Are Spyders Becoming Extinct At OPCs!
- Thread starter daro911
- Start date
987 Spyder residuals not dented by the 981 even though this one is high mileage and unusual colour combo fresh on pistonheads today
[h1]PORSCHE BOXSTER (987 GEN II) SPYDER PDK 2010 (2010)For sale Privately, in Gwent, United Kingdom[/h1]£39,995
[ul][*][link=http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/lightbox?advertid=4457697&index=0&link=false]
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[link=http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/reportadvert?advertid=4457697] [/link][h3]DESCRIPTION[/h3]2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder PDK, Silver with Full Carrera Red Leather Interior, Sports Seats, Porsche Crested Headrests, Sports Chrono Package, Sports Exhaust, Sport Design steering Wheel with Paddle Shift, Sound Package Plus, CDR-30 Audio System, Full Porsche Service History. I have owned this car for 4 years and it is absolutely immaculate it has New Discs and Pads all round and will be supplied with 4 New N Rated Tyres, 12 Month MOT and a 1 year Porsche Warranty. First to see will buy, no Canvasers or time wasters please! [h3]SPECS[/h3][h4]Essentials[/h4][ul][*]Mileage: 43,000[*]Year: 2010[*]Doors: 2[*]Body type: Convertible[*]Transmission type: Semi Automatic[*]Fuel type: Petrol[*]Colour: Silver[/ul] [h4] [/h4] [h3] [/h3] [/ul]
[h1]PORSCHE BOXSTER (987 GEN II) SPYDER PDK 2010 (2010)For sale Privately, in Gwent, United Kingdom[/h1]£39,995
[ul][*][link=http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/lightbox?advertid=4457697&index=0&link=false]
Evo - The biggest criticism of the old Boxster Spyder was that its manual roof was little more than a shower cap that was incredibly fiddly to put on or take off.
Why do all of the magazines persist with this nonsense? All of us owners know it's not true; they don't let any water in and it's easy to take on and off - mine was on and off twice today, must have taken at least 5 minutes in total!
Why do all of the magazines persist with this nonsense? All of us owners know it's not true; they don't let any water in and it's easy to take on and off - mine was on and off twice today, must have taken at least 5 minutes in total!
MrDemon
PCGB Member
agree I have done it on a slip road in about 40 seconds when I have seen rain coming , the new one is also shit if the old one is, ie you have to get out the car, the daft flaps you have to close on the new one means running round the car twice also. I never use the back bit though even in rain, adds to the fun 
Well now booked up for an evening track day at Donington on 28th, PEC with Turbo S on 29th, then Silverstone full day on the 3rd Aug. Will hope for some dry weather and just take the roof off I think, save a bit of weight as well if I leave it in a garage !!MrDemon said:I did way over 124mph on my Spa trip last year by mistake, the roof stayed on. But AT Silverstone in the summer, roof off
Walter seems to have picked the 3.8L Spyder for his private collection []
[link=http://jalopnik.com/real-talk-from-walter-rohrl-on-porsches-new-smaller-911-1685420602]http://jalopnik.com/real-talk-from-walter-rohrl-on-porsches-new-smaller-911-1685420602[/link]
"But no matter how good a turbo engine is, it can never have the pure response of a naturally aspirated engine. This is the reason I bought a Boxster Spyder, because engines like this won't be made anymore."
][link=http://jalopnik.com/real-talk-from-walter-rohrl-on-porsches-new-smaller-911-1685420602]http://jalopnik.com/real-talk-from-walter-rohrl-on-porsches-new-smaller-911-1685420602[/link]
"But no matter how good a turbo engine is, it can never have the pure response of a naturally aspirated engine. This is the reason I bought a Boxster Spyder, because engines like this won't be made anymore."
spyderwhite
Member
But is he referring to his 987 spyder!
Home round with two of the purest roadsters: Factory driver Mark Webber at the wheel of the brand-new Boxster Spyder and the legendary 550 Spyder.
