What it's like to live with a supercar in a big city

Few things are better than the visceral enjoyment of driving a supercar.

Ask any car enthusiast which driver's seat they prefer and the answer, almost invariably, will be one that sits low, with a big, thunderous engine out back and a six-figure price tag.

As true as that might be, it's almost cliché to say that supercars are the stuff of dreams. Certainly they are for most people. For others - including journalists like myself who get to drive these things from time to time - they are less of a dream and more of a study in harsh realities.

Outside of a racetrack or some flawless stretch of pavement underneath an impeccable sky, supercars are otherwise useless. Some of them are works of art, to be sure, but once removed from their natural habitats and employed as daily drivers, they are basically loud, over-engineered land missiles that cost more than four times the average annual US household income.

Own one of these cars in a city like San Francisco and you're in for a stressful experience. And if you're like most city dwellers who don't have a personal garage, you can add paranoia and lack of sleep to the mix.

Audi loaned me a new Audi R8 V-10 Plus that I would spend a week with in San Francisco. All things considered, this is one of the few supercars that tries to make itself livable as a daily driver.

There are more than a few areas where the R8 shines. So my experience driving this car in and around the city by the bay, though challenging, had less to do with the car itself and more to do with the general headache caused by city living with this much power beneath my feet.

Allow me to explain: