As noted in a previous piece, this week there's been quite a bit of posting coming from Monterey Car Week. A fellow scribe, Jack Baruth, put it best, "If you're sick of the $50,000 millionaire autojournos playing dress-up at Pebble Beach this will be like bleach for your mind."
Unfortunately, I don't have the bleach. Baruth did. I highly recommend you check out his Instagram page to see what I am on about.
Monterey Car WeekThat said, what I do have for you is a new U.S. Audi debut. While we've seen the R8 Spyder, now the company is showing a more potent version in the States for the first time.
Following the coupe's nomenclature, the R8 portfolio gains the R8 V10 Plus Spyder. Rather than make do with a measly 540 horsepower, now lovers of the four rings can step up to the big boy version with over 600 ponies. Zero to 60 will happen in 3.3 seconds.
Monterey Car Week
Audi's press release follows:R8 V10 plus Spyder makes US debut at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, during Monterey Car Week
- The brand’s best in track-tested performance vehicles on display at the premiere automotive event
- First U.S. appearance of the open-top performance sports car
- Audi will also showcase the all-new Audi RS 5, the Audi Sport quattro S1“Pikes Peak” and the R8 LMS GT3 and GT4 racecars
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. August 16, 2017 – The R8 V10 plus Spyder will make its U.S. debut in California this weekend at the annual Monterey Car Week. In addition, Audi will showcase the track-tested race cars that have inspired their production counterparts at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion including the R8 LMS GT3, the RS 3 LMS and the R8 LMS GT4.
Monterey Car Week
Audi will celebrate its long and successful tradition of motorsport at the annual Monterey Car Week. With the launch of the new Audi Sport brand earlier this year, Audi will showcase some of the brand’s best in track-tested performance vehicles at the premiere automotive event.
On Friday, August 18, the R8 V10 plus Spyder will make its US debut at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, a world-renowed motorsports event featuring some of the world’s finest and rarest collections of automobiles.
The R8 is the pinnacle of performance for Audi, with no other model bearing a closer tie to racing. Featuring the same naturally-aspirated V10 engine found in the R8 LMS racecar, the R8 is the best representation of how the production models benefit from developments and technologies first used in motorsport. The R8 V10 plus Spyder, with its naturally-aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine and seven-speed S-tronic® dual-clutch transmission, reaches 60 mph in 3.3 seconds making it the fastest production convertible model Audi has ever produced.
Alongside the V10 plus Spyder, Audi will have on display the all-new RS 5 Coupe, the R8 LMS GT3 racecar, and the legendary Audi Sport quattro S1. This year happens to mark the 30th anniversary of Walter Röhrl's record setting climb to the top of Pike's Peak in the S1.
Beginning Thursday, August 17 and running through Sunday, August 20, Audi will also offer an exclusive driving experience for VIP guests at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Invited guests will have the opportunity to participate in an Audi Sport Performance Drive that puts them in the driver seat of an R8 V10 for a tour around the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
In addition to the track experience, Audi will showcase the race cars which have inspired their Audi Sport production counterparts. On display will be the R8 LMS GT3, which shares approximately half of the same parts with the R8 street car, the RS 3 LMS, a track-ready race car from Audi Sport that is now attainable than ever before, and the all-new R8 LMS GT4, which shares more than 60 percent of its assembly components with the road-approved Audi R8 Coupe.
Audi of America launched the new Audi Sport brand at the 2017 New York International Auto Show. Along with the development and manufacturing of the Audi R and RS models, Audi Sport also includes customer racing, the Audi collection, and Audi Sport performance parts.