IN the wake of the emissions scandal, it’s fair to say that the Volkswagen Group could do with some positive press.

Step forward the new Audi R8 - the manufacturer’s fastest and most powerful production car ever.

Developed alongside the racing version, the R8 LMS GT3, it shares around half of its components with its track-bred twin - Audi says that the engine is near-identical.

And the stats have improved in every area - it weighs less, accelerates quicker, goes faster, uses less petrol and, yes, has lower emissions.

There’s plenty of other new stuff - it’s the first production Audi to use carbon fibre in its structure, while laser lights see a long, long way down the road on main beam, and there’s also performance modes for dry, wet and snow on the V10 Plus.

Gone, for now at least, is the V8 option of old. This time around Audi has put all of its eggs in the V10 basket, with two versions available - 540ps and 610ps in the new V10 Plus model.

The standard car makes 198mph top speed and 62mph in 3.5 seconds. None too shabby.

The Plus, however, breaks through to 205mph and gets that 62mph figure down to 3.2 seconds.

It’s wider, lower and flatter than its predecessor and it sure looks like it means business.

And it certainly backs that up with performance.

The noise, especially in Dynamic mode, is race car-like. As in nearly Formula One-like, before the sport started using lawnmower engines.

And in Dynamic mode the R8 is an intoxicating, hugely addictive drive. Acceleration is brutal and the roars, crackles and pops that come from behind your head are awesome.

The S tronic ‘box (there’s no manual anymore because nobody bought it) even blips the throttle for you for added aural pleasure.

Thanks to quattro it sticks to the road, there’s no other way of describing it.

At the UK press launch we put it through its paces on winding mountain roads in the south of France.

You can nail the throttle for a few seconds, brake hard, turn in and you are 100 per cent confident that it’ll take the corner every time.

As a combination of acceleration, grip and braking power, it’s perfect. There was also a chance to try it in the wet as well - and it doesn’t lose a millimetre of grip. It’s flawless.

Yet in town it’s easy to live with as well. In Comfort mode cylinder shutdown tech knocks it down to five cylinders and the engine is virtually silent in comparison to Dynamic mode.

It makes the R8 a truly useable everyday car - you could do the long-haul 70mph cruise in complete comfort - the superb interior helps with that as well - quiet and ease and simply forget that you’re in a supercar.

Because this is a supercar and a proper one at that.

But what makes it one is not just that it is a hugely capable, track-bred, triumph of power and grip, but also a car that you could drive to work in every day.

As a reminder of what Audi is capable of, the R8 has come along at just the right time in a difficult year for VW Group.

The V10 is priced from £119,500, while the V10 Plus starts at £134,000.