New Audi R8 Spyder begins testing

The first test mule of the second-generation Audi R8 Spyder has been spotted testing on international roads. Images of the prototype show a heavily camouflaged car with a fabric roof instead of the hard-top of the R8 Coupé that was revealed earlier this year at the Geneva motor show.

Another noticeable change on the R8 Spyder over its coupé sibling is a redesigned rear deck. The rear deck is now flatter to accommodate the folding soft-top roof. The flattening of the rear deck has also resulted in the omission of the glass cover seen on the coupé. New vents have also been added to cool the R8's engine.

The R8 Spyder, like the coupé, will be powered by a 5.2-litre V10 in two states of tune. In its base tune, the V10 develops around 532bhp while in its V10 plus guise, the engine output rises to 601bhp. Power will be sent through Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive system, via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

The R8 Spyder is also expected to use the same aluminium and carbon-fibre reinforced plastic spaceframe structure as the R8 Coupé to keep weight to a minimum. The performance of the car is also expected to be similar to its sibling. In the standard V10 form, the coupé achieves a 0-100kph time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 323kph, whereas in the V10 plus guise it sprints from 0-100kph in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 330kph.

The new R8 Spyder will make its debut at the Los Angeles motor show in November 2015, before going on sale internationally in 2016.

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