DROOL-DROPPINGLY gorgeous, faster than a scandalous rumour and made to cruise the south coast.
This is the Audi R8 GT Spyder, with only 333 scheduled for production in 2012, five of which are heading to South Africa — one of which is heading to little old Pinetown near Durban. Alpine Motors has ordered one to celebrate the opening of the biggest Audi dealership in Africa.
Andrew Laas, the person who will (eventually and very reluctantly) be selling Alpine’s R8 GT Spyder, told the Weekend Witness that its unit will come with a lot of extras, pushing the price closer to R2,9 million.
Standing in its socks, the new Audi R8 GT Spyder is available at R2 775 000, including VAT, gas tax, a five-year/100 000 km freeway full-maintenance and a service plan. In KZN, the Spyder can only be ordered from Audi Centre Pinetown and Audi Centre Durban.
Audi South Africa issued a press statement listing the power of the 5,2-litre V10 FSI direct-injection system as 412 kW, acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in 3,8 seconds and a top speed of 317 km/h.
Dry-sump lubrication ensures a reliable supply of oil even under maximum lateral or straight-line acceleration. With its modified electronic management, the long-stroke engine produces 540 Nm of torque at 6 500 rpm.
Audi says its ultra-lightweight technology is the key to the R8 GT Spyder’s weight of just 1 640 kilograms. The Audi Space Frame (ASF) body accounts for just 214 kgs of the total weight and the GT Spyder is 85 kgs lighter than the R8 coupé, mostly thanks to a lightweight fabric soft top.
An electrohydraulic drive raises or lowers the roof in 19 seconds while driving at speeds up to 50 km/h. The extendible glass rear window is sunk in the bulkhead, separate from the soft top. Integrated in the bulkhead is a rollover protection system comprising two pretensioned plates.
The R8 GT Spyder comes standard with an automated six-speed R tronic transmission with two fully automatic modes. In the additional manual mode, the driver can shift gears using the paddles on the steering wheel or by flicking the gear lever.
At high load and revs, gear changes take only one-10th of a second. The launch-control programme manages the starting sprint with high engine speed and precision-control of the tyre slip.
The quattro permanent all-wheel drive has a strong rear-wheel bias, granted by the axle load distribution. If the situation calls for it, the system sends additional torque to the front axle. In tandem with the limited slip differential at the rear, it provides an added measure of traction, stability and cornering speed, giving it a strong lead over the rear-wheel-drive competition.
Aluminium double wishbones locate the wheels, and the rack-and-pinion power steering provides intimate contact with the road. Taut tuning lowers the body by about 10 millimetres.
The open high-performance sports car has 19-inch wheels. The large, lightweight carbon-fibre ceramic brake discs decelerate the car with ease. The ESP stabilisation programme has a sport mode and can also be deactivated entirely.
