Dropping the roof lets you better hear one of the world’s great engines, of course. The 6.5-litre, naturally aspirated V12 only shouts really loudly at high revs and in the racier drive modes. But even above 9000rpm, it’s smoothly noisy rather than raucous.
It’s easy to understand why, despite the rigidity (and, to my eyes, aesthetic) drawbacks, half of 12Cilindris will be Spiders.
That, as in the coupé, the engine response is calmed down in third and fourth gears, to be more linear, less hyper, and that those are the predominant driving gears on nice back roads, just enhances the experience.
And even though it has been chilled down a little over its predecessor, it’s still incredibly fast – they called the one that came before it the Superfast and that had 30 fewer horsepower than this.Peak power is 819bhp at more than 9000rpm and peak torque, 500lb ft, arrives at 7250rpm, beyond the point where most engines have since given up. Performance is down a smidgeon on the coupe, but these things are relative: we’re still talking at car that can go from 0-62mph in 3.0sec and go on to 211mph.
The transmission is also excellent, smoothly changing gears when you’re in one of the milder drive modes and moods, but with exceptional response and control, with perfect rev-matching, if you’re in a hurry.Likewise brake pedal feel is strong and consistent: by-wire braking means the pedal always feels the same, with good weighting to lean against.