The Audi R8 V10. It’s a fabulous car – no arguments there. And recently, Audi made it even more fabulous by lightening it and making it rear-wheel-drive.

Yep, even though the ‘standard’ R8 V10 has no qualms about pulling drifts, its four-wheel-drive system has always put it on the more sensible side of the divide between supercars. The R8 V10 RWS seeks to address that. And if that’s your bag, you’ll be able to buy one in the UAE in April.

The powerplant remains largely unchanged, meaning it’s still wonderful. It’s a Lamborghini-derived 5.2-litre, naturally aspirated V10 delivering 540 bhp and 540 Nm of torque. In Coupe form, that’ll mean this streak of white lightning will do the 0-100 km/h dash in 3.7 seconds. If you want an R8 RWS Spyder, expect to reach 100 km/h 0.1 seconds slower.

But the real work on the RWS has been done on the chassis, drivetrain and suspension. In Coupe form, the RWS is 50 kilograms lighter than the standard R8 V10, and the Spyder is 40 kilograms lighter. That weight has largely been saved by ditching the four-wheel-drive system and opting for a rear-wheel-drive set-up.

Audi has naturally tuned the suspension and chassis so that the rear-drive R8 isn’t too much of a handful. The carmaker says that, if you choose the ‘dynamic’ driving mode and the traction control to ‘Sport’, the car’s electronics will allow you some slip but intervene “reliably” at the limit. This, Audi reckons, allows for ‘controlled drifts’, which we like the sound of very much.

So, obviously you’re interested. If you’re serious about getting one of these R8s, though, you need to know a couple of things. First, only 999 are making their way over to the Middle East – a mixture of both Spyders and Coupes. Second, it’ll be expensive. In the UAE, the Coupe will cost AED 514,500, and the Spyder will set you back AED 577,500.

What do you reckon, this or a rear-drive Lamborghini Huracan?