Audi’s R8 Spyder V10 Plus
This was the surprise of the show for me guys, the recently introduced R8 Spyder V10 Plus. I completely loved it!!! Previously only available in the coupe this car is really useable on a day to day basis. Audi spend huge sums of money ensuring their cars are made from granite and the end product feels this way. The drivers environment is comfortable and a truly beautiful place to be and with the screaming V10 right behind you make you feel that £144K is not too unreasonable for a car with this depth of development.
The headline figures are right up there, with 601bhp, 0-62mph time comes up in 3.3 seconds and the car has a top speed of 203mph. The engine is the well known 5.2-litre V10 and one of the few naturally aspirated engines left in this class – there is a similar unit in the Lamborghini Huracan Performante which we featured yesterday– the Plus has an 8800rpm rev limit, giving it additional wrooom over and above the standard V10. Drive comes courtesy of Audi’s 7-speed dual clutch gearbox and rear-biased Quattro all-wheel drive system.
This Quattro system is managed by a set of electro-hydraulic clutches that can vary torque between the axles according to both the conditions and driver mode selected. This means that the R8 Plus Spyder is able to send as much as 100% of available power to either, while there is also limited slip on the rear differential to further enhance traction under load.