Audi R8 Spyder 2010 Review

Audi R8 Spyder

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Audi's R8 is a departure for the brand... Some might say a bridge too far. But to our mind the chances are those that are so inclined haven't driven one. We're not sure whether the existence of the R8 can be sheeted home to any individual, but were it so we'd be nominating them for a medal. It's a cracking car.

Thus the drive of one with the roof chopped off was approached with some trepidation. There's no better way to absolutely poleaxe a great car than to cut the roof off -- witness Porsche's early 911 cabrios if you need proof.

Racecars aside, the structures required to make cars handle rarely co-exist with the concept of no roof. Want 'try this at home' proof? Take a shoebox and give it a twist sans lid... Then do the same with it stapled in place...

Fortunately the R8 Spyder is not 'just' a chopped R8 V10... And, importantly the R8 itself is built using a cleverer-than-most structure called Audi Space Frame (ASF).

Redesigned for its Spyder duties, the structure under Audi's new flagship sporty shares around 70 per cent of its components with the coupe. The Spyder's ASF gets thicker A and B-pillars and its sills, centre tunnel and rear bulkhead are beefed up -- all tweaks invisible to the eye.

Fashioned from a mix of sheet, extruded and cast aluminium alloy sections and even some magnesium, the body in white is in the main "lovingly built by hand" but checked using a "fully-automatic measuring system" to check the "dimensional accuracy of each body down to a tenth of a millimetre", says the carmaker.

The end result is a structure that is at least as robust as the coupe, but at 216kg is just 6kg heavier than its coupe equivalent. At 1720kg in complete manual form, The R8 Sypder is 115kg heavier than the coupe but matches Ferrari's California. Both are around 60kg heavier than Porsche's latest 911 Turbo soft-top (even with a twin-clutch PDK transmission fitted).

Though clearly based on its coupe sibling, the Spyder also features significant changes you can see. Large body-side air intakes give the car a quite different stance visually and the engine cover and rear scuttle have all been redesigned.

Of course the roof's gone, replaced by a 'classic' cloth soft-top that features 'fins' to escape the truncated look of some two-seater convertibles. This folds away under a carbon-fibre cover in just 19sec. Featuring a Z-folding mechanism and one-touch electric operation, the whole set-up weighs just 42kg, says Audi.

The soft-top can also be raised or lowered at up to 50km/h. Trying to do the same at the R8 Spyder's 313km/h top speed would be ill advised, however.

Mechanically, the rest of the Spyder is very closely matched to the R8 V10 Coupe. Power is provided by the same Lamborghini-sourced 5.2-litre V10 that features in the flagship R8 Coupe. The engine features dry-sump lubrication and direct petrol injection.

Output is an identical 386kW at 8000rpm and 530Nm at 6500rpm. Thanks to its extra kilos the soft-top is a little slower to 100km/h than its coupe partner. The standing start sprint takes 4.1sec instead of 3.9 for manual equivalents. If that's a problem, then you need to take a long hard look at yourself...

The high rev numbers on the engine spec sheet disguise the torque-filled delivery of the wonderfully sonorous V10. Audi says this is a car that's heard before it's seen -- that was certainly the case at Victoria's Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit where Audi unveiled the Spyder alongside the very latest car to wear an RS badge, the RS5.

Warbling, then screaming its way onto and then down the front straight it was hard not to break into a full-on toothy grin every time an R8 went past. That grin is almost as wide when you're behind the wheel -- save for one aspect...

Like the coupe the R8 V10 is all-wheel drive and there's a choice of six-speed manual or R-tronic automated single-clutch gearboxes. It's the latter that does its best to pollute what otherwise is a stellar driving experience.

Audi's undoubtedly talented engineers must cringe every time they drive an R-tronic equipped R8. Though technically capable, the automated manual is unpolished in its shifts. It's an exaggeration to say it's a one-cat-and-dog gearchange but you get the idea... S-L-O-W.

And driving the R8 Spyder on the same day as the RS5 with its magnificently instant-shifting new dual-clutch box only heightened the disappointment. Audi needs to update this aspect of the R8 quick smart... For the moment, if you're tempted, avoid the $392,000 R-tronic; tick manual on the order form and save almost $16K.

The R8 Spyder rolls on 19-inch wheels and features Audi's electronically adjustable magnetic ride suspension. Though ceramic brakes are available (at a hefty $25K-plus) on Phillip Island's fast and flowing layout the standard steel brakes were more than up to the task. Indeed the whole car felt very at home at the circuit. There's bags of grip and the car is unerringly stable.

Gearbox comments notwithstanding, it will take significant levels of pace and commitment to find serious fault with any aspect of the car's handling and set-up. It's a peach...

But for all its dynamic abilities, the stratospheric pricetag of the R8 Spyder takes some getting used to. After all it is still an Audi -- not a Lambo, Fezza or even an Aston.

Standard equipment includes significant interior customisation options, B&O audio, climate control air and electrically adjusted and heated seats. Bluetooth with seatbelt-mounted microphones (a first!), MMI user interface with satnav and those tricky LED headlamps are also into the bargain. But if you were to opt for the R-tronic version you are spending the same amount of money that would buy you a soft-top A3 and A5 and a V8-engined R8 coupe!

That's a huge premium to pay... And frankly as good as the R8 V10 Spyder is, that makes it very hard to recommend.

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