Audi R8 Spider ahead of Frankfurt Debut

It's no secret that Audi is unveiling the R8 Spider at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week. Neither are these leaked pictures showing the car mostly jazzing around with two happy occupants. In addition to recent paparazzi shots of the car taken during the filming of Ironman 2 - Electric Boogaloo, spy photos revealed a black canvass roof whose mechanisms hid the mid-rear mounted engine. We'd be quite interested to see how said roof is operated.

The front end has the powerful grille with surrounding LED daytime running lights while the rear features LED rear lights, two oval tailpipes that are visible from the sides and a massive diffuser.

Audi plans to launch the R8 Spider with only the 5.2-litre V10 engine as its symphony of thrust. It produces 386kW (525hp) and peak torque of 530Nm. The transmission options are the 6-speed manual and the R Tronic sequential shifter. Power is shared along the two axles through the quattro AWD system which, if the same as the coupe's, can transfer up to 85% of torque to the rear wheels. Rumours say there won't be a 4.2-litre Spider but there may be an electric-powered one.

Read Article

1dott8 - 9/9/2009 11:04:08 PM

+3 Boost

the profile looks just like the gallardo. not a bad thing but for some reason i never saw the similarities before.

B7FAN - 9/10/2009 7:35:41 AM

+3 Boost

I did.....but this is one of the first cars I seen where the pyder version looks way better than the coupe version. I like it

SHOWTIME - 9/10/2009 9:41:22 AM

+2 Boost

i agree

inspirion7 - 9/10/2009 11:23:30 AM

+2 Boost

Can Audi do no wrong I ask you? How can a German manufacture place so much beauty and grace in its products?

recca7 - 9/9/2009 11:40:39 PM

+6 Boost

that is pornography on the road, damn

1dott8 - 9/10/2009 9:05:21 AM

+3 Boost

i know it's based on the gallardo. i'm one of the biggest Audi/Lamborghini fans in the universe but my point is that i never really saw too much of a resemblance before but from this shot of the spyder it looks just like the gallardo.

rxh8me9000 - 9/10/2009 12:16:44 AM

+1 Boost

That dash is disgusting.

1evlaudi - 9/10/2009 12:35:20 AM

+2 Boost

That dash don't exist...
LOL

EL34 - 9/10/2009 12:51:05 AM

0 Boost

I love it!

I saw a black Audi R8 today at Crevier BMW in Santa Ana, Ca when I went there to test drive a BMW 335i.

dhkss2002 - 9/10/2009 2:49:10 AM

+1 Boost

Looks like they carried over the fake exhausts (ala IS-F) on the roadster as well.

John_Stossel - 9/10/2009 3:12:22 AM

+2 Boost

The dash in the third pic is from a concept. It doesn't match the speedo and tach dials in the first pic.

M53R - 9/10/2009 4:20:05 AM

+2 Boost

Right car.. wrong interior lol.

validus00 - 9/10/2009 8:00:11 AM

-3 Boost

i guess they FINALLY got rid of those sideblades. i've been telling them for years that they are ugly and pointless. i guess they finally listened.

chrome accents on the windshield seem waaaay too tacky for a car that competes with porsche cabs and the like.

hopefully they replaced the terrible r tronic transmission with dsg. recycling the same ol' gearbox is just plain lazy.

validus00 - 9/10/2009 6:08:20 PM

+1 Boost

it's called a figure of speech buddy.

no, you didn't remember correctly. not all of audi cabriolets have had chrome accents on their windshields. and even if audi often gave their cabriolets this feature, it's not an audi signature design and it certainly doesn't make it look any less tacky on this r8.

Willis - 9/10/2009 8:35:35 AM

+1 Boost

I love the Audi R8 but for some reason the Spider variant looks terribly boring. I guess the R8 simply looks better with a roof.

Hachee2001 - 9/10/2009 8:57:08 AM

-2 Boost

Mid-engined convertibles are for deuchebags.

JUGNU - 9/10/2009 11:03:16 AM

-1 Boost

I think the coupe design looks better. The Side is looking plain because of no side blade and coupe's nice lines. But then Cabrios rarely look better than Coupes.

JUGNU

theoptimisticpessimist - 9/10/2009 12:42:40 PM

+3 Boost

YUM!

stone - 9/10/2009 12:51:20 PM

+3 Boost

HOT!!!

AlleVier - 9/11/2009 12:00:04 AM

+1 Boost

I'm sure I'm in quite the minority in liking that brown. I used to pass by an Audi dealership in the mid 80's and lust after an ur-Quattro in sable brown metallic. It looked the shit, literally as well as figuratively and it was the perfect iconoclastic color for the quintessentially iconoclastic sports car of the 80's.