The interior is also characteristic Audi, which is another way of saying that it's stylish, comfortable, and beautifully put together. The exterior design speaks for itself, but we found that just walking up to the R8 gets your heart beating faster--and the effect it has on bystanders is electric. [For more on the R8's looks, click the link below for our Design of the Year.]

The disappointing truth about the crowd-wowing exotics, however, is that these rocket ships can be pretty one-dimensional. The Audi, on the other hand, impressed us with its depth of abilities, whatever the speed, whatever the road, whatever the weather. This isn't just straight-line speed but rapid, over-the-road travel, in which deep reserves of power are buttressed by generous suspension travel, excellent damping, laserlike directional stability, an athlete's balance, and the sure-footedness of all-wheel drive (here with a default torque bias of 90 percent to the rear wheels).

The mid-engine R8 certainly takes Audi into a whole new league of driving dynamics. Even more significant, however, this car is also indicative of the company's broader achievement. The R8 emphatically caps Audi's long, steep ascent from near irrelevance. Back in the early 1990s, in the wake of the sudden-acceleration fiasco with 60 Minutes and the Audi 5000, the brand was on life support in the United States. Its renaissance, which started with the original A4 in 1996, has been entirely product-led. With each model changeover, Audi re-invigorated its sedan lineup, then established itself as a design leader with the addition of the sporty TT coupe/roadster, and finally branched out into crossovers with the Q7. The company also has reignited its motorsports program, garnering a string of endurance-racing victories. Audi has come a long way from its virtual obscurity of the early '90s.

Audi signaled its intention to build an ultra-high-performance, mid-engine sports car with its Le Mans Quattro concept back in 2003. That car proved to be a dead ringer for today's R8, and yet how many people took it seriously at the time? It's safe to say that no one would make that mistake today. The R8 is not only a thrilling new sports car, but it's a rolling testament to a company that's stronger than it's ever been, one that's entering its golden age right now.