Monday 25th January 2010

R8 Spyder To Cost £112k

Spring debut for Spyder, as race R8s take on Brit GT series

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Audi is now 'officially' taking orders for the R8 Spyder, with prices starting from £111,955 on-the-road.

The Spyder is only available with the R8's V10 engine option, giving it 517hp to send though its six-speed manual gearbox. 0-62mph is dealt with in 4.1 seconds, just 0.2secs slower than the coupe. Top speed is the same as the coupe at 197mph. The 'R Tronic' semi-automatic gearbox can be spec'd for a further £5200.

Thanks to additional carbon fibre composite panels in the Spyder's construction, the Spyder's bling-tastic body is apparently only 6kg heavier than that of the R8 coupe despite numerous body strengthening measures to compensate for the chopped-top. Other items (presumably the fabric roof and mechanism) add another 94kg to the R8's overall kerb weight, adding up to 1720kg.

Delivery dates haven't been confirmed yet, but owners should see their cars by the Spring.

On a related note, around the same time a British team will be entering a pair of £267,000 race-spec R8s in at least one race in the 2010 British GT Championship.

As well as competing in the European GT3 Championship, Leeds-based United Autosports will be bringing their good-looking GT racers to round one of the British championship at Oulton Park on 5th April.

[Beirut Taxi]

That Sypder looks really good, Any pics of it from the back?

I even like the colour!

[ScottishSamurai]

Agreed, looks fantastic. glad they didn't try to keep the carbon panels as they would look akward on this!

[soad]

Nice, racer looks even better.

[wackojacko]

Gorgeous !!! Would prefer the racer but beggers can't be chooser

[MrTappets]

1720kg strikes me as quite portly, but then I guess it is 4wd. Is there a plan for an Aston V12 Vantage Roadster or did I just imagine it?

[steelej]

But 112 grand for an Audi, holy crap!

John.

[okgo]

steelej said:

But 112 grand for an Audi, holy crap!

John.

Who cares what badge it wears.

[edinph]

So, only me that thinks this is an unbalanced design? Ooooooops.

[nav p]

I think the fixed head looks so much nicer...its probably very comparable to other cars on price in its class(not my class though!) but £112k does seen a little pricey.

[grahamr88]

I think I'll wait for the Skoda version...

[Podie]

steelej said:

But 112 grand for an Audi, holy crap!

John.

I'm clearly missing something here...

[5harp3y]

MrTappets said:

1720kg strikes me as quite portly, but then I guess it is 4wd. Is there a plan for an Aston V12 Vantage Roadster or did I just imagine it?

a4 / 3 series cabs come in at nearly 1900kg so not that bad

[leon9191]

okgo said:

steelej said:

But 112 grand for an Audi, holy crap!

John.

Who cares what badge it wears.

The people who buy them.

[Roberty]

I hope it looks better in the metal/carbon than it does in that press shot?

That colour isn't doing it any favours either! In fact I hope it's just the colour that's killing it for me as I love the R8 and want to love this one too.

Love the look of the racer.

Edited by Roberty on Monday 25th January 12:17

[okgo]

leon9191 said:

okgo said:

steelej said:

But 112 grand for an Audi, holy crap!

John.

Who cares what badge it wears.

The people who buy them.

Well yes, don't audi make a lot of the parts for the Gallardo?

[0191mark]

I think it would have been better as some sort of targa.

[Agent Orange]

Can't say that photo of the R8 Spyder is doing much for me. Looks like an A4 with and old Reiger wide body kit slapped on. Harsh though as I've seen far nicer shots of the Spyder than that.

The R8 GT car though - yum yum yum!!!

Edited by Agent Orange on Monday 25th January 12:35

[oagent]

I think the R8 spyder and the fixed head look great from the back, ok from the side, and dull as dishwater from the front. Whilst im sure its a lovely car, the snout would put me off, and its not the badge. In much the same way the the series 2 Audi TT looked more cutting ege vs the series 1, I hope the next gen R8 has a minor front end make over.. Or just give us a SEAT version with some crease lines.

[Luca Brasi]

112k? I would buy a F430 Spider for that money. Much better looking and still one of the very best.

[beez]

Wonder what Mclaren think of Jenson Button posing for PR shots in an Audi!

Edited by beez on Monday 25th January 12:48