What is it?

A ragtop version of the R8 - pure and simple. We've been expecting this one for a while now and it's finally turned up at Audi's home event in Frankfurt. Even when unveiled alongside supercar royalty like the Lamborghini Reventón Roadster and Bugatti Grand Sport, the topless Audi turned heads. While the R8's distinctive sideblades are gone, Audi has done a great job in turning its stunning coupé into a sexy Spyder. Unlike its coupé sister, the Spyder is only available with the V10 engine, which means a starting price of £111,995...

Why's it here?

It might be the end of summer but Audi was always going to introduce its drop-top R8 on home soil. It's bound to sell extremely well in the USA where owners will be able to enjoy it al-fresco in the sun; it's also likely to be a big seller in the UK where owners will be able to moan about how few opportunities they have to drop the roof. Being built on the same aluminium space frame as the coupé means it's light and stiff, the increase in 'body in white' weight a mere 6kg. The hood and its mechanism adds a little more to that, but the R8 Spyder is still hugely quick with a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds, which is just 0.2 seconds slower than the coupé manages.

Show stopper or floor filler?

This one's a floor filler for sure. Even in coupé guise the R8 is still enough to draw people onto Audi's huge Frankfurt stand; decapitating the coupé and putting it on a revolving plinth makes the R8 even more of a must see. It'll be on the road soon too as dealers are taking orders for deliveries in time for spring 2010.

Kyle Fortune - 16 Sep 2009