Are Spyders Becoming Extinct At OPCs!

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: GeeForce

ORIGINAL: flat6 A nice pic for a picture page. Hopefully will increase the agony of Geeforce's wait[]

As if it wasn't painful enough! Great pic though. Looking like it could be Tues

Hang in there Tuesdays nearly here and hopefully the Spyder will be with you for a long time keeper

 

[rob.kellock]

Forgot to mention, I saw it on Friday afternoon with its newly painted wheels. Paul and Laura on service were very complimentary about it and said it was a nice example. Looked good from where I was sitting!

 

[flat6]

ORIGINAL: MrDemon

ORIGINAL: flat6 I think the tyres had a significant influence in this test. If a sport tyre fitment was available to the Cayman R, we'd have really been able to see how close it could get. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcPh4XaU1H0 http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-mid-vs-rear-engine-debate-porsche-cayman-r-vs-911-gt3-feature [8|][]

I hate tests and it winds me up reading them, as geo and tyres makes or breaks a test. How can you put a cup tyre car with double the camber vs a road tyre car with min neg camber !!! Do they think we are stupid ffs, only tests worth reading are cars with the same tyres.

I know what you mean. I rarely buy car mags now as they rarely give you much on which to to draw any substantive conclusions. (No I didn't buy the Topgear mag I mentioned!) Always better to just consider them as background info & then go for your own drive. I like to compare cars but always remembering when i'm not comparing apples with apples.

 

[flat6]

ORIGINAL: GeeForce

ORIGINAL: flat6 A nice pic for a picture page. Hopefully will increase the agony of Geeforce's wait[]

As if it wasn't painful enough! Great pic though. Looking like it could be Tues

Have enjoyed 2 days driving in the sun, complements flowing from passers by and one chap said it was the best Porsche he had seen & I should hang onto it. And the car wasn't even clean! (hence the following pic is from another day[]). When members of the Porsche board received similar complements about the car they must surely have thought back into how they got the car so right & the marketing so wrong. If it had been limited numbers they'd have found buyers. Will they do it again on a sub £100k car? Will they limit the numbers to say 100 into the UK etc and nudge they price up to say £60k? (they know where they can make money). I'm sure they'd find enough 981 buyers wanting to spend that sort of money for a the exclusivity of a limited production run.

 

[VvrooomM]

ORIGINAL: MrDemon I don't use the Spyder much , so just carry the disk in my pocket. As you note I have the smallest holder for the cayman, they are ugly at the end of the day. And hate seeing these massive dealer tax disk holders. The cayman I had converted to new design aero wipers. I have a set on order for the Spyder. They just look so modern imo and of course work better. Again another thing Porsche set stuck in the ark with. Also loads lighter

What aero wiper option have you gone for, I'd like to follow your lead. Have you just replaced the blades with curved aero ones, if SI which ones please?

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: VvrooomM

ORIGINAL: MrDemon I don't use the Spyder much , so just carry the disk in my pocket. As you note I have the smallest holder for the cayman, they are ugly at the end of the day. And hate seeing these massive dealer tax disk holders. The cayman I had converted to new design aero wipers. I have a set on order for the Spyder. They just look so modern imo and of course work better. Again another thing Porsche set stuck in the ark with. Also loads lighter

What aero wiper option have you gone for, I'd like to follow your lead. Have you just replaced the blades with curved aero ones, if SI which ones please? On my Mini daily driver I have the Bosch AeroTwin Blades absolutely brilliant solved all previous problems of poor noisy wiping now totally silent and every wipe is perfect http://www.wiperblades.co.uk/auto-express-wiper-blade-test/

 

[MrDemon]

Ones off eBay for £9 inc post Worth the risk to try but they are great, blades only. I also did the bmw mini but with bmw oem parts. Great mod as no judder and they just work. Doing full arms would look better because of the smaller clip, but arms are expensive, does the 981 use aero blades yet ?

 

[VvrooomM]

ORIGINAL: MrDemon Ones off eBay for £9 inc post Worth the risk to try but they are great, blades only. I also did the bmw mini but with bmw oem parts. Great mod as no judder and they just work. Doing full arms would look better because of the smaller clip, but arms are expensive, does the 981 use aero blades yet ?

981 is aero wiper and LED interior and number plate lit I believe.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: flat6 Have enjoyed 2 days driving in the sun, complements flowing from passers by and one chap said it was the best Porsche he had seen & I should hang onto it. And the car wasn't even clean! (hence the following pic is from another day[]). When members of the Porsche board received similar complements about the car they must surely have thought back into how they got the car so right & the marketing so wrong. If it had been limited numbers they'd have found buyers. Will they do it again on a sub £100k car? Will they limit the numbers to say 100 into the UK etc and nudge they price up to say £60k? (they know where they can make money). I'm sure they'd find enough 981 buyers wanting to spend that sort of money for a the exclusivity of a limited production run.

