Public reaction seldom factors into our vehicle reviews, but the response this R8 Spyder elicited was hard to ignore, and it was not only plentiful but uniformly positive. As friendly and approachable as we tend to be—look at that handsome guy in the convertible, they must think—people don’t often toss out unsolicited opinions. But with this R8, smiles and thumbs-ups abounded; it was the ice-cream-truck effect with a better soundtrack.

Take the response of one motorist who reasonably could have been offended by one editor’s assertive on-road maneuver: “[Expletives deleted]! Nice car! [More expletives deleted]!” Or the pickup-truck-driving gentleman who admired the R8 from on high at a stoplight and asked how it was to drive. His next question concerned fuel economy, which we described with an off-guard “um, okay.” (We achieved a 13-mpg average for the test, which is maybe not quite, um, okay.) The light changed, and there was no time to tell him that our carbon-fiber-drenched example cost nearly $160,000 and that folks who could afford it likely wouldn’t worry about such things.

The R8 Spyder needn’t be judged solely on the ogling and compliments of others. We, too, think the convertible is thoroughly stunning. And just as we found with the V-10 spyder versus its coupe counterpart, removing the roof makes the V-8 sound extra-fantastic to the two people it’s pushing around....