Audi R8 Spyder review

Mostly, this interior is ageing beautifully. Lots of the knurled metal switchgear Audi’s sadly binned for more recent cars, delightful flashes of carbon and leather, and a clever design that manages to feel special and cocooning, yet also roomy.

There’s no way a Ferrari SF90 Stradale’s cockpit feels this expensive, and it’s three times the price. The paddles themselves really ought not to be made out of pound-shop plastic, though. 

Is it more cramped inside?

Certainly there’s less legroom than in the coupe, because the Spyder’s rear bulkhead is further forward to conceal the roof mechanism, and there’s all that chassis stiffening gubbins in there somewhere. 

Get the bucket seats if you can. They’re way more supportive than the naff chairs fitted as standard, they look superb, GT comfort isn’t an issue and they even sit you a little lower in the car, so your scalp doesn’t poke over the top of the windscreen. Not a good look in a mid-engined supercar. Or a safe one. 

Like most of today’s roofless exotica, it’s possible to independently drop the R8’s rear window at any speed so you’re bathed in V10 yowl even when it’s cold or wet outside. Nice touch, that. And with the roof down, raising the back window really helps cut down on uncomfortable buffeting in the cabin. It’s a real hairdo-saver.