Review and photos by
Peter Bleakney, CanadianDriver.com

Just when you thought the R8 couldn’t attract any more attention, Audi gives its V10 Coupe a roof-ectomy for 2011, creating the $187,000 2011 R8 Spyder 5.2.

2011 Audi R8 Spyder 5.2

Spending a week behind the wheel of this Brilliant Red ragtop, fitted as it was with a six-speed manual transmission and lovely optional five-spoke Rotor Design wheels, proved to be an exercise in avoidance – that would be avoiding cars that hung precariously in my blind spots, avoiding stares from gawking motorists and avoiding the constant urge to plant the happy pedal and hear that ferocious Lamborghini-derived naturally aspirated direct-injection 525-hp 5.2-litre V10 howl to its lofty 8,700 r.p.m. redline. (more…)