The R8 — Audi’s Supermodel
If you want to experience celebrity status, simply drive around in Audi’s new R8. I was photographed stopping for coffee in a town where Ferrari and Lamborghini are not unusual sightings. Then again while stopping for gas at the Chevron station. And once more from a moving vehicle. Only Paris Hilton on a bicycle in a string bikini would have attracted more attention.

For those of us familiar with Audi’s history in the United States, the kind of attention lavished on its R8 sports car is remarkable. This is a brand that got an unimpressive start with its LS100 and Fox models, nearly packed up and left after the "unintended acceleration" fiasco and has struggled to sell models that were priced in Mercedes-Benz or BMW territory.

Of course, Audi didn’t leave town. The VW luxury brand has continued to develop its offerings to the point where comparisons to its vaunted rivals are welcome. And along with style, performance, and quality, Audi has added its Quattro all-wheel drive to most model lines and developed interiors that remain the benchmark of the industry.

Audi has dominated the famous Le Mans race and its following series with innovative racecars, this year adding diesel power to the winning formula. The new R8 borrows heavily from the racing program as well as from what the parent company has learned from building supercars like Lamborghini and Bugatti.

The mid-engine R8 is constructed over an aluminum space frame with an alloy body to keep the car strong and reasonably light. A potent 4.2-liter, 420-horsepower V8 sits just behind the cockpit and just ahead of the P295/30YR19 performance tires mounted on ten-spoke alloy wheels. Power is delivered predominantly to the rear, but the big front tires get enough to keep this iconic Audi cemented to the pavement.

From the moment the big starter button is pushed and the husky V8 growls in balanced baritone, to shifting through the smooth, six-speed gated gearbox, the R8 delivers wide grins to driving enthusiasts. On a racetrack, Porsche’s 911 Turbo may be a bit quicker, and a Lamborghini may turn as many heads, but neither delivers the balance of wow and sophistication of the R8. It’s a balance that buyers are willing to pay a premium for and has resulted in a sold out phenomenon for the first year’s limited production.

After a long, uphill climb to reach true luxury status, Audi and its dealers will enjoy basking in the positive publicity that the R8 has generated. But in this case, the R8’s halo effect should be long lasting, because the brand can back up its flash with plenty of substance. — Brian Douglas


Specifications

Type: Front engine, all-wheel drive

Engine: 4.2-liter, DOHC V8

Horsepower: 420 @ 7,800 rpm

Torque: 317 foot-pounds @ 4,500 rpm

Base Price: $115,600

As Tested: $123,050


Diver’s Delight
Fruity cocktails and basking in the sun are great, but for those who also seek a dose of adventure, The Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa Grand Cayman offers a dive package perfect for water lovers. The year-round Dive! Westin package offers a daily two-tank dive, one night dive (unlimited shore diving, tanks, weights/belt), a sunset sail aboard the 62-foot Spirit of Cayman Catamaran, a one-year subscription to Scuba Times, and more. "We have many guests who visit the resort in search of something new and adventurous," says Dan Szydlowski, general manager. "Guests love the package as it represents fantastic savings and offers an opportunity to see how beautiful Grand Cayman is underwater." Grand Cayman features some of the most premier scuba destinations in the world. The resort offers 15-room Hibiscus Spa, Westin’s Kids Club, evening entertainment, water sports, shopping and local attractions. (345/945-3800, www.westincasuarina.net) — Jane Shiomi

Commodore Comeback
If you had a computer in the ’80s it was most likely a Commodore. In 1981 the company released the VIC 20, the first color microcomputer to sell for under $300, making it the home PC of choice. With only 5K of RAM, the VIC 20 was in high demand, and put Commodore on the map as the heavyweight of home computing. In 1982 they trumped the VIC 20 with the Commodore 64, which boasted 64KB of RAM and 200KB of ROM. This new home PC sold for $600 — a price that, at the time, was a little steep for the average homeowner. Not to worry — the following year, in 1983, Commodore dropped the price of the older VIC 20 to $200, eventually selling close to 22 million units, making it "the best selling home computer of all time," according to the company’s Web site. By the end of the ’80s, Commodore owned the home PC market. And then along came a little company called Apple, and soon after it a company called Microsoft, and suddenly the only thing a Commodore PC was good for was a footstool. Some 20 years have passed since Commodore was edged out of the scene, but the company is back, and recently unveiled their new line of gaming computers, which they hope to sell to a world full of teenage video game fanatics. With a base price of $1,700, four models will be available in the third quarter this year — the Cg, Cgs, Cgx, and Cxx. Cashing in on the link between art and gaming, Commodore has built the computers to be fully customizable, allowing gamers to pick and choose "skins" such as the ones pictured here. Specifications will vary depending on model, but the company cites its Cxx, which will contain a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 processor, twin 500GB 7,200RPM hard drives in a RAID 0 array, 2GB of Corsair RAM, DVD-RW optical drive, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer sound card, Windows Vista, and dual 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPUst. The question on everyone’s mind: will the once reigning champion of home computing be the comeback kid of the 2000s? Time will tell. (www.commodoregaming.com)


Fashion Phone
With all this buzz about the iPhone clogging up the media, I thought it would be nice to point out a new phone by LG and Prada, the KE850, which utilizes a very similar operating system to Apple’s new wonder gadget. Like the iPhone, user interaction is done through a full screen touch pad offering a number of phone and media player functions (although unlike the iPhone, there are some necessary buttons along the side). A 2x megapixel camera, music and video applications, and blue tooth capability are the highlights, not including the fashionable design and Prada label (which will be the real highlights to some). The downside is that the order in which you download the music to the phone is the order in which it’ll stay in the music player, and it lacks the ability to create music playlists. A slight bummer, but maybe not a huge deal to most who will want to show off a Prada version of Apple’s ingenuity. $699. (www.pradaphonebylg.com)
— Ryan Thomas
 
 


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