Audi reveals R8 Spyder 24 | 03 | 2016
AUDI HAS UNVEILED its new R8 Spyder at the New York Motor Show. The car, which will be available to order from late Spring, with first deliveries in Scotland late 2016, is the soft-top version of the Ingolstadt company's mid-engined flagship model.
Set to go head-to-head with likes of the Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet, Audi's svelte two-seater is expected to be priced around £8500 more than the second-generation R8 coupé which currently starts at £119,500.
Based around a modified version of the R8’s aluminium and carbonfibre spaceframe body structure — which uses added stiffening measures within the A-pillars, windscreen surround and sills to offset its lack of a fixed roof structure — Audi says the new cabrio is 50% more rigid than its predecessor launched in 2009. It's also 113kg lighter.
The newcomer is also shorter and wider than the car it replaces. At 426mm long, 1940mm wide and 1244mm tall, the new Audi is 14mm shorter and 36mm wider than the previous R8 Spyder and the same height. It still sit on the same wheelbase as before, 1650mm.
Related: Roadtest — Audi R8 V10 Plus
Opening and closing in 20-seconds — which can be carried out at speeds up to 31mph — the cabrio's fully automatic roof features two tapering buttresses that extend back over the engine cover at the rear, mimicking the styling treatment of its fixed-head sibling.
The fabric structure folds beneath a dedicated tonneau cover behind the two-seat cabin when stowed. The glass rear window can also be automatically extended and retracted within the rear bulkhead.
Powered by the same mid-mounted, naturally aspirated 532bhp 5.2-litre V10 petrol engine as the R8, the R8 Spyder is just 0.1s slower over the 0-62mph sprint than its fixed roof sibling at 3.6sec. It tops out at 198mph, just 3mph slower than the 158kg lighter R8 coupé.
Like the coupé, the Spyder uses a standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and electrohydraulically operated multi-plated clutch four-wheel drive system, as well as a locking differential at the rear, to all four wheels.
The car also benefits from host of fuel-saving features, including a coasting feature that idles the engine on a trail throttle, contributes to a claimed 10% improvement in combined fuel economy over the first-generation R8 Spyder at 24.1mpg, with CO2 emissions of 277g/km.
Later this year, it's expected that a Spyder version of the 601bhp 5.2-litre V10 — used in the R8 Plus — will join the line-up.
Related: Audi reveals new R18 spec and livery
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Jim McGill