Cars

The Audi R8 coupe was the supercar that broke the mold. After Nissan’s GT-R stormed the roads in 2008 and had the traditional supercar manufacturers from both Germany and Italy scrambling for something better, something quicker, something more manageable on the roads. The stage was set most notably after Porsche’s 911 Turbo, once the cream-of-the-crop daily driver supercar, was having to defend its position after being beaten around the Nürburgring Nordschleife by the half-priced Nissan GT-R. Shortly afterwards, the Audi R8 V8 coupe came onto the scene with a $60,000 premium and a few traits the other cars in the class couldn’t match.

Sporting the 4.2L V8 from the Audi RS4, the original Audi R8 was hailed as the new daily-driver supercar, taking the thrown away from Porsche and simply moving down-market in the VW corporate chain. Fast-forward to 2010, Audi’s poster-child has had its roof lopped off, been featured in a Hollywood blockbuster as “Iron Man” Tony Stark’s chosen ride for cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway.

For all its splendor, most reviewers find the Audi R8 V10 Spyder lacking the speed its coupe variant had, whether it be handling, poise or just stowage space. But for the lack of cornering speed each drop-top Spyder R8 could muster up, what makes up for it is the noise of 10 cylinders wailing at the occupants and the thousands of miles of headroom available to each front-seat occupant.