I have seen the Audi R8 in magazines before but finally got the chance to see it in person at the LA Auto show last week, and the car is hot. Audi had a white R8 in its booth with carbon fiber side blades as Audi calls them.

From the looks of things, the side blades can be interchanged with two other colors to complement the cars color. I found the carbon fiber side blades to be very cool looking on the white show car. A 420 HP 4.2 L V8 engine backed by either a 6-speed manual transmission or an R Tronic automatic powers the R8.

Audi claims the top speed is 187 mph for the R8 with a 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds. Audi has even teamed up with Bang & Olufsen for an optional sound system in the R8. The MSRP for the 6-speed R8 is $109,000 before it is optioned to the gills.