had, the all-new R8 will create a higher profile for Audi in Canada," said Karsten Ruwaldt, Audi Canada's director of marketing and product management.

"Equipped with the expertise that Audi has garnered through its involvement in motorsport and from building sporty premium-class automobiles, the R8 is a precision sports car that embodies Audi's superlative road manners, pioneering technology and advanced design."

The incredible R8's lightweight aluminum chassis, high-revving 420-h.p. 4.2-L FSI V-8 engine, race-inspired suspension, quattro all-wheel-drive system and low centre of gravity combine to make the R8 handle in an unparalleled manner.

It has a base price of $139,000 for the six-speed manual version and $150,500 for the automatic R tronic edition. Audi's R8 production facility at Neckarsulm, Germany, is geared up to build just over 20 cars a day.

Competition

The AJAC Canadian Car of the Year competition gathers more than 60 Canadian automotive journalists at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., for several days in October for the annual TestFest event. This program has received high praise from journalists and consumers alike because the evaluation and voting processes are carried out in a professional, fair, serious and equitable manner.

The participating journalists have the opportunity to test-drive all the entries back to back in identical conditions. An extensive list of criteria is assessed by the journalists and all active participants vote for their individual choice as car of the year.

AJAC consulted with three design experts -- Robert Cumberford, design critic, Automobile Magazine; Paul Deutschman, Independent Canadian designer; and Ken Cummings, a professor of automotive design at Toronto's Humber College -- requesting that they select their top four choices for best new design from among the 59 Canadian Car of the Year entries.

Each expert created his own short list based on three parameters: esthetics, function and brand essence. The respective short lists were then made into a design ballot, which was given to all voting AJAC journalists.

Each journalist was then asked to select their personal choice for the Best New Design from the four finalists according to the same parameters as the design experts.