spyderphile

Thanks, Pete. Great explanation.

spyderphile

Well, that's what the Spyder is for! Daily dose of self-therapy! Take the long way back home, top down and soak in the fresh air of OC! At least it will help to recharge yourself!

Noah Fect

Exactly! Except your rhetorical questions are all aimed in the wrong direction. Why not mandate radio deletion? Why not remove the power steering rack? Why not equip the car exclusively with centerlocks? Who needs air conditioning on a race track? And what's that passenger seat for, anyway? This is a driver's car, after all!

The decision of how to handicap the Spyder is 100% arbitrary. The manual top wasn't so annoying when you could still buy a Boxster with a 3.4L NA flat-6. Now, the only way to get a two-seat Porsche with a modern convertible top will require substantial compromises in other areas. Once again, the company will steadfastly refuse to deliver the car the market actually wants. Then they'll wonder why their sports-car sales are headed off a cliff.

Petevb

The Spyder's specification isn't arbitrary at all, it's quite carefully thought out. It is however subjective: what makes a "driver's car"?

When the Spyder was originally conceived it was without any top at all. The original's tent was added late in the game, and it's been getting watered down ever since. There's always going to be a natural pull towards the tyranny of mediocrity. Unfortunately average tends not to be very exciting.

I fully understand the desire for a more mainstream normally aspirated convertible, and I think that should be addressed by Porsche if possible (ask yourself why it hasn't been). It should not by adressed watering down their most focused models, however. There are three cars Porsche has made in last few years I personally considered buying: the Boxster Spyder, GT4 and the 911R. Perhaps not by coincidence all of these sold better than Porsche had expected. I see no need to pull any of those towards the other slower selling sports cars you mention by homogenizing them.

Noah Fect

That seems a tad dramatic.

It hasn't been because we're all subject to the lowest-common denominator thinking behind the so-called "World Car," a manufacturing concept that made sense in the more homogeneous international regulatory environment of the 1980s and 1990s but no longer does. If it won't sell in China, we can't buy it here in the US. Talk about the tyranny of mediocrity.

Well, if they want to become a boutique manufacturer, selling an ever-decreasing number of cars at ever-increasing profit margins to a niche within a niche, they're certainly going about it the right way.

Kind of a bummer for those of us whose budgets don't allow for 918s and 911Rs and the like. We're left with overpriced Subarus.

Marine Blue

What exactly interests you in the Spyder, is it the engine or the looks?

I know I'll get flamed for this but personally I think Porsche took a step backwards with 981 Spyder. They could have very easily maintained a similar top and further reduced the weight of the car but they decided to make it mechanical and easier. They could have used carbon fiber for the hood and rear lid and maybe a titanium exhaust for further weight reduction. They could have used thin plastic liners in the wheel wells and eliminated more insulation inside the cabin. If they had done these things I likely would have pulled the trigger on the 981 but I feel the design effort Porsche put forth was compromised in the interest of addressing the complaints of dealers and those what wanted more comfort.

Playing devils advocate now, I also understand that some creature comforts are not worth eliminating and I guess this all becomes subjective in the end. I admit I added the radio and AC back into the car so I'm just as guilty of diluting the cars focus.

Petevb

I don't think so. Consider the Porsches regarded today as the greatest built in the 90s. 964RS, 964 RS America, etc. Now consider that in today's world the 981 Spyder is about as close to those cars as Porsche makes. You're arguing to get rid of the RS or RS America in favor of a regular 964 C2 with similar performance. Not the same...

Not necisarrily boutique at all. I'd argue the distribution is bi-modal. There are some who want mainstream, but there are a large number of others that do not. Compare the over 3.5k GT4s made vs normal Cayman production over a similar period. Hard to argue that the market didn't speak.

jeanrabelais

At 6'3"- I appreciate the 981 Spyder's leg room. In these cars an inch makes a difference which is why I stayed away from the 987 even though it looked amazing and still does IMHO. I just don't want the Spyder to go down like the 280Z.

Noah Fect

You have to do one hell of a lot more than gimp the top mechanism before you can draw a comparison between a 964RS and a 981 Spyder.

(Also, if I'd wanted a 964, I'd have bought one.)

The engine. Nothing wrong with its looks, but I don't see much of an advantage in that department over a normal 981BS.

It's important to remember that the Spyder isn't a "real" Porsche GT car. It didn't spring forth, fully-formed, from the furrowed brows of Weissach. It's more like a GTS -- a nice way to get some desirable options, but nothing that's intended to be revolutionary. With a 981 Spyder you get the 3.8L 911 engine that the Boxster S/GTS models should have come with but didn't, and a manual top that would never have been made in the first place if somebody at Porsche AG didn't think it'd be funny.

If the compromise is unnecessary -- which it is -- then why make it?

Petevb

Stiffer bespoke suspension, lighter weight, uprated brakes, larger uprated engine, bespoke body panels and roof, quicker stearing rack, unique wheel widths, unique manually transmision tuning... Exactly why can't we draw comparisons between the 964 RS or RS America and the Spyder?

In many ways the Spyder is far more ligitimate in my mind than the most highly regarded cars we got in the US at the time. In either case it's imaterial- the Spyder represents the edge of the envelope now. You're arguing to dull that edge because you can't be bothered to get out of the car to close the roof. It's a nice dividing line: at the end of the day many of us buy cars based on the statements they make about us and our values, and that's a pretty clear statement. Which sounds flip but absolutely is not: cars are in part a (very expensive) way to express ourselves, and in my mind dynamic range to do that is not just a matter of heritage, it's also a good thing. There are plenty of cars that everyone likes but no one loves already.

Zeus993

Ah! my favorite topic on the Spyder - the roof. Personally, I loved the Gen 1 with it's manual folding bits. It was IMO an engineering feat that allowed Porsche to use the pointed windows from the Cayman that so perfectly matched and echoed the design lines of the "power domes". Stunning.

Then the Gen 2 (981) lost those lines with the windows, keeping IMO the "dumpy" curved windows of the Boxster as a compromise to the keep the roof somewhat automated. Note that 98% of the picture that you see of the Gen 2 is with the windows DOWN. And IMO it's not really any faster with to don or doff. I found it confusing when I attempted it the other day at a local dealership so I can't really say it's an improvement, especially with the loss of the pointed-windows. It is more insulated I'll say which will make it a better daily driver.

Now for the Gen 3, I think it would be super cool to adopt the basic roof design of the 918 Spyder - a removable two piece targa-style. Just think how SIMPLE and FAST that would be? Snap, pop-off and on, storing in the rear or frunk, with no lost of use. Structurally the car would be safe as well.

Dalema

I think the 981 Spyder roof is cool. Would like the removable back section of the 987.

You should see how quick I can put that thing up now

Noah Fect - I couldn't remember if you own / owned one of the Spyder generations? I'm assuming so given the stentgh of your viewpoints.

Suitcase

I agree. The new 718 will probably be NA and faster. But it could also loose some of the magic as well. Newer, faster isn't always better. I'm selling my white 981 Spyder to buy a Shelby GT350R and I fear I may regret it! My silver car has almost 9000 miles on it. It's seen Europe, Colorado, California and now it's in the northeast. It's my favorite drive.

tmc

I'd like to comment on the "less to go wrong" point: when I look at my 981 Spyder's top, I see elastic straps that are sewn into the fabric. These are obvious weak points. Every time I put the top up or down I wonder if Porsche will be making replacement tops for this car in 10 years when the elastic finally goes.

Tom

jeanrabelais

^ good point. So far so good, but 10 years is a long time - what's the price point on those tops?