European luxury automakers have sometimes sold sporty models with slightly different performance figures in the US versus Europe. One well known example of this was the E36 BMW M3. While both Europe and the US got the 3.0-liter inline-six under the hood, the US version produced only 240 horsepower to Europe's 286 ponies. Turns out, a similar phenomenon is happening with the latest facelift of the venerable Audi R8 - but don't worry, its for a good reason.

Speaking to Anthony Garbis, part of Audi Sport's product planning team, at the New York Auto Show, we learned that while the base V10 gets the 30 hp bump worldwide, the V10 Performance (which replaces the Plus) will not see the same 10 hp increase in the US that it does in Europe. While the V10 Performance will remain at 602 hp instead of Europe's 612 horses, the difference boils down to the fact that the R8 will retain the sports exhaust in the US, whereas stricter noise regulations in Europe necessitated a new exhaust for their model.