That 'Half Price' Totalled Audi R8 Has Been Repaired For $500
A few days ago, we were looking at the Audi R8 bought by YouTuber Samcrac. It was an insurance write off due to a crack in the front frame, and as a consequence, it went for about half the going rate of an early manual V8.
The insurance estimate for the repair is $29,522, but with a little DIY work to bring the two sides around the crack back together followed by an intensive welding session (which also involved strengthening the unaffected side as a preventative measure), the frame is back together for a mere $500. Well, plus the cost of replacing the windscreen, after a mallet mishap had smashy consequences.
That’ll be $1150 for the part, plus labour, and due to one of the magnetic ride dampers being bent, a replacement aftermarket set of dampers will need to go in at some point. Even so, Samcrac is confident that he’ll still be in possession of the “cheapest Audi R8 on the planet” once all the work is done.
It is worth noting that using the axle stand as the anchor point for the hydraulic puller really isn’t advisable for reasons that should be quite obvious, and the potential strength of the method used to fix the frame - which didn’t involve the use of the Audi-approved reinforcement plates fitted to R8s from 2011 onwards - has inevitably caused quite a bit of debate in the YouTube comments.
What do you think of the repair?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
What a cowboy repair job. Certainly not something I would have filmed myself repairing
“stronger than from the factory” sure, 2 dudes in a garage can outengineer one of the top auto manufacturers, who are btw, germans.. hahahaha in your dreams buddy..
N E I N
I must say i love the measurement tools used ( NOT ) .
This weld has actually weakened the surrounding area. Welding aluminum is not the same as steel. For those interested in why: https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-gb/support/welding-solutions/Pages/aluminum-faqs-detail.aspx#question1
Not to mention, yanking down on the frame without realigning it is going to cause all kinds of uneven tire wear and put more strain on the quattro system. Theres a reason insurance quoted the repair to be so high.
Only Samcrac.