I was able to secure an allocation and heading to lock-in next week (PM3XM4W9). Woohoo!

Question: For those of you who regularly drive your Spyder at highway speeds (60-70 MPH), how is the noise level in the car with the roof up? Is it unbearable? Can you have a conversation with your copilot? Can you hear the radio? I’ve seen some posts talk about it being “unbearable” and someone recommended getting noise cancelling earphones. I hope this was an over exaggeration. I plan to DD mine and thinking of some longer road trips.

Thanks for your input?

 

Well I have the GT4 so my roof is always up! These car are un-apologetically noisy cars. Wind noise, induction noise, driveline and suspension noise, exhaust noise. 60 -70 MPH? Yes I can carry on a conversation with voices slightly raised. If i'm stepping on it, best to wait. Radio at that speed? Maybe, Music, not really.
You maybe better suited with a GTS 4.0 Boxster. I wouldn't be able to handle the spyder as a DD, mostly because of the roof and possibly the noise. UNLESS, i had a 2nd DD

 

It’s loud if you have the pse on. If you turn that off it’s fine. I’ve taken it on several road trips and it’s really not that much louder than a regular boxster. That c ugh angels if the Pse exhaust is on (especially if you have gpf delete pipes o )

 

There is a lot of noise on the highway - road noise, engine noise, wind noise, etc. The cylinder deactivation sounds particularly loud and droney, but it can be turned off. What is "unbearably loud" is subjective. I wouldn't mind taking it on a 1000+ km road trip, or daily driving it (excluding winter). I used to have a 987 Boxster, and an AMG GT S. Both of those cars were also similarly loud inside on the highway. I've driven various 981 and 982 Boxsters and Caymans on the highway, and they are also very noisy inside, though slightly less loud than the Spyder.

Listening to music on the highway is futile in a Spyder (or regular Boxster) if you care for finer details of the sound or quieter portions of a song. Bluetooth phone calls on the highway are also futile on both - the other person won't hear what you're saying, and you'll struggle to hear what the other person is saying. Having a conversation with the passenger is not an issue though, as long as you're not whispering. I've become used to sports cars being noisy on the highway, and can live with it, but it does feel an order of magnitude louder inside than my S class on the highway.

 

You can definitely drive it daily. In which case, I would highly recommend comfort seats and leaving the exhaust stock. With bucket seats and aftermarket exhaust, it will be less comfortable.

 

I had a 981S for 8 years. There is no comparison between the noise level in it compared to the noise in my Spyder. I took the Boxster on many 2-5 hour drives with the top up, and it was a pleasant place to be. So far, I’ve taken my Spyder on two drives with the top up (about 1.5 - 2 hours) and I’d say the noise is unbearable. With the top down, it’s fine and just like my Boxster. But with the top up it’s truly unbearable above 80 mph. I honestly think it is loud enough to permanently damage your ears. If you keep it in the 75 mph range, it’s better, but I drive fast. Oh, I have 1,800 miles on my car, and I’ve never activated the sport exhaust.

Bottom line: There is absolutely no comparison between the top-up cabin noise of my 981S and my Spyder. After the first trip in my Spyder, my wife said, “I don't think I can ever go on a trip in this car again unless I get noise canceling headphones.”

 

This is quite different from my own impression (that of both being loud but bearable). The Spyder is a bit louder with the top up, yes, but the 981/982 Boxster (never owned one but rented them many times) is also very loud on the highway, and the difference in top down highway noise between the two from is not that big from my impressions. Both are way louder inside than my S class, and neither is unbearable. I've done several 5+ hour drives with the top up on my Spyder, and thought it was fine; not much louder than my 987 Boxster was with the top up, and a bit quieter inside on the highway than my AMG GT S coupe was.

Anyway, it would be interesting to see a scientific comparison of top down interior noise levels of a Boxster to a Spyder. This includes a spectrogram comparison, since since the frequency content matters to perceived noise as much as the overall decibel level.

 

you could always spec the UHP summer tires option, that will reduce some of the tire noise from the CUP2's

 

Here's one comparison of road noise levels (only a decibel number rather than a spectrogram) but it sounds believable: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review...18-spyder/ride

They got 77 dB for a 718 Spyder on the highway at 70 mph, compared to 73 dB for a 718 Boxster.

