Audi debuts 2016 R8 Spyder in New York

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After being spotted in a series of detailed spy shots a few weeks back, Audi's soft-top version of its flagship supercar, the R8, has been unveiled at the New York motor show in Manhattan.

The R8 Spyder, which is set to go on sale in late 2016, will go up against the likes of Porsche's 911 Turbo Cabriolet, which recently received a facelift and extra power of its own.

Audi's car is built around a modified version of the carbon fibre and aluminium spaceframe body structure used on the hard-top R8, with added stiffening measures to counter the loss of the roof. Audi claims it is 50 per cent more rigid than the last R8 Spyder and 249lb lighter, although that's still 192lb heavier than its coupe sibling.

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The Spyder sticks to using a cloth roof but it's a taut design with two buttresses feeding into the rear deck of the car, mimicking a fixed-head coupe. The roof folds away in 20 seconds and can be done at speeds of up to 31mph.

There's also a small window at the back of the assembly which retracts, "allowing you to still get all the delightful, multi-cylinder noise you can handle even when the weather's too rubbish to put the roof down", says Top Gear.

As for the performance, the Spyder gets the firm's 5.2-litre V10 with 532bhp. Driven through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox sending drive to all four wheels, it does 0-62mph in 3.6secs and tops out at 198mph, only fractionally slower than the fixed-roof version, despite the extra weight.

Prices haven't been revealed but Autocar expects the Spyder to carry a premium of around £8,700 over the coupe, so something nearing £130,000 is on the cards. A more powerful version sporting the 601bhp V10 used in the R8 Plus should join the line-up this year, too.