Audi R8 Spyder

David Morley

KOMPAS.com - Audi's V10 supercar now comes with a retractable roof for open-air thrills. If it’s good enough for the Porsche 911 Turbo, the Lamborghini Gallardo and a range of other supercars, then Audi obviously thinks it’s time its R8 flagship went topless, too.

But unlike many coupes converted to a folding roof layout, the $376,000 (in manual form) R8 Spyder isn’t simply an R8 coupe with the roof lopped off. Rather it’s a complete redesign that builds on the coupe’s aluminium space-frame construction to maintain torsional rigidity (body stiffness).

The front panels including the bonnet and front guards are made from aluminium, while the rear panels starting with the rear haunches and the engine cover that doubles as the roof’s tonneau are moulded from carbon-fibre. The R8 coupe's distinctive side-blade disappears from the Spyder.

Bucking the modern trend for folding metal roofs, the R8 Spyder uses a cloth top which is both lighter, simpler and more compact than a metal lid, yet it’s still electrically operated, folds up or down in just 19 seconds and lives above the mid-mounted engine so it robs no luggage or cabin space.

While some world markets will get a V8-powered version of the Spyder, the only version brought to Australia will be the megastar V10 version which uses the engine lifted from the Lamborghini Gallardo.

In R8 Spyder form, that means an engine pushing out 386kW at 8000rpm and 530Nm of torque at 6500rpm, all without the aid of a supercharger or turbocharger. Audi claims 0-100km/h in a neat 4.1 seconds, and it's hard to argue with that from the seat of the pants feel.

The manual gearbox option for the R8 Spyder is a six-speed unit complete with a gated shifter while the six-speed clutchless manual, dubbed R-Tronic (which takes the sticker to a mighty $392,000) is a bit old fashioned in that it still uses a single clutch layout while the rest of the world is rushing to embrace the technically superior twin-clutch arrangement.

But while it might seem last year's news on paper, on the race-track the gearbox works beautifully, matching revs to road speed accurately and doing pretty much exactly as the driver instructs.

Handling and grip via the Quattro all-wheel-drive system helps make the big Audi about as fool-proof as a hyper-car could ever be. There are enormous reserves of traction and plenty of tyre grip to help out and the magnetic ride control can tailor the dynamics from supple-ish to race-track tough.

The soundtrack is pretty amazing, too, with a slightly offbeat idle rising to a roaring top end as the revs approach 8000rpm. Even starting the car is an aural experience with a mighty woomph as the engine catches on the starter and 5.2 litres of air are sucked into the thing every revolution.

Options include ceramic brakes front and rear at a huge $25,422, extra leather trim at $8700, Audi's sportier bucket seats at $9100 and even a kit that includes carbon-fibre inlays for some of the interior trim at a thought-provoking $5720.

Standard gear, meanwhile, runs to the adaptive suspension, a Bang and Olufsen stereo, bluetooth connectivity (including clever microphones built into the driver's seat-belt for phone calls with the roof down) heated seats and full LED headlights.

Supercars are not for everyone, of course, and neither are convertibles with theoretical top speeds around the 300km/h mark. But then, neither are price-tags that, with all the options and on-road costs could easily tip the wrong side of $450,000.