I couldn't find an autocar 70 mph measurement for a modern S class as a comparison point, but Car and Driver tested the six and eight cylinder versions of the W222 S classes to be 65 dB at 70 mph (no details on road surface specified): https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...0-test-review/

For reference, a 1dB difference is difficult to perceive, a 3dB difference is easily perceivable, and a 10 dB difference is perceived to be twice as loud. These numbers match my personal impression of my Spyder being more than twice as loud as my S class on the highway, and regular Boxsters being almost twice as loud as my S class on the highway.

 

I took 4 x 250 miles trips with my spyder. It was doable but not comfortable. The purpose of the car is not comfort but rather is the driver involvement IMO. If I also compare it to 991.2 GT3 and GT2RS, the car strikes a very nice balance between being an involving GT, and being a lot more friendly for longer drives. Not to down play how visceral the 911 GTs are of course.
But the spyder is a noticeable step up in compliance.
The wind noise overhead with the top is significant, and yes noisier than having the top down. And with the top down is surprisingly not very noisy even at high speeds.

 

Funny, because I similarly thought, “ How could the experience of others be so different from mine?” I think it’s tremendously influenced by the road surface. The road noise isn’t really that bad on flexible pavement (asphalt), but it’s really loud on concrete, and especially grooved concrete. My neighbor had a 991.1 base, and after riding in my 981S he remarked that my car was quieter than his. I agreed with him. I think that all the 981 S models came standard with the insulated top, but perhaps the insulation was only included with the Premium package (mine had the P Package). If so, that could explain a lot. I think that the base cars did not have any roof insulation. All I know is that throughout my 8 years of 981 ownership (S version with Premium Package and no sport exhaust) I alway felt that it was as quite as a coupe with the top up.

If your roads are generally in good shape and most are asphalt, then you probably won’t think the road noise is unbearable, but if there are a lot of grooved concrete roads, you will probably think otherwise.

 

True, road surface makes a big difference. This is also why a good comparison of road noise between cars needs to be on the same stretch of road in the same condition, and with similar wind conditions.

I drive mainly on ashphalt highways, and the stretches of Ontario Highway 401 I frequent tend to get repaved every few years (or multiple times per year it seems in places). I recall driving a 981 Boxster on grooved concrete in California, and grumbling about it being excessively noisy inside. I'd expect a Spyder to be worse in those conditions.

 

The Spyder certainly exhibits a fair amount of wind noise when the top is up at speed. I wouldn't call it unbearable, but it can be unpleasant. I don't cruise above 75 or 77mph, but even at that speed, you definitely hear it. I believe most of the sound is from air turbulence around the streamliner flaps that attach to the body. At slower speeds, it isn't much of an issue. I believe the noise starts to get annoying over 65 mph or so, and increases from there. At 80 mph and up, it certainly is tiring. Listening to the radio at a fairly high volume helps, but the fact is that the Spyder is not ideal for high speed cruising with the top up. I rarely use the car that way, and usually have the top down, so it is not an issue for me. I feel that the pluses of the Spyder design far outweigh this one minus for me, and so I am willing to put up with the additional noise for the rare longer trip at speed with the top up. But I wouldn't want to use the car this way often.

 

No problem with noise levels with the top up, radio/music is fine, conversation is easy as is listening (although my wife doesn't agree that I can hear her... ) Seriously, I find it a bit worse than the five cabriolets I had before this, but IMHO a none issue, this is my only car and it will go on log road trips!

 

Well stated.

I found this for what it is worth: http://elevatingsound.com/the-top-30...-by-auto-bild/

Interesting that they list the Cayman (73/77 dBA) as being louder than the Boxster (70/74 dBA). I can believe that since the flexibility of the insulated top probably absorbs more sound than the rigid metal top of the Cayman does. Also interesting that they list the noise in a Mini Clubman as identical to that of a Boxster. I have a Clubman, and that matches my experience. They don't list the Spyder, but it has to be near the top of this list (near the GT3 RS I'd guess - 78/83 dBA). Comparing 70/74 to 78/83 would be perceived as just about twice as loud, and that supports what I experience.

I found this too: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review...18-spyder/ride

"At 70mph, our microphone recorded cabin noise at 77dB – 4dB higher than the standard four-cylinder Boxster we road tested in 2016. Road and wind noise at this speed are significant, then, and as a result extended trips at motorway speeds can be quite fatiguing. Then again, this is a GT-division Porsche, so perhaps a hardy tolerance for the hardcore temperament is to be expected of its owners."

(Note that Autocar tested at 70 mph = 113 kpm. The above reference was at 62 mph and 80 mph)