All ears will be on this real-deal supercar
If this is the beginning of the end of the V10 era, it must be heard
Here’s a fun fact: The 2017 Audi R8 Spyder will blast from rest to 100 km/h in about three and a half seconds.
That’s twice as long as it takes to put an end to the techno music pulsing through the car’s 13 speakers — including two in each headrest — before departing Barcelona on the roundabout journey to Spain’s Costa Brava region. Optional Bang & Olufsen audio system be damned, if this is the beginning of the end of the V10 era, it needs to be heard.
Heading north of the city, it doesn’t take long before the first tunnel nears — and with it the first opportunity to sample the soundtrack that will be playing for the afternoon drive. A few quick flicks of the left paddle shifter see the gearbox slide into fourth and the engine wind up to 4,500 r.p.m. before the hammer drops and the decibels rise, the rolling stereo filling the crisp, cool air with an ensemble of epic proportions.
Sibling rivalry
Of course, this new R8 Spyder is good at more than just making noise. Like the coupe version, it’s a real-deal supercar that shares much of its genetics with the Lamborghini Huracan, including the engine and transmission, along with a platform made of aluminum and carbon fibre-reinforced polymer. The Lambo is, by all accounts, wilder than the Audi, not to mention a bit faster. But if the Huracan is Animal from The Muppet Show, the R8 Spyder is Animal from The Muppet Showin a Tom Ford suit. Where the Lamborghini is brazen, the Audi carries at least some modesty, choosing to make its visual statement with a whisper rather than a howl. The brand played it safe with the second-gen R8’s looks, refining rather than redesigning the car with more chiseled lines and plenty of carbon-fiber accents that improve both form and function.
Blasting down the highway at speeds upwards of, well, fast is an absolute joy, with power coming by the bucketload as the accelerator reaches toward the floor. With 540 horsepower to go along with 398 pounds-feet of torque, the R8 Spyder’s output falls short of most of its competitors, but few feel faster.
The strong, (almost) silent type
Cognizant of the attention the R8 Spyder is attracting through both sight and sound, the decision is made to make the canary yellow super-convertible as incognito as possible.
The steering wheel-mounted drive mode selector is set to Comfort, the exhaust baffles are closed and the dual-clutch transmission finds seventh gear.
Coasting off the highway at the next exit, the coolness of the mountain air is quick to cut through clothing. Temperatures hover around 15 C, low enough for the novelty of topless driving to wear off rather quickly.
The R8’s speed briefly dips below 50 km/h, within the safe zone required to put the top up, and so the magic begins at the press of a button, the engine cover raising and canvas top unfolding in 20 seconds of choreographed dance that gives the Porsche 911 Targa’s transformation a run for its money while giving the R8 Spyder a coupe-like quietness.
Without the illusion of space provided by the view of the sky, the confines of the convertible’s cabin are noticeably cozier than its coupe counterpart.
Despite the surrendered space, the R8 Spyder benefits from the same interior arrangement as the coupe version. There’s no infotainment screen to be found on the centre stack, the car featuring a 12.3-inch digital display that replaces the gauge cluster to put all relevant info- tainment information directly in front of the driver.
Waking the giant
With the effects of a sleepless transatlantic flight catching up quickly and no caffeine at hand, the jolt needed to complete the journey is delivered through the drive mode selector. Back in Dynamic, the hefty 5.2-litre engine churns madly behind the seats. The rear window is lowered to fill the cabin with the joyous sound of 10 cylinders working in unison with the active exhaust that burbles and spits for an authoritative wake-up call.
Sliding the shifter into manual mode, the steering wheel-mounted paddles become a game of Whack-a- mole, with quick hits leading to even quicker gear changes, bouncing across second, third and fourth — and back again — with precision and polish. Hustling around the twisting roads of the Spanish countryside, the R8 Spyder grows predictable but never boring.
The verdict
Rolling into the Mediterranean beach town of Lloret de Mar, all eyes are fixed on the R8 Spyder. It’s greeted with pointing and picture-taking as the idling exhaust note resonates through the narrow streets.
In closing, I’d like to apologize to the people of Spain. I’m not sure what the customs are when it comes to acceptable levels of sound, but I’m pretty sure I broke them. OK, I shattered them.
It’s not that I was trying to offend anyone, but there’s just something about the harmonics created by the burly 10-cylinder engine bolted to the back of the R8 Spyder that force you to do bad things in the face of so much goodness.