Spydermen would the following concept appeal to you 997 Speedster was limited to just 356 examples worldwide (My 89 Speedster was limited to 2104 and struggled to sell for years after production stopped) and there were no specific country quotas it was a first come first supplied basis and all cars were against official customer orders My 981 Spyder & Cayman R concept would be based on a similar principles to the 997 Speedster and limited to just 981 examples of the combined models worldwide against customer orders only which should help lift Porsche margins to mega proportions and create an instant classic 981 As the weight saving on any Spyder or R couldn't match the originals Porsche could increase the bhp to counter this and keep the appeal strong still. As the Spyder & Cayman R market place is very small and niche Porsche could easily allow the performance to be close to a 991 S without the fear of losing a single sale Due to the greatly reduced numbers, increased performance and worldwide rarity I would imagine a price tag of circa £70k could be achievable and for this the cars should come with everything like the 997 Speedsters and also restricted to just a handful of colours with at least one exclusive colour option for each bespoke model As we all know the roof concept is very liveable be it a rare daily driver or garage queen and must therefore remain pretty much as is [] Porsche already have the "Sport Chassis" available today so designing some new bespoke ultra light alloys and side stripe shouldn't be that hard to do [] Standard kit should include PCCB PSE Sports Chrono Carbon Buckets Radio & Air Con NO CHARGE OPTIONS Bespoke Paint Jobs PDK or Manual NO CHARGE OPTION FULL Leather interior like the 997 Speedster option sun visors steering column etc. Pricing PDK and Air Con into the price would mean every manual car or non air con car would increase the profits to even greater heights for the bean counters to enjoy[] Job Done [8D]

 

[Dylan1]

Oh yes []

 

[MrDemon]

I for one hope they don't do a Spyder, plus I don't think Porsche will do a Boxster with bespoke body work in the 981. Cannot even find any dealer or car order for even a Boxster with sports chassis. Plus it will never feel as good, it will prob be PDK only and electric every thing. The Cayman on the other hand needs a CS model later in it's life, but they need to fix the steering if they do to feel better. The issue with the new cars is they are just nice cars, hence buying a older cayman R myself. The new cars hold no interest to me what so ever, I like Audi as a brand for a nice every day car and loved my TTRS for £42k new. So would NOT be buying a Cayman for 70k. As I stated before the brand holds no desire to me, I want a car which feels great, the Spyder and R do, and the new cars don't so my money would goto Nissan and the GTR , a Audi , or a punt on a Ferrari F430 or chill out in a Aston. Most buyers of Porsche are status buyers and only want the 911 brand to be seen in, so it's very hard selling sporty models as the rich will always want a GT3. The Boxster helped a little and sold well and looks great, but a 70k Cayman is a tough sell over a 2nd hand 991 at 60k. The gf would go well in a new Boxster is about all I can say. The Evora lacks in a lot of ways but drives well so also worth a look over a new Boxster or Cayman if you want a car which feels connected.

 

[GeeForce]

ORIGINAL: rob.kellock Forgot to mention, I saw it on Friday afternoon with its newly painted wheels. Paul and Laura on service were very complimentary about it and said it was a nice example. Looked good from where I was sitting!

Awesome Rob! That really is reassuring I'm literally going crazy waiting. Had a nightmare last night the car was dodgy! Had wrong wheels, wasn't really white (wrapped, originally green), had wing mirrors swapped for cameras and dealership wasn't a Porsche dealer!!! Insane!

 

[GeeForce]

ORIGINAL: flat6 Have enjoyed 2 days driving in the sun, complements flowing from passers by and one chap said it was the best Porsche he had seen & I should hang onto it. And the car wasn't even clean! (hence the following pic is from another day[]). When members of the Porsche board received similar complements about the car they must surely have thought back into how they got the car so right & the marketing so wrong. If it had been limited numbers they'd have found buyers. Will they do it again on a sub £100k car? Will they limit the numbers to say 100 into the UK etc and nudge they price up to say £60k? (they know where they can make money). I'm sure they'd find enough 981 buyers wanting to spend that sort of money for a the exclusivity of a limited production run.

That seriously looks a million dollars! The Spyder can really hold its own against modern exotics. I'm with MrDemon on this. Genuinely hope they don't make another one. Even if they do, it's likely to have electric steering and over servoed brakes. The 987 Spyder is certainly the last of its breed, although I have no doubt a 981 Spyder would look stunning. Agree about the Evora too. Chassis is simply sublime, but the quality just doesn't match up with the price tag. A great used bargain for the future though. What are people's views about the 20-40mph noise cut out on the PSE? I unplugged it on my C4S and the valves seized on a few occasions. I know you can buy the Carnewal module, but is there another way? Just seems a lotta £ for something so simple. I know you can cut the diode on a 997, but think I read this isn't possible on 987s.

 

[kitchens]

Like MrDemon i hope they do not bring out another Spyder it will only dilute the value and desirability of the cars we have !! Gee Force only one more sleep to go [] i like you went down the delete Boxster badge i did it my self simples [

 

[rob.kellock]

Only one more sleep GeeForce!! I have standard sports exhaust, the cut out doesn't really bother me any more, I suppose I have got used to it. You won't be disappointed tomorrow... Other than with the weather!!

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: GeeForce I'm with MrDemon on this. Genuinely hope they don't make another one. Even if they do, it's likely to have electric steering and over servoed brakes. The 987 Spyder is certainly the last of its breed, although I have no doubt a 981 Spyder would look stunning. What are people's views about the 20-40mph noise cut out on the PSE? I unplugged it on my C4S and the valves seized on a few occasions. I know you can buy the Carnewal module, but is there another way? Just seems a lotta £ for something so simple. I know you can cut the diode on a 997, but think I read this isn't possible on 987s.

The 20-40mph cut out was driving me nuts as I spend a lot of time in that zone when in town. The Carnewal option is expensive but a lot cheaper than replacing seized valves and still leaves you the option to drive in silent mode something I never ever do The 981 Spyder wouldn't devalue our cars IMO if it is made as an officially limited edition expensive 981 model and the fact it would not be old school mechanicals like a 987 should only enhance the original concept even more I have no doubt that a lighter faster more hard core 981 Spyder would certainly hit the spot for most Gen 1 Spyder owners and I think certain aspects like the improved PDK, better quality interior, dabs radio, and more masculine looks would all add to the Spyder drama we currently enjoy In the meantime I have had 2 back to back great days in my Spyder [8D]

 

[flat6]

Good topic for thought daro. First of all, I must say that I would also rather there wasn't another Spyder, for my own selfish reasons of course. But, that doesn't matter to Porsche and if they can see a business case to do a another one, we won't be able to stop them, and it'd be hard to ignore, so i'd like to think about it. Might I expand on the concept a little. Maybe they would do 2 special editions. One would be a fully loaded type special, perhaps under the GTS badge, and the other would be a lightweight Spyder. The hard work of designing a Spyder rear deck and ingenious roof has been done and porting it to 981 can probably be done for a relatively small cost. Putting my Cayman bias to one side, like MrD, I too hope that if they do do specials, the Cayman gets a serious Clubsport rework. Enough said about Caymans. As I have said before, Porsche stuck their neck out with the 987 Spyder and did the type of bodywork rework that they would normally reserve for £140K 911 specials. Yet, the Boxster customer base wasn't hardcore enough to embrace it (speaking generally, not personally about Boxster enthusiasts - it cannot be denied that not enough Boxster buyers came forward to buy one). The forums were more full of people saying they'd rather have an electric folding roof for convenience, rather than something that looked special beyond it's price tag. Worries about how quickly they can put the roof up in inclement weather was more important than the improved drive or the looks or exclusivity. Yet still, Porsche made the 997 Speedster and Sport Classic in low numbers, with NO new performance mechanicals (the X.51 Powerkit on the Speedster and Sport Classic had been around for years) and they would not thrill from behind the wheel as much as the cheaper 997.2 turbo IMHO. But, they both sold out before hitting the streets, because they do appeal to some people. These cars are not priced on how much they cost to produce. The 997 Carrera GTS was of the same main components (widebody RWD, X.51 etc.) and would be a better drive with its lighter centre lock hubs and wheels BUT COST HALF THE PRICE of the limited run specials. I've no doubt there are a minority of people who'd like to spend £60 to £70K on a Porsche special who don't have £140K to spend on one (and have no interest in £70K faster cars from other marques). It's just the complexity and variety of human desire. So a Spyder and Boxster GTS I can see. The former with the 987 Spyder roof ported onto it and Sport Chassis. The latter would be in a similar mould as the 997 Carrera GTS, with a redesigned front apron, a few other visual upgrades, and a power increase (may have the same power increase as the Spyder, like the Black Edition did). I would have also suggested centre lock wheels on both, to take things a bit further than last time but they are proving quite troublesome (but don't be surprised to see centre-locks I think). But the Spyder will need to be a limited production run to kick-start those buyers into action. It's amazing how buyers are fickle and what marketing can do to push their buttons - nothing like the talk of limited numbers to work them into a frenzy. One thing is for sure, if there's another Spyder, you won't get it for anywhere near the £46,387 giveaway base price of ours.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: flat6 One thing is for sure, if there's another Spyder, you won't get it for anywhere near the £46,387 giveaway base price of ours.

flat6 that was partly my point Porsche now know the size of the market place for any future 981 Spyder and no way will they do it for low or no margin again. One way around this could be to hike the price, limit the numbers, increase the specification accordingly and to produce to customer orders only Armed with a great deal of hindsight[] this time Porsche could have their expensive cake and eat it []

 

[flat6]

Yep I was agreeing with the points you made. There's no reason not to expect another Spyder, especially if Porsche want to raise the profile of the 981 against the competition and get over their fixation on the internal competition. As has been said, some will buy the 911 brand regardless, so Porsche shouldn't worry so much about maximising the potential of the Boxster / Cayman product.

 

[flat6]

ORIGINAL: GeeForce

ORIGINAL: flat6

That seriously looks a million dollars! The Spyder can really hold its own against modern exotics.

Thanks Geeforce. And if the weather isn't great tomorrow, fear not, it looks great with the top on too IMHO and it'll force you to give the roof a chance on the way home [] Let me indulge myself in a few more pic of my black [wheeled] beauty until we shift focus onto yours tomorrow []