The road from Mark Webber’s house, just outside Aylesbury, some 70 kilometers northwest of London, to the Silverstone racetrack is rather dull. You travel mostly in a straight line, and the traffic is always heavy, even when you travel outside rush hour. This circumstance is not encouraging, given it is the only time he has to try the brand-new Boxster Spyder. He is on his way to Silverstone to race his 919 Hybrid in the opening round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship.
Mark takes one look at the car, noting its additional spoilers, new rear deck, and lowered suspension. He knows already it has the 276 kW (375 hp), 3.8-liter motor from the Carrera S behind him. “Wow, it looks just like a Carrera GT’s younger brother,” he says with a huge grin. “I think we’ll go the long way today. Over the years I’ve worked out quite a good route …”
Mark Webber and the new Spyder taking the roads through Buckinghamshire on their way to Silverstone.
It might seem strange to say it, but many race-car drivers aren’t that interested in cars: to them they are merely the means by which their talent is expressed and victories achieved. Mark Webber is an exception. He loved Porsches long before he was paid to drive them, and has a fabulous collection, from a 1950s 356 Cabriolet to a 911 GT2 RS (997), all acquired before he became a Porsche factory driver. “I’ve always loved the shape of Porsche sports cars. I drove my first 911 twenty years ago in Sydney, when I was doing Formula Ford, and I guess I’ve been hooked ever since. More recently I remember doing a track day at Paul Ricard with lots of fast cars and F1 and sports-car drivers. And with us guys driving, one by one they just dropped out, either because their brakes were gone or because something had gone wrong with them. At the end there was just this 997 Turbo S going round with no problem at all. Tells you all you need to know about the way Porsche engineers its cars.”
We have barely left the village before Mark is eulogizing about the Boxster. “You have to get the basics right. It doesn’t matter how much performance a car has if the driving position is terrible, or the seat doesn’t hold you properly. This is perfect: the wheel is the right size and shape and has no buttons on it. I need them on my 919, but not here. Nothing is more complicated than it needs to be; everything is designed to let you focus on the driving, and that’s what matters.”
So how does this nine-time winner of Formula One races drive? Expertly, quickly, but with no drama at all. He reaches the speed he wants, and then uses the Porsche’s grip and poise to maintain it. Soon I discover why we came this way: the scenery is beautiful, the roads challenging and completely deserted. Once he takes a strange line through a bend that leads over a blind crest, and as I’m wondering why I notice a substantial pothole just over the brow, which he has missed by millimeters. He knows this road as well as the one outside his house.
The perfect drive: The morning sun above and the boxer engine behind the driver.
The power of 276 kW (375 hp) from a bird’s-eye view: Boxster Spyder with closed top.
Mark changes gears so smoothly, you might think the car had a PDK transmission instead of a six-speed manual gearbox, so I ask him which he prefers. “Some people think manual transmissions are out of date, others that paddle-shift boxes take the fun away. I genuinely like both. Obviously, we have to use paddles in the race car, and in a normal road car I’d also choose paddles, unless the manual gearbox was amazing.” Then another huge smile spreads across his face, and he shifts down from fourth to third, momentarily opening the throttle by himself: “And this manual is amazing,” he laughs.
As for the engine, the biggest ever fitted to a Boxster, Mark is as thoughtful as ever, recognizing at once that it’s not just about the extra power. “What’s remarkable about taking a Carrera S engine and putting it in the Boxster is the options it gives you. It’ll rev pretty high and gives great power, but because it also has great low-end torque, if you want to drive fast but in a more relaxed manner, you can simply select a higher gear, sit back, and know the engine will still respond as you want at lower revs.”
Silverstone is getting closer now, and, sensing the journey’s end, Mark briefly makes full use of the car’s performance, with the engine howling its approval. It lasts only a few seconds, but it is enough to impress a race-car driver used to being given only the best of the best to drive. “What else can you buy for the same money that can do that?” he exclaims. “This car is quiet and comfortable enough for us to be able to chat all the way here, and then, when you want, provide a level of dynamic involvement that would be pretty rare to find in any car, let alone one as affordable as this.”
There is no radio, no air-conditioning, and no PDK—only the six-speed manual gearbox.
Our journey is over, but the fun has only just begun. Mark may be here to race his 919 Hybrid, but first, sitting by the test track belonging to the Silverstone-based Porsche Experience Center, is a history lesson on wheels—nothing less than the car that provided the inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
This Porsche 550 Spyder first made its race debut in 1953, where it won its class at Le Mans. The actual car here is a later 550 A, a visually similar but structurally very different car (it had a space frame rather than a ladder chassis), and identical to the car that claimed Porsche’s very first top-level international competition win, at the Targa Florio in Sicily in 1956. In its mid-engine configuration, with its boxer engine, roadster bodywork, and a focus on providing the purest driving experience possible, it is the true inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
Time is short, and Porsche knew the importance of a simple and sound driving environment even sixty years ago, which is why Mark is able to simply climb in and drive the Spyder fast immediately. And it helps that he is one of the world’s best drivers. My happy job is to give chase in the Boxster.
History lesson: The 550 Spyder provided the inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
Two mid-engine sports cars separated by six decades in time but just centimeters on the track.
Porsche’s circuit at Silverstone is quite tight, so ideally suited to the 550. Even sitting in the Boxster, I can smell the racing oil in its incredible four-camshaft 1.5-liter engine, and I expect most of Northamptonshire can hear the crackle of its exhaust as Mark starts to work it harder and harder.
I feared that even with Mark Webber driving, I might not have much work to do behind a car so old and with an engine so small, but I soon realized I had underestimated both the car I was following and the man driving it. The 550 A has been prepared to race at Le Mans, and it’s clear from the speed he is driving, the instant gearshifts, and the way he precisely positions the car around the track that Mark is completely comfortable with the car. Lap after lap we go faster and faster, the smooth snarl of the Boxster engine contrasting with the sharp bark of the 550 A motor. Thanks to the power and grip of the Boxster, I can keep up, but I am having to work at it, which is exactly as it should be. We get closer and closer, two open, two-seater, mid-engine Porsche sports cars separated by six decades in time but just centimeters on the track.
Too soon our time is up, and Mark heads back to the pits. He’s talking even before he gets out of the car. “That was incredible. I expected it to sound good and even thought it might be quite quick, but the real surprise is how together it feels.”
“If you look at it, you see how well Porsche understood the fundamentals of what makes a great driving machine even then. The car is incredibly light even by modern standards, and putting a boxer engine behind the driver is as good as you can get from the point of view of weight distribution and center of gravity. I loved the gearbox, the engine response, the handling balance, and the whole feel of the car. And it has that sense you get in modern Porsche sports cars that it could go all day, all night, and all the next day and still be ready for more.”
What didn’t he like, I ask. “The only area in which the car seems its age is the brakes. The drums don’t slow you much, and the pedal feel is not great either. Other than that, it felt years ahead of its time.”
Someone is calling Mark. He has team meetings before the race, and his time with us is over. Just before he leaves I ask him what else, other than their design similarities, he thinks the cars share. “I guess it’s that Porsche thing of always thinking about the driver, making life easier, so he or she can concentrate on what really matters, which is getting the maximum possible enjoyment from the driving experience. Drive the 550 and the Boxster Spyder, and you’ll know that that focus has been there from the start, and is there, stronger than ever, today.”
By Andrew Frankel Photos by Paul Barshon
Mark Webber is a Porsche fan, not only since he became a factory driver almost two years ago.
The road from Mark Webber’s house, just outside Aylesbury, some 70 kilometers northwest of London, to the Silverstone racetrack is rather dull. You travel mostly in a straight line, and the traffic is always heavy, even when you travel outside rush hour. This circumstance is not encouraging, given it is the only time he has to try the brand-new Boxster Spyder. He is on his way to Silverstone to race his 919 Hybrid in the opening round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship.
