It pays to have Lamborghini as part of your automotive group… Last year, Audi implemented some of the mass-saving lessons learned by its Italian sister company on the R8 GT and now the German manufacturer has chopped off the roof of this hardcore model to develop the R8 GT Spyder.
Materials
The GT Spyder uses carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) on some body parts, while the engine frame is made from ultra-light magnesium. The engineers also trimmed mass from a number of technical components in the transmission, wheels and brakes.
The most noticeable revision to the interior is new seats with additional support during cornering and CRFP frames that save 15,75 kg a seat. In total, the GT Spyder weighs 85 kg less than the standard model.
Same power as R8 GT
Apart from being lighter, the 5,2-litre V10 now delivers 412 kW and 540 N.m versus 386 kW/530 N.m. These gains are significant enough to offer an acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h in 3,8 seconds with the standard R tronic sequential gearbox (compared to the 4,1 seconds CAR achieved with the R8 V10 Spyder).
Visually, the GT is differentiated from the normal Spyder by a front splitter and winglets, and an enlarged diffuser, fixed wing and reshaped rear bumper.
Only a couple of weeks ago, Audi South Africa announced that seven units of the planned 333 R8 GTs will reach our shores. We expect a similar number of GT Spyders to be launched locally early next year.
