Normally when you drive a car you truly love, it's like hot chocolate. It warms your soul, and you want to come back for more.

This car -- the Audi R8 -- is nothing like that.

I love the R8, sure enough, but it terrifies me. It's so powerful, so beautiful, so thrilling that simply stepping near it makes my pulse quicken and my blood pressure rise. I only drove it for a few days, but I'm pretty sure it reduced my lifespan by at least a year.

No, the R8 doesn't warm your soul. It grabs your soul around the neck and gives it a 420-horsepower beating until your soul's spleen is ruptured. Then it forces your soul to come back for more.

THE BASICS

The R8 follows a simple formula: extremely light weight + extremely high horsepower = extreme performance.

More specifically, it's a very expensive, two-seat German supercar with a huge V8 engine mounted directly behind the driver's back. It's stunningly beautiful. And it can go nearly 190 mph.

Power comes from a 4.2-liter engine that's mounted just in front of the rear axle. The mid-engine design allows for excellent weight distribution and better handling when the tires start to lose traction, which doesn't happen easily because it has Audi's famous all-wheel drive and tires as wide as Tennessee.

It also has the best suspension system I've ever driven. Not only does it perform amazingly well through corners, with the kind of grace and predictability most cars can only dream of, but it also has a magic switch that changes the suspension from racetrack worthy to Cadillac worthy.

I'm not exaggerating. It's an enormous difference when you're floating on glass one second, then flip the switch and -- WHAM! -- you can suddenly feel every particle of dust between your tires and the asphalt.

It's clear Audi wanted this to be a comfortable car for everyday driving, and not just because of the magnetic suspension that can feel like Grandma's car. It's also much roomier than many comparable supercars, with enough head and shoulder room for the Jolly Green Giant.

The R8 is largely hand-assembled using the same platform as the Lamborghini Gallardo, so it's extremely exclusive.

How much does it cost? The base price is $109,000, and the one I drove cost around $130,000 thanks to upgraded leather and the world's worst transmission (more on that later).

That may sound like a lot of money -- indeed, it is -- but when you consider the Ferraris and Lamborghinis it compares with cost closer to $200,000, that $109,000 price tag suddenly starts to look like a bargain.