Mark takes one look at the car, noting its additional spoilers, new rear deck, and lowered suspension. He knows already it has the 276 kW (375 hp), 3.8-liter motor from the Carrera S behind him. “Wow, it looks just like a Carrera GT’s younger brother,” he says with a huge grin. “I think we’ll go the long way today. Over the years I’ve worked out quite a good route …”
Mark Webber and the new Spyder taking the roads through Buckinghamshire on their way to Silverstone.
It might seem strange to say it, but many race-car drivers aren’t that interested in cars: to them they are merely the means by which their talent is expressed and victories achieved. Mark Webber is an exception. He loved Porsches long before he was paid to drive them, and has a fabulous collection, from a 1950s 356 Cabriolet to a 911 GT2 RS (997), all acquired before he became a Porsche factory driver. “I’ve always loved the shape of Porsche sports cars. I drove my first 911 twenty years ago in Sydney, when I was doing Formula Ford, and I guess I’ve been hooked ever since. More recently I remember doing a track day at Paul Ricard with lots of fast cars and F1 and sports-car drivers. And with us guys driving, one by one they just dropped out, either because their brakes were gone or because something had gone wrong with them. At the end there was just this 997 Turbo S going round with no problem at all. Tells you all you need to know about the way Porsche engineers its cars.”
We have barely left the village before Mark is eulogizing about the Boxster. “You have to get the basics right. It doesn’t matter how much performance a car has if the driving position is terrible, or the seat doesn’t hold you properly. This is perfect: the wheel is the right size and shape and has no buttons on it. I need them on my 919, but not here. Nothing is more complicated than it needs to be; everything is designed to let you focus on the driving, and that’s what matters.”
So how does this nine-time winner of Formula One races drive? Expertly, quickly, but with no drama at all. He reaches the speed he wants, and then uses the Porsche’s grip and poise to maintain it. Soon I discover why we came this way: the scenery is beautiful, the roads challenging and completely deserted. Once he takes a strange line through a bend that leads over a blind crest, and as I’m wondering why I notice a substantial pothole just over the brow, which he has missed by millimeters. He knows this road as well as the one outside his house.
The perfect drive: The morning sun above and the boxer engine behind the driver.
The power of 276 kW (375 hp) from a bird’s-eye view: Boxster Spyder with closed top.
Mark changes gears so smoothly, you might think the car had a PDK transmission instead of a six-speed manual gearbox, so I ask him which he prefers. “Some people think manual transmissions are out of date, others that paddle-shift boxes take the fun away. I genuinely like both. Obviously, we have to use paddles in the race car, and in a normal road car I’d also choose paddles, unless the manual gearbox was amazing.” Then another huge smile spreads across his face, and he shifts down from fourth to third, momentarily opening the throttle by himself: “And this manual is amazing,” he laughs.
As for the engine, the biggest ever fitted to a Boxster, Mark is as thoughtful as ever, recognizing at once that it’s not just about the extra power. “What’s remarkable about taking a Carrera S engine and putting it in the Boxster is the options it gives you. It’ll rev pretty high and gives great power, but because it also has great low-end torque, if you want to drive fast but in a more relaxed manner, you can simply select a higher gear, sit back, and know the engine will still respond as you want at lower revs.”
Silverstone is getting closer now, and, sensing the journey’s end, Mark briefly makes full use of the car’s performance, with the engine howling its approval. It lasts only a few seconds, but it is enough to impress a race-car driver used to being given only the best of the best to drive. “What else can you buy for the same money that can do that?” he exclaims. “This car is quiet and comfortable enough for us to be able to chat all the way here, and then, when you want, provide a level of dynamic involvement that would be pretty rare to find in any car, let alone one as affordable as this.”
There is no radio, no air-conditioning, and no PDK—only the six-speed manual gearbox.
Our journey is over, but the fun has only just begun. Mark may be here to race his 919 Hybrid, but first, sitting by the test track belonging to the Silverstone-based Porsche Experience Center, is a history lesson on wheels—nothing less than the car that provided the inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
This Porsche 550 Spyder first made its race debut in 1953, where it won its class at Le Mans. The actual car here is a later 550 A, a visually similar but structurally very different car (it had a space frame rather than a ladder chassis), and identical to the car that claimed Porsche’s very first top-level international competition win, at the Targa Florio in Sicily in 1956. In its mid-engine configuration, with its boxer engine, roadster bodywork, and a focus on providing the purest driving experience possible, it is the true inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
Time is short, and Porsche knew the importance of a simple and sound driving environment even sixty years ago, which is why Mark is able to simply climb in and drive the Spyder fast immediately. And it helps that he is one of the world’s best drivers. My happy job is to give chase in the Boxster.
History lesson: The 550 Spyder provided the inspiration for the Boxster Spyder.
Two mid-engine sports cars separated by six decades in time but just centimeters on the track.
Porsche’s circuit at Silverstone is quite tight, so ideally suited to the 550. Even sitting in the Boxster, I can smell the racing oil in its incredible four-camshaft 1.5-liter engine, and I expect most of Northamptonshire can hear the crackle of its exhaust as Mark starts to work it harder and harder.
I feared that even with Mark Webber driving, I might not have much work to do behind a car so old and with an engine so small, but I soon realized I had underestimated both the car I was following and the man driving it. The 550 A has been prepared to race at Le Mans, and it’s clear from the speed he is driving, the instant gearshifts, and the way he precisely positions the car around the track that Mark is completely comfortable with the car. Lap after lap we go faster and faster, the smooth snarl of the Boxster engine contrasting with the sharp bark of the 550 A motor. Thanks to the power and grip of the Boxster, I can keep up, but I am having to work at it, which is exactly as it should be. We get closer and closer, two open, two-seater, mid-engine Porsche sports cars separated by six decades in time but just centimeters on the track.
Too soon our time is up, and Mark heads back to the pits. He’s talking even before he gets out of the car. “That was incredible. I expected it to sound good and even thought it might be quite quick, but the real surprise is how together it feels.”
“If you look at it, you see how well Porsche understood the fundamentals of what makes a great driving machine even then. The car is incredibly light even by modern standards, and putting a boxer engine behind the driver is as good as you can get from the point of view of weight distribution and center of gravity. I loved the gearbox, the engine response, the handling balance, and the whole feel of the car. And it has that sense you get in modern Porsche sports cars that it could go all day, all night, and all the next day and still be ready for more.”
What didn’t he like, I ask. “The only area in which the car seems its age is the brakes. The drums don’t slow you much, and the pedal feel is not great either. Other than that, it felt years ahead of its time.”
Someone is calling Mark. He has team meetings before the race, and his time with us is over. Just before he leaves I ask him what else, other than their design similarities, he thinks the cars share. “I guess it’s that Porsche thing of always thinking about the driver, making life easier, so he or she can concentrate on what really matters, which is getting the maximum possible enjoyment from the driving experience. Drive the 550 and the Boxster Spyder, and you’ll know that that focus has been there from the start, and is there, stronger than ever, today.”
By Andrew Frankel Photos by Paul Barshon
Mark Webber is a Porsche fan, not only since he became a factory driver almost two years ago.
Good review, love the way the door mirrors change colour!
When they say "if you are going to buy a Porsche and enjoy your driving, go for the Spyder!"
Would it then make sense to point out they were allocated to enthusiasts and speculators months before the journalist got to drive the car!
When they say "if you are going to buy a Porsche and enjoy your driving, go for the Spyder!"
Would it then make sense to point out they were allocated to enthusiasts and speculators months before the journalist got to drive the car!
It's the essence of Porsche enthusiasm to be of two minds about the 2016 Porsche Boxster Spyder. While we have wonderful memories its predecessor, the 2011-2012 "987" model Boxster Spyder, which combined a modest power boost, lighter weight and sharply tuned suspension to create a truly great driver's car, the latest iteration boasts a larger engine, substantially more power and takes a slightly less hardcore approach. The 2016 Boxster Spyder is the fastest, most powerful, most formidable version of Porsche's mid-engined convertible yet. But is it good?
A beast of a Boxster
Power is provided by the 3.8-liter flat-six from the 911 Carrera S-that's right, Porsche's so serious about the Spyder that it finally dropped a 911 engine into a Boxster-rated at 375 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. As a result, the 2016 Spyder gets a massive 55-horsepower gain over the first Boxster Spyder, and 45 over the top-spec Boxster GTS. A 6-speed manual is the only transmission; no PDK dual-clutch automatic available. Porsche claims a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph.
The 2016 Boxster Spyder's design cues mesh quite well: the front and rear fascia, taken from the Cayman GT4, add 10mm of length while contributing to the 72 pounds the Spyder loses over the GTS. They also give the Spyder a more aggressive look. The Boxster is already a good-looking car; add the classic "streamliners," that run from the headrests and the result is flat-out gorgeous.
The manual top in the previous Spyder was fussy, but when down gave the car a pure roadster feel. For the 2016 Boxster Spyder, the top is more refined; think of it as a mostly manual version of the soft top available on standard models. After electrically unlatching the top, you manually fold and stow it in just a few steps. The roof is lighter than those on other Boxsters thanks to the loss of the mechanism, but still allows you to hit top speed with the roof up or take it through a car wash - two things you couldn't do in the previous Spyder.
More knife than scalpel
With peak torque at nearly 5,000 rpm and horsepower at just under 7,000 rpm, this is a car that begs to be revved hard. Thanks to the 3.8-liter, those revs produces a glorious noise; the 2016 Boxster Spyder sounds like it has an angry 911 spirit animal living amidships-one constantly demanding more from your right foot. Though the new Spyder hits peak horsepower 500 rpm sooner than the 987 (while providing nearly 40 more lb-ft of torque at the same rpm), it's happier high in the rev range. Mash the gas at lower speeds and it can feel like it's waiting to spool up to deliver the Spyder's considerable power.
Helping to wrangle that power is the Sport Chrono package from the GTS; optional on that car but standard here along with dynamic transmission mounts to aid cornering. Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) and a mechanical differential lock are also standard, providing "targeted brake interventions" to either rear wheel while inside of a curve to further aid steering performance. The variable power steering rack is the electric unit found in the 911 Turbo, and is not only quicker than the hydraulic one in the last Spyder, but the rest of the current Boxster line. Thanks to the steering and the 911-sourced brakes, this is an easy car to drive fast. And because of its softer suspension, it's more easy-going than the previous Spyder.
A matter of perspective
Still, we are of two minds; simultaneously appreciating the 2016 Boxster Spyder for the truly epic car that it is while longing for the vastly more engaging 987 Spyder. Where that car was basically a roofless Cayman R, the 2016 Boxster Spyder is distinctly different from the current and raw, Cayman GT4 track-day special. It's suited more to an enthusiast who wants something to take to Cars & Coffee on Saturday morning, then tear through some nice back roads on the way home. Starting at $82,000 and available this fall, it's hard to nail down the car's competition - perhaps the Jaguar F-Type S Convertible, which costs about the same and comes with a tick more horsepower, a more luxurious interior, optional all-wheel drive, and a top that you don't have to get out of the car to stow.
Porsche has built an awesome car in the 2016 Boxster Spyder-it's just different than the last one. The earlier model was a precision instrument; a dance partner with which you had a running conversation where you discovered and expanded your limits. The new car? It's better in every measurable way - quicker, faster, stickier, sexier, yet more comfortable and more useable. But it's lost a bit of edge. It may be a disservice to compare them - they share a name but not a mission. Buy a 2016 Boxster Spyder because you want a top of the line mid-engined convertible, with that excellent 3.8-liter from the 911 Carrera S. But keep your 2012 Spyder, too.
A beast of a Boxster
Power is provided by the 3.8-liter flat-six from the 911 Carrera S-that's right, Porsche's so serious about the Spyder that it finally dropped a 911 engine into a Boxster-rated at 375 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. As a result, the 2016 Spyder gets a massive 55-horsepower gain over the first Boxster Spyder, and 45 over the top-spec Boxster GTS. A 6-speed manual is the only transmission; no PDK dual-clutch automatic available. Porsche claims a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph.
The 2016 Boxster Spyder's design cues mesh quite well: the front and rear fascia, taken from the Cayman GT4, add 10mm of length while contributing to the 72 pounds the Spyder loses over the GTS. They also give the Spyder a more aggressive look. The Boxster is already a good-looking car; add the classic "streamliners," that run from the headrests and the result is flat-out gorgeous.
The manual top in the previous Spyder was fussy, but when down gave the car a pure roadster feel. For the 2016 Boxster Spyder, the top is more refined; think of it as a mostly manual version of the soft top available on standard models. After electrically unlatching the top, you manually fold and stow it in just a few steps. The roof is lighter than those on other Boxsters thanks to the loss of the mechanism, but still allows you to hit top speed with the roof up or take it through a car wash - two things you couldn't do in the previous Spyder.
More knife than scalpel
With peak torque at nearly 5,000 rpm and horsepower at just under 7,000 rpm, this is a car that begs to be revved hard. Thanks to the 3.8-liter, those revs produces a glorious noise; the 2016 Boxster Spyder sounds like it has an angry 911 spirit animal living amidships-one constantly demanding more from your right foot. Though the new Spyder hits peak horsepower 500 rpm sooner than the 987 (while providing nearly 40 more lb-ft of torque at the same rpm), it's happier high in the rev range. Mash the gas at lower speeds and it can feel like it's waiting to spool up to deliver the Spyder's considerable power.
Helping to wrangle that power is the Sport Chrono package from the GTS; optional on that car but standard here along with dynamic transmission mounts to aid cornering. Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) and a mechanical differential lock are also standard, providing "targeted brake interventions" to either rear wheel while inside of a curve to further aid steering performance. The variable power steering rack is the electric unit found in the 911 Turbo, and is not only quicker than the hydraulic one in the last Spyder, but the rest of the current Boxster line. Thanks to the steering and the 911-sourced brakes, this is an easy car to drive fast. And because of its softer suspension, it's more easy-going than the previous Spyder.
A matter of perspective
Still, we are of two minds; simultaneously appreciating the 2016 Boxster Spyder for the truly epic car that it is while longing for the vastly more engaging 987 Spyder. Where that car was basically a roofless Cayman R, the 2016 Boxster Spyder is distinctly different from the current and raw, Cayman GT4 track-day special. It's suited more to an enthusiast who wants something to take to Cars & Coffee on Saturday morning, then tear through some nice back roads on the way home. Starting at $82,000 and available this fall, it's hard to nail down the car's competition - perhaps the Jaguar F-Type S Convertible, which costs about the same and comes with a tick more horsepower, a more luxurious interior, optional all-wheel drive, and a top that you don't have to get out of the car to stow.
Porsche has built an awesome car in the 2016 Boxster Spyder-it's just different than the last one. The earlier model was a precision instrument; a dance partner with which you had a running conversation where you discovered and expanded your limits. The new car? It's better in every measurable way - quicker, faster, stickier, sexier, yet more comfortable and more useable. But it's lost a bit of edge. It may be a disservice to compare them - they share a name but not a mission. Buy a 2016 Boxster Spyder because you want a top of the line mid-engined convertible, with that excellent 3.8-liter from the 911 Carrera S. But keep your 2012 Spyder, too.
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