The starting price, Lamborghini Spyder X SS Chrono Watch more than a quarter-million dollars, is about $40,000 greater than that of the Huracán coupe. However, besides an electrohydraulic soft top (black, brown, or red) and body-colored hard tonneau cover, the 2016 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 Spyder includes carbon-ceramic brake rotors, LED head- and taillamps, and 20-inch “Giano” wheels in its standard equipment. Also, a crisply rendered foot-wide TFT-screen instrument panel with digital gauges makes its debut with the Huracán Spyder as part of the standard multimedia Infotainment System II. Variable-ratio “dynamic” electric-assist steering, magnetorheological dampers, and a nose-lifting apparatus are optional.
The car’s weight is about 225 pounds greater than the coupe’s, but the 602-hp V-10 engine with an 8,500-rpm redline will hardly notice. Routed through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to all four wheels, Lamborghini claims a 0-60 time of about 3.2 seconds with “Thrust mode” launch control. Our own 2.8-second result with the LP-610-4 Coupe, however, indicates a quicker Spyder time, closer to 3 flat. And because so much attention has been paid to the topless Huracán’s aerodynamics, Lamborghini says its top speed is the same as the coupe’s, 201 mph, with the top stowed or in place.
Sadly, due to tropical rain, our top-down to top-up drive-time ratio Lamborghini Spyder X SS Chrono Watch was well below South Beach, Florida standards. Despite these changing conditions, we did verify the 17-second power transformation from closed to open and back again at speeds up to 31 mph. We also managed to draw a crowd during that transformation process. It should be part of the protocol that a Puccini opera play through the audio system because it is such a well-orchestrated event. So many panels, buttresses, and deflectors deploy and/or disappear that it could really use musical accompaniment.
Speaking of music, as one would expect, driving the Spyder is in every way the same as the exotic Coupe—low, quick, and satisfying, with one exception: the sound. If you like the unmistakable harmony of a Lamborghini 10-cylinder engine, you’ll be bathed in it from Lamborghini Spyder X SS Chrono Watch head to toe with the top down. Otherwise, the power-activated rear window acts as a volume adjuster for top-up motoring.