R8 Spyder

Hop in the cockpit of our Audi R8 Spyder and you’ll start to understand why exotic car enthusiasts foam at the mouth when graced by this car’s presence. Long, curvaceous body panels, aggressive shark-like fins, and anodized black air vents envelop the car and clearly break away from the two dimensional geometric lines of exotic car counterparts like Lamborghini.

This car is a dream to drive – a deity among scores of supercars that feel awfully inconvenient for daily endeavors. 430 horses remain perpetually poised behind you yet never interrupt a pleasant driving experience… that is, until your right trigger foot gets antsy. That’s when this chariot snaps into action: the growling engine roars to life, the revs climb on command, and Audi’s Quattro all-wheel agility and dynamic suspension work harmoniously to corner turns with a smoothness that would put 50-year-old single malt Macallan scotch to shame.

Speaking of roar, the auditory experience provided by the base model’s angry, guttural V8 will sound much truer to supercar form than Audi’s upgraded, melodious 5.2 liter V10 note. Yeah, I said it. It’s a signature sound that both delights you and terrifies other drivers at full throttle, a skill the V10 version never mastered. Interestingly enough – and this is for my engine audiophiles – your first instinct to drop the top and let ’er rip may be misguided. Dropping the top certainly adds an insatiable allure to the experience, but at top speeds the mechanical orchestra gets lost in open sky. Instead, take advantage of the ingeniously designed electric rear window – it’s like standing front row at the greatest concert of your life, minus the shirtless sweaty hippies screaming behind you.