DannieK

I absolutely love my '16 Spyder, but there's one thing that really bugs me when I close the roof. I press the interior button, trunk releases, I put the roof up, close the trunk all the way, snap in the little tail things into the body, check to make sure they're secure, and secure the closure using the electronic interior button. It feels like they're staying nice and tight and I physically check them to make sure. They seem ok. Then two hours or whatever later I'll come out to the car and invariably one of the tail things have popped out.

It can happen on either tail thing. There's no consistency, but it never happens where both tails pop out at the same time. It does this maybe 1 out of 3 or 4 times after I've sealed the roof. So far it's happened only when the car is parked.
I inspected the retractable catches and they don't show any wear or deformity. I've also tried closing the trunk after snapping in the tails, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem. Any comments?

Schmidts Cat

Archimedes

Dazugus

Leave the rear deck ajar and pull the front of the roof back a bit before inserting the tab. This way there is no tension on the fin as you insert it into the slot. Hold the tab by the outside edges of the fin and don't press the button. Make sure the tab goes into the slot at the correct angle with no sideways force. Grip the fin lightly and insert the tab slowly with just enough force to overcome the resistance of the latch. You should hear a satisfying click. Not a muted click but a clear, convincing click. If you don't hear it remove the tab and repeat. Once in, tug on the fin straight up to ensure it is secure. Repeat for the other side, then close the motorized roof latch and finally close the rear deck. Closing the roof first avoids any undue tension on the roof during the motorized latch's operation. This may or may not help prolong the life of the parts, but at least it makes me feel good. Even with the roof latched, closing the rear deck takