Is there so much as a twang left in the old saw that for an Italian sports car to aspire to greatness it must have a temperamental, even cantankerous personality? Perhaps you’ve noticed that Audi’s ascension to the front office at Sant’Agata has transformed the maker of the volatile ’60s Miura into something as dependable as the vicious facial bites in Rutger Hauer movies. Firing up the engine does not set off flames in some surprising location.
Even the convertible’s complicated softtop—it’s got a hydraulic pump, six hydraulic cylinders, an electric motor, and two electric actuators—runs with German determination, opening or closing in 20 seconds, just hit a switch. The trick top on this 552-hp wedge, along with the structural enhancements, adds a claimed 309 pounds to the coupe’s 3507-pound curb weight, and that should slow acceleration times by 0.3 second.
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