Audi R8 V10 Spyder review

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Audi R8 5.2 V10 Road Test

Test date 18 March 2010 Price as tested £117,710

For Thrilling engine and performance, brilliant hood, R8 handling intact

Against Starting to look expensive, ordinary interior, very limited luggage space

The first generation of Audi’s supercar is approximately halfway through its seven-year life cycle, but there’s no sign yet of development slowing down. What started only as a V8 coupé has already become a V8 or V10 coupé, and now this, the soft-topped variant, is the next logical step in the process.

Initially it’s available only with the same V10 engine as you’ll find in the coupé (and, with slight differences, the Lamborghini Gallardo), but a V8 is likely to follow too. Also expect to see a new R8 variant every year or two to keep the halo shining.

Cutting the roof clean off a coupé, however, is a process fraught with potential drama. Inevitably, a car’s weight will increase as a manufacturer attempts to retain some of the torsional rigidity that the metal roof would give it. And there is no replacement metal here; Audi has opted for a cloth hood rather than the metal option preferred by Mercedes-Benz and, now, Ferrari.

Our test R8 arrives in what is effectively ‘base’ Spyder spec – with a stick-shift manual gearbox and shorn of options – at £111,995.