]
You have conveyed the mindset of those who want to buy it. I also think that the Spyder is less likely to disappoint as most people buying a roadster [for driving on the road] are not expecting or wanting it to drive like GT3 [without GT3 components]. Conversely the GT4, being set up for track intentions has a different expectation on it, which is not necessarily harder to deliver (it's not easy to deliver an uncompromised all rounder like the 987 Spyder and hopefully 981) but the GT4 being more compromised for road, must deliver well on it's narrower focus. Some may doubt the GT4 can deliver as good an experience as alternatives before even driving it. Whereas those those who want the Spyder aren't doubting it at all before they drive it. It's all about different expectations (But personally I think the GT4 will deliver also based on the expectations of most people looking to buy it). Depending on who wants to buy these cars and what they want to use them for, it's hard to say which one makes the better buy. Probably get more use out of the Spyder as it will be more usable but then if you want to do more track work / be able to tweak your suspension geometry, at the expense of harsher road manners then you should get the GT4. Let's face it, 'most' people start their choice based on open top or coupe. 'Most' who are committed to open top motoring are unlikely to tinkering with a fully adjustable suspension so why would Porsche bother to put that on a Roadster. I think Porsche have got the ingredients of both cars just right.
Hi Boxster7. Good to hear from enthusiasts like yourself. You know what you want from a car and this one ticks your checklist[ORIGINAL: Boxster7 Hi Flat6 So as I've mentioned before, I have an order down for a New Spyder and I am very excited about getting to drive this car. I currently have a 987.1 Boxster S, which has been a great car to own over the past 3 years. But over the past year or so I have slowly been winding myself up to trade up to a newer model. For me it was going to be another BS, but a 981 as I feel the car has really moved on from the 987. I was looking to buy secondhand for approx 40k. Then I started getting a bit excited about the GTS, with all the road testers videos just raving about all aspects of this new model. Next news of the GT4, which again just looks to be a brilliant bit of kit (even though I'm a dedicated roof down driver!!). I enquired, but alas my local OPC already had a dozen deposits down [&o] Then Spyshots of a rumoured new Sypder start to appear...... This looks like it could be my car !! Car gets launched in NY, I get my bottom down to the OPC pronto and hand over my credit card [
]. Yes the 987 Spyder was a good buy. I only parted with mine because I wanted try something a little quicker in a straight line and more torquey. As a package I found the 987 Spyder pretty much perfect, including the roof. The roof served the purpose it was intended - to weigh next to nothing and keep the rain (not wind) pretty much out. I don't know how the 981 Spyder will feel as an ownership proposition as the full feeling of what made the 987 Spyder special came after living with it. I'm not overly excited about the coming of the 981 Spyder only because i'm not in the market for one, but I can see it for what it is. They'll have evolved the 987 Spyder's chassis set up and steering onto it and it will give the 981 a character not yet seen on a 981 Boxster. It will no doubt be special on that basis. At the end of the day, comparing new cars to used cars as choices always loses some validity the longer you look at it. I mean, comparing a 2.7RS to 964RS to ... to... to... 991GT3 RS doesn't really form the basis of whether any of them are special and some of the best cars take a while to grow on people, such as with the 987 Spyder. Modern cars take a while to gain acceptance by the purists and often only when something even more modern comes along. So the 981 Spyder has a lot to live up to. Some will enjoy it from day one. Some will come round in a year or 2. Some will reconsider it when the 983 Spyder is an even bigger deviation from the past! Look forward hearing your experiences when you get yours []
No I am saying the 981 GT4/Spyder platform has some big concerns now it's out and we have seen the basic reviews, but as you have to buy every thing blind now, it's great it's a no risk buy if the car does not fit in for it's intended use. So while I want the car to be 100% great for me, if it's not I am looking at it as an investment while rates are low. Hence why I keeping my R and playing it by ear. If I were a 987.2 Spyder owner NEEDING to sell to buy a 981 then I would be very very concerned about the blind buy and losing a very special car. car don't evolve for the better as a lot of people state, we are forced into new rules by the EU and hence electric steering and now smaller engines with turbo's are being made, (lucky the GT4 and Spyder does not have a turbo yet) that's not progress that's a manufacture being forced to make cars to EU rules. Steering feel plays a bit part of driving to me, (as does changing gear) but if people love PDK which takes half the driving away, I can see why they welcome electric steering also, may as well automate that !! , the GT3 boys are loving all this new found speed with less skill, as do the many GTR owners. Again it's not a bad thing if going fast makes you feel good if you were not able to go fast before, but to some that does not make a car better just because it's faster. I am sure the 964 group of lads who I come across at most track days are having a lot more fun than most people on them and they only have 260bhp. I'll swap feel for cubic inch's every time.ORIGINAL: clubsport Fair enough, so you are just getting the GT4 to flip it on for a few £££. Nice work if you can get it! [
Can i.d. with those sentiments hence I shall have to find additional garage space for the 987 Spyder whilst pondering all the + & -'s of the new version - Well that's the game plan today and as I am hoping to have some opportunities to sample the new goods before speccing my December build I hope to have a much better idea about my Spyder fleet as is and to be[
] []Do you know what.....my prediction is that you'll absolutely love the GT4 and the R will be up for sale within a matter of weeks, not months, of you taking delivery. You'll tell us how fantastic the handling is, however not quite as good as the R, but all the other aspects of the more modern uprated car (engine, sus, appearance etc) overshadow the slight negatives. Just my prediction.......might be as accurate as yours that the 981 Spyder will have an electric roof but let's see
Being one of the 'GT3 boys' I just don't agree the PDK(s) takes half the driving away, it's certainly different but I find it really engaging in 'manual' mode with 7 close ratio gears to play with. I had a back to back drive with my GT3 and a friends Cayman GTS manual a few weeks ago, probably one of the best manuals I've driven and I loved it, but I still looked forward to getting back into my PDK(s) GT3. The electric steering has as much feedback as I actually want, yes it's a bit lighter than my Spyder but I actually prefer it. Now maybe I'm just getting too old to properly enjoy and appreciate the perceived much fuller 'involvement' of the manual and hydraulic steering these days, as I think I'm actually having more fun in my PDK(s).ORIGINAL: MrDemonNo I am saying the 981 GT4/Spyder platform has some big concerns now it's out and we have seen the basic reviews, but as you have to buy every thing blind now, it's great it's a no risk buy if the car does not fit in for it's intended use. So while I want the car to be 100% great for me, if it's not I am looking at it as an investment while rates are low. Hence why I keeping my R and playing it by ear. If I were a 987.2 Spyder owner NEEDING to sell to buy a 981 then I would be very very concerned about the blind buy and losing a very special car. car don't evolve for the better as a lot of people state, we are forced into new rules by the EU and hence electric steering and now smaller engines with turbo's are being made, (lucky the GT4 and Spyder does not have a turbo yet) that's not progress that's a manufacture being forced to make cars to EU rules. Steering feel plays a bit part of driving to me, (as does changing gear) but if people love PDK which takes half the driving away, I can see why they welcome electric steering also, may as well automate that !! , the GT3 boys are loving all this new found speed with less skill, as do the many GTR owners. Again it's not a bad thing if going fast makes you feel good if you were not able to go fast before, but to some that does not make a car better just because it's faster. I am sure the 964 group of lads who I come across at most track days are having a lot more fun than most people on them and they only have 260bhp. I'll swap feel for cubic inch's every time.ORIGINAL: clubsport Fair enough, so you are just getting the GT4 to flip it on for a few £££. Nice work if you can get it! [
I have a spare spot - newly painted floor too [
]I have to agree. I think the art of driving is about perfecting what you can get the car to do, with has lot to do with getting in tune with the chassis dynamics, the braking dynamics and harnessing the power of the engine i.e. transferring that the engine power to the road through the chassis. For me the art of driving is about motion of the car. One of the purest forms of motorsport, as many racing drivers say is karting. There you have no gears. There the joy of driving is how you can get into that kart's dynamics to perfect its motion around the circuit. If you use a PDK in manual mode you input to how the whole dynamics in motion comes together. Having a manual gear selector to do the same achieves the same. If sticking with manual to perfect the heel and toe or for the challenge of not getting it wrong i'm sure that is fun too but it's a slightly different reason to go driving and the two should not be confused. A climber can either use a varying amount of tools to scale a rock face. The aim is to scale the rock face, finding the possible path through many an impossible piece of the rock face. Another challenge is to climb with no tools and just your bare hands because an additional aspect of your hobby is wanting to see if you can support your own body weight whilst attempting the climb. You'll still need to take the same decisions as to where to climb but you aim is also to lift your own body weight through those sections on your fingertips. That's a personal challenge. If you use PDK in auto mode that's a bit like single gear karting. Yes you've removed the challenge of timing the gear changes, but if you're trying to master driving dynamics, there’s still a lot of work to do. I do acknowledge that a racing driver would still operate the PDK in manual mode because they would need to factor in the engine dynamics into the whole kinetic mix as they prepare the car to enter the corner and taking into account the exit as well. The motion of the car isn't as influenced by the type of gear selector as much as how you use the gears to influence the motion of the car. I'm sure many will despise the electric parking brake for valid reasons but not to do the art of driving dynamics and motion (unless you were taking your new car on a rally stage!)
I have to confess driving my PDK 24/7 in manual mode has been extremely rewarding and the only downside I have is the speed achieved in any given circumstance is always far greater than what I could manage with my manual Spyder 1[
] On the electric handbrake side of things my one and only experience has been with the wifes Q3 and it makes the traditional handbrake look, feel and perform like something out of Noah's ark [] 
Who knows, my friend. Your galleries make the car so desirable on looks alone! If I had the affluence to own multiple Porsche I think I would have (based on current spur of the moment thinking): A Spyder for an sunny day where the excuse arose to go al fresco. A 991 GT3 for going on roads runs like the EVO triangle. I doubt I would see much track time and this new GT3 looks like it may have just enough road manners for that purpose and maybe the GT3 RS not required for that purpose (haven't done any research into GT3's past and present as i've never considered one before the 991). My current 997.1 turbo. For some reason this car has got under my skin like no other. It must be a combination of things. I think I just like what it does and what it does is what it was intended to do. It handles as it should which is a lot better that if I had listened to the text book clichés (turbos do OK if you don't believe the hype or expect a GT3 on softer springs which would be a contradiction in terms. It seems the new one is good too: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.asp?m=878477). The thrum of that engine vibrating through the whole cabin. The fact that i'm slightly in fear of its performance. It means i'm still forming a relationship with it as I start to drive it harder and harder. I got on top of my previous cars very quickly but this one has me thinking about the next drive every time. Fear is possibly the wrong word as I chuck it about a lot more now. But there is so much left in reserve - choosing how much to keep those turbos spooled up exiting a corner. I'm no driving expert, I just enjoy driving a car that is matched to my abilty, well, beyond my ability so I have something to aim for. Looking forward to taking it to EVO triangle. It's definitely a keeper.ORIGINAL: daro911 Excellent summary from one of the founding fathers of this forum posting - Hope to see flat6 back in ownership of a Spyder one day [
Glad you made sense of my post, which as is often the case so early in the morning, full of typo's!ORIGINAL: daro911I have to confess driving my PDK 24/7 in manual mode has been extremely rewarding and the only downside I have is the speed achieved in any given circumstance is always far greater than what I could manage with my manual Spyder 1[
] Still has the wheels described wrongly [] 
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