Audi R8 V10 5.2 Spyder
The pain of writing this, is in the knowledge that I have given the car back. Few cars in a given year are a torture to hand back the keys. The thrill of the next unknown test is usually enough enticement to move on.
I need to confess. I loathe convertibles in most cases. A coupe gone heavy, with scuttle shake to ruin the steering and a nagging feeling that the coupe would be just a little better in every way.
Enter stage left the R8 V10 Spyder. First things first, the car looks incredible. The lopping off of the roof and the elimination of the buttress above the engine cover, and even the removal of the glass engine cover itself isn't aesthetically missed. This car is drop dead gorgeous. The curves are enhanced. The car looks fast sitting still. Did I mention that those clever egg-heads at Audi have only added 11kgs to the Coupes weight?
This is also a car to forget the numbers for. The acceleration, torque, power and fuel economy are all absolutely irrelevant. The car is out and out a gas to drive. Nimble, predictable, with abundant grip, predicable on the edge, a pleasure to drive with traction control on or off. The car is a blast to drive on even the tightest mountain passes, and trust me I did. I found every excuse to take blasts around every pass I could get to. This isn't a mere Posers supercar, and supercar it certainly is. The feel and communication leave you in complete control. This is a car to reward the experienced driver, while the electronics should take care of the novice. The suspension is compliant when pushed hard and is comfortable enough when out of sport and cruising around, although why one would cruise slowly in this is beyond me. The tautness of the Spyder versus the Coupe is unnoticeable. Not a glimmer of scuttle shake or the merest hint of chassis flex. They have this car sorted properly.
My previous experience in an R8 was the V10 coupe, which trounced the V8 in every way. Although on paper only incrementally better than the v8, in the real world the V8 was relegated to the history books, it was such an improvement. The manual box had me pulling off in spite of the quattro as if I was in a rear wheel drive rally car. I was in automotive bliss. This Spyder test unit had the R Tronic box. The electronic clutch, although miles better than its Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera cousin that had the upshifts upset its composure during some track time we had together, is no match for Audi's DSG system, and I was left yearning for them to bring one out in a dual clutch version. Changes as fast as this R Tronic but with the DSG's smoothness. I wish. The thrill of pulling off while lighting up all four tyres will soon have the electronics letting you know the clutch is overheating. Don't ask me how I know this.
The thing about this car is noise. Lots of it and of the good kind. The delicious revving of the engine with downshift blipping and the V10 howl of the exhaust in sport mode are etched into me as one of my finest connections with a car. All made the more intense by the absence of a roof. You find yourself accelerating in traffic like an idiot just so you can hit the brakes and shift down yet again. All this for the visceral thrill of its V10 bark and howl. The coupe just cannot offer this constant thrill. The top also goes up and down while moving up to about 40km's an hour.
Audi with this force majeur have firmly confirmed themselves as supercar builders, and I for one would wonder why one would even consider the Lambo sibling with such a strong contender. This is my best car of 2010 without a doubt. Now where to find a little over 2,1 millions bucks lying about…
