Ferrari 458 Italia and Audi R8 5.2 Spyder go at it from a roll and dig

On paper, this is not a mismatch. The 458 Italia has 562 horsepower from its 4.5 liter V8 powering the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. The Audi R8 Spyder sports a 5.2 liter V10 with 525 horsepower. So why does the Audi get spanked so hard? Well, it's heavy at 3800 pounds meaning the 458 Italia is lighter by about 500 pounds which is significant. It also is sending power to all four wheels whereas the Italia is going to the rear wheels making for less drivetrain loss.
Combine the higher weight for the R8 with its higher drivetrain losses plus shower shifting transmission and the drag created from the top being down and you get the beatdown we see here. This really is a huge mis-match as the Road and Track R8 comparison posted in August showed us when the R8 Spyder 5.2 V10 ran the 1/4 mile in 12.1@117. The Italia on the other hand has been shown to be capable of low 11's in the high 120's, different league of performance. The R8 owner should definitely get an ECU tune on his purposely detuned motor to bring it up to and slightly beyond the output of Gallardo's. That, or he better get used to losing.