It's a rivalry stretching back decades. But when it came to developing and designing their flagship supercars, the German brands couldn't have differed more.

The i8 is a rolling showcase of everything that's brilliant about modern supercars. In fact, the i8 debuted a new type of drivetrain; essentially two drivetrains in one car. An electric motor powering the front wheels, and a petrol engine in the boot powering the rears. And there's no mechanical linkage between the two - it's all cable and computers.

The R8 on the other hand is decidedly old school. It raises the middle finger to downsizing and turbocharging, converting petrol into power and noise using a naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10. The result is simply glorious - made all the more enthralling in the drop-top Spyder version.

In this video, we take both cars to a beautiful road outside Cape Town to get under the skin of this odd but electrifying rivalry. See what we did there.

0:00 Intro
1:09 Exterior
1:22 Syncing electrical and petrol engine
2:01 Power
2:27 What is the mechanical purpose for the BMW i8
3:02 Opinion about the sound of the car
3:13 Sports mode
3:51 Audi R8 engine rev sound
4:14 Engine analysis
4:26 Same engine as the Lamborghini Huracan
4:54 Power specs of the R8 plus compared to the i8
5:25 Pricing
6:29 Comparing the i8 to the R8
8:31 Outro

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Directed by Warrick Le Seuer and Ciro De Siena
Written by Ciro De Siena
DOP: Warrick Le Seuer
Offline edit: Jaco Roussow and Ciro De Siena
Colour and online: JJ Jordaan
Production manager: David O'Connor