2006 Spyker C8 Spyder Review By ForbesAutos.com staff
Spyker could soon supplant Bentley, Lamborghini and Ferrari as the most coveted among automotive brands. This Dutch builder's swoopy C8 Spyder will appear in the feature film Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, driven by Sharon Stone's lead character Catherine Tremell, in the first quarter of 2006.
Less than 10 2005 C8 Spyders are currently in the hands of wealthy American auto enthusiasts — only 14 total were built in the first half of 2005. These rear-wheel drive, mid-engine, hand-built exotic cars can easily top $250,000, depending on the level of customization.
The 2006 C8 Spyder and C8 Laviolette — a closed-roof version of the Spyder — make 400 horsepower while a Spyder T variant puts out 525 hp. A longer and wider C8, called the Double 12 S, is designed for racing, has a fixed roof, the 400-hp engine and should be on sale in the U.S. by spring 2006.
Also arriving around that time is a new model called the C12 La Turbie featuring Audi's potent 12-cylinder engine (W12) in the extended Double 12 chassis. A high-performance SUV is also in the works for 2006 and will compete with Porsche's Cayenne.
Previously shuttered in 1925, the 60-employee company based in Zeewolde, Holland was resurrected in 2000 by Dutch tycoon Victor Muller, Spyker chief executive.
Exterior
The C8 Spyder's curvaceous exterior is understated by supercar standards and looks like no other. Its lightweight (2,750 lbs.) aluminum space frame was designed from the outset as an open-top roadster, which means the structure is more solid than if it were first built as a closed-roof coupe and had the top chopped off.
The car is stiff enough not to require extra reinforcement around the windscreen, making for a unique, frameless look.
An optional soft- or hard-top can be fitted, as well as 19-inch Aeroblade wheels with spokes that mimic the airplane propeller motif in the company logo, which pays homage to the firm's stint building planes during WWI. The Aeroblade wheels' delicate-looking spokes enhance brake cooling and vehicle aerodynamics.
Interior
Like spokes on the Aeroblade wheels, those of the steering wheel also carry the propeller motif. Quilted leather lining the interior also evokes Spyker's aviation history; likewise toggle switches on the dash. If the standard instrument gauges that ape the face of an expensive watch aren't bespoke enough, clients can order a custom dashboard designed by German watchmaker Chronoswiss: gauges match an available wristwatch, which costs more than $5,000.
The C8's doors swing skyward and there's a wide sill to clear before settling into the supportive leather bucket seats, replete with racing-style four-point harnesses. The steering wheel and pedals are adjustable.
Exposed chrome bars of the six-speed manual Getrag transmission bisect the cockpit, a design that looks as cool — both retro and bespoke — as it is functional — facilitating gear changes.
Performance
Fresh from a marketing trip to the Middle East, Hans Van Rennes, manager of the Spyker Squadron race team and former Porsche driving school instructor, gave us a hair-raising test drive in the company's sole demonstration vehicle — a midnight blue C8 Spyder.
He presses the key fob and the C8’s doors scissor skyward. We slide over the wide sills and strap in. Like a fighter pilot preparing for takeoff, Van Rennes flicks the red cover off of a dash-mounted toggle switch, clicks it and pushes the starter button. The 400-hp Audi V8 erupts into a raspy un-Audi-like sound, fading to a muted burble.
Clutch pedal to the floor, gearshift into first gear, he stomps the throttle, cranking up a race-car soundtrack. All you can do is laugh, shoved firmly into the leather seatback. The lush fields and modern windmill farms lining roads around Spyker's Zeewolde, Holland factory quickly become a blur as we hit 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds, pausing only for upshifts on our way to well over 100 mph.
Van Rennes deftly works the clutch and gas pedals, with expertly timed throttle blips on downshifts. He stabs the brakes on the approach to a traffic circle and we lunge forward against our seatbelts.
U.S.-spec cars are quieter, says Van Rennes as he flicks the C8 back and forth on an open two-lane highway to demonstrate the low center of gravity and Herculean stability. Unless under full throttle, C8s sold Stateside send engine exhaust through a more circuitous network of pipes to mute engine noise and reduce emissions in compliance with Federal regulations.
Flashing a grin during another breathless surge of acceleration, Hans says that removing the U.S.-spec exhaust valve to unleash full acoustic fury is a quick and easy job.
We had a few glorious minutes behind the wheel of the C8 and found it impressively benign at legal speeds. The car imparts an enormous sense of solidity. Steering is accurate and light, the brakes firm and progressive. A hyper-sensitive throttle and heavy clutch were tricky to operate.
Though we didn't get a chance to test it out, the adjustable suspension can be optimized for serious track duty, leisurely highway cruising and anything in between.
With production gearing up at German manufacturer Karmann, which will build the C8 bodies, the company aims to increase production to keep pace with a C8 waiting list that has more than doubled from 70 to 150.
Spyker hopes that deft brand-building — such as product placement in Basic Instinct 2 — will inspire sufficient envy and lust among the masses to make these Dutch Ferrari-fighters desirable enough for those who can afford a C8 to actually buy one.
Written and reported by ForbesAutos staff. Driving impressions by Nick Kurczewski.
beautiful interior:
coupe:
