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I believe buckets are standard for the RS models and it's a no-cost option to switch to sofa seats. I'd stick with the buckets. Better resale and honestly i think they fit the RS cars just too well.
So who says you have to get a boring vehicle as a daily driver? As I mentioned previously, my daily is an Audi RS5. Still plenty of fun and very fast. Just more practical and not as much "work" as my Spyder. Prior to the RS5, I had a Macan GTS, which was quite nice as a daily, but not quite as much fun as the RS5.
So who says you have to get a boring vehicle as a daily driver? As I mentioned previously, my daily is an Audi RS5. Still plenty of fun and very fast. Just more practical and not as much "work" as my Spyder. Prior to the RS5, I had a Macan GTS, which was quite nice as a daily, but not quite as much fun as the RS5.
Anyone daily drive a 718 spyder? Pros? Cons? I'm not worried about trunk space or only having two seats. My biggest concern is the top. How's the road noise? Any issues with retaining heat when colder/AC when warmer? Any waterproof issues? On the list for the RS spyder but wife is pushing for something a bit more "practical". This would be my first Porsche.
Getting an RS as your first Porsche would be a feat - good luck. My replies are based on the regular GT spyder:
Noise is fine. I just drove about 30 hours in 3 days in 2 spyders (long story). I had top up, top down, and podcasts on the entire time - no problem.
No issues with heat or cooling. The top is thin, but the HVAC system is more than capable for such a tiny cabin.
No water issues. You can add coatings to keep the water beading on the top, most guys do it once or twice a year.
You didn’t ask but yes, it is the most beautiful car Porsche makes!
Since anyone really can’t test drive these cars, I’m really sympathetic and supportive of folks looking for information and perspective from existing owners.
I personally would not want to DD a Spyder for one major reason: the roof.
While the top is not a PITA in the regular Spyder, it is not a moments work and you need to lean over the rear fenders to put up the top, which has caused my clothes to get dusty/dirty multiple times. Would not want to show up to work with dirty clothes, would look unprofessional. Especially if you're going to get a SRS, it will be a pain to deal with the top driving to work. Imagine if you're running late to a meeting and you cannot leave the top down, what are you going to do? I don't like leaving the top down when I go to grab coffee/tea or buy groceries, just don't feel comfortable.
The car is comfortable enough to be a DD, the suspension is compliant but firm, the clutch and shifter are easy and do not require so much effort. Bluetooth connection makes life easy in terms of calls or music (though calls are not easy at highway speeds due to ambient noises emitted into the cabin through the uninsulated roof). The front lip makes approaching driveways complicated to say the least.
If you want to DD, a Cayman/Boxster GTS 4.0 would be a much better car to live with. But you already know that
Moving the top up, you can open the door (driver side or passenger side depending on your dominant arm). I found it a lot easier to move the roof up and not over stress on back muscle by opening the door and utilize the additional space for leverage.
Since anyone really can’t test drive these cars, I’m really sympathetic and supportive of folks looking for information and perspective from existing owners.
I don't know. Posting whether an RS would be a good daily driver is kind of like asking if Megan Fox is good at cutting lawns.
Anyone daily drive a 718 spyder? Pros? Cons? I'm not worried about trunk space or only having two seats. My biggest concern is the top. How's the road noise? Any issues with retaining heat when colder/AC when warmer? Any waterproof issues? On the list for the RS spyder but wife is pushing for something a bit more "practical". This would be my first Porsche.
I alternate a 997 C2S coupe and 718 spyder in the summer, the noise level of the sypder with its top up is about the same as the C2S. Sypder with the sofa seat is very comfortable, manual transmission is buttery smooth. I almost prefer driving it daily than the C2s. Can’t answer the waterproof issue, when I wash the car, there is no water leak inside the car.
As a routine, I tend to drive to work with the top up, hence no need to mess with closing the top and I go home topless to enjoy the open air.
Hate the RS spyder roof, funky operation, and odd shape. No manual transmission is the biggest turn off for me.
Spyder in my own experience, is less noisy than 997.2 cab, & much less noisy than base 718 even in coupe form, the latter due to that tracter in the engine bay. >90% of complaints that I have read in this forum is the Spyder being too quiet, not too noisy.
Ride quality wise, in the context of as a daily the Spyder's overall tautness makes it feel more compliant to me than the non GT equivalent.
The roof...ok, fine rain doesn't get you wet, just drive faster , & stay in straight line though with cup 2s. Sudden heavy rain when you have no where to stop is when it matters,& its not about yourself or your passenger getting wet, its the pain of getting rid of the water in the cabin..... dashboard, seats, steering column, the pcm, imagine all the small slits between the physical buttons all covered in water. Of course the above can happen on a Sunday so its not relevant in the context of daily or not, but imagine this happens on the way to work. So one just need to accept that the threshold for hood down is a bit lower as a daily.
I can only imagine RS for daily would be a bit spine & ear damaging base on a bit of imagination. Fun or no fun depends on the roads where you live.
Verdict: RS + another daily if you get the chance, or Spyder if thats your only car.
Remember when you started 8 threads a day waiting for your car? Same respect was given there, until the 9th thread LOL.
OP, the two elephants in the room I'll explain now; since this is a new account, I'll make the assumption this is news to you. (maybe not)
An SRS allocation is probably only harder to get atm (or when they do arrive, rather) than a 3RS allocation. They are reportedly building very few, and will be extremelyhard to get. Plenty on this board (long time Porsche owners & enthusiasts) would give their eye teeth to get one, so a newbie strolling in with the presumption he could get one sits poorly. (especially if true - lol) Maybe you are rich as Midas, or are second cousins with the Porsche prez, so maybe you CAN get one. Or maybe you just don't know being on a List is worth almost nothing, in terms of being able to get an SRS.
The second elephant clutchplate quite eloquently described. An RS Porsche is peak Porsche, designed and built for optimum (track) use. Now the SRS (Spyder RS) has been confusingly festooned with all the track-specific stuff (pdk only and all the vents / louvres), only then to be described on launch as a "softer" canyon carver car. (fail Porsche marketing) But even then its natural habitat would be curvy back roads in the mountains, not sitting at red lights or in interstate traffic. This is a board crammed with driving enthusiasts / purists, and so to think of an SRS languishing away as a daily mule is painful. I guess no worse than being a garage queen or flip bait, and in the end, any car is ultimately exactly suitable for whatever the person that paid its price wants to do with it. But that doesn't mean some (most?) of us won't think the car is wasted and that the owner doesn't deserve it. (otherwise known as "sour grapes )
But in the end, as Clint said in "Unforgiven"...""deserves" got nothing to do with it".
Back on topic, I still think the GTS is the car you want (assuming you care at all about the 4L vs the 4-cyl turbo). It'll ride better, have better ground clearance, an auto-storing quieter top, and best of all, you can still order one to your spec. And probably find and drive a used example somewhere. Since you drove a viper previously, a rough ride isn't going to bother you, though, but you'll want / need to invest in an aftermarket exhaust to get anything close to the aural experience in the viper. There are MULTIPLE threads on exhausts to research. And even if you can get an SRS, the torque is going to seem paltry compared to that viper. You haven't really said why you are considering a spyder (RS); I would think you would be shopping vette's if a viper is/was your vibe.
06-12-2023, 07:27 PM
I don't like leaving the top down when I go to grab coffee/tea or buy groceries, just don't feel comfortable.
