New Audi R8 Spyder spied uncovered

You’ll no longer need your imagination to picture Audi’s R8 without a roof or camouflage.

Thanks to an aloof handler occupied with his smartphone, Audi’s upcoming R8 Spyder has been spotted completely undisguised by automobilemag.com’s spy photographers, revealing the supercar’s second generation convertible variant in full production trim.

The shots confirm Audi will debut the Spyder in V10 form, with a badge on its front fenders proudly displaying that fact, although there are rumours a V6 variant designed for Chinese markets will follow in both the convertible and coupe variants.

More importantly, the photos also offer a concrete idea of how the productions car’s final look will inherently differ to the R8 coupe’s. Up front there’s little news, the car’s face is identical to its hard-roof sibling, wearing the same horizontal panes in its gaping side vents.

Whereas up back Audi’s tweaked its rear design to accommodate the folding cloth roof. Exclusively stowed in these shots, it’s easy to spot new redesigned louvres on the rear deck trailing each seat. Heavily vented, no doubt to cool the angry 5.2-litre V10, they’re joined together by a single mesh vent.

There’s also a new mesh grille bridging the rear tail lights, which should help pull air from the engine compartment, while the petrol filler cap has been moved from the B-pillar to the right rear haunch.

More details on the R8 Spyder’s launch are expected to be released at its expected official debut at the New York Motor Show, which kicks off at the end of this month.

For the full gallery of spy pics head to Automobile magazine.