Since it first appeared as the Le Mans Quattro Concept at the Frankfurt auto show way back in September 2003, the Audi R8 has lived up to its hype and then some. But now we finally get to have a go at the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 — the version of the R8 that we have always been waiting for, really. Does it bother us one bit that this R8 with a V10 is just a longer and curvier Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4? Oh, yeah, sure, that really bothers us. Are you nuts? We have driven this thundering, all-aluminum, all-wheel-drive 518-horsepower Porsche-stalker with immense pleasure over the likewise immensely pleasurable seaside hills of southern Spain.

Audi has been telling us that the R8 would become a glorious combination of German practicality and Italian exuberance, and this drive in the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro shows us that the Bavarian company has delivered on this promise beyond our wildest expectations. There’s a reason why the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10’s signature color is white, the traditional color of Germany in motorsports. This is more than just a fast car; it’s a statement about Germany, about Audi. All that stuff about engineering with spiritual purpose? The hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds) of millions of dollars Audi has spent racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the last decade? Here is where it has led us.

Attitude, Kid

If ye be a shrewd one, you’ll catch the dual oval exhaust tips gaping out the back of the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10. The humble R8 with its 4.2-liter V8 — 5,500 of which were built by Quattro GmbH and delivered worldwide in 2008, about as many as the total number of 2008 Ferraris to hit the street in the same time period — has stacked twin exhausts on each side. But in this case, two mouths make more rumble than four. The V10’s exhaust voice is unmistakably more basso than baritone, though, and even with a redline of 8,700 rpm versus the redline of 8,250 for the V8, we couldn’t make the thing really scream in the lower gears during runs through the Spanish countryside.

Just like the Lamborghini V10, the exhaust sound swells in girth and not much in height. The car’s dimensions don’t vary much from the V8 model — the V10 measures just 3 millimeters taller and 4mm longer. This car is wider than the V8 by just over an inch, though, and this is because the wider side blades (i.e., air scoops) take in more air for cooling and, frankly, just add more badass-edness to the way the V10-powered R8 looks. Besides the big-mouthed oval exhaust tips, the V10-powered version of the R8 makes its presence known with glossy black intake slots that now number just two instead of three. Audi also hopes you notice the world’s first complete array of automotive LED lighting elements — the headlights, taillights, indicators and positioning lights all use LED lights. LEDs have a virtually limitless life span, and Audi’s technicians insist that LEDs are less fatiguing to the human eye, provide better illumination in general and consume less energy.

(Some of this might be true, but when a car thus equipped raises its nose in our sight lines, we are bedazzled for an instant and cannot be held responsible for what happens in that blinded moment.) The 10-spoke wheels are lightweight, forged pieces with a Y theme, but their impact is really meant to be primarily visual. And in conjunction with the car’s pronounced rocker sills, they help give the Audi R8 V10 the right touch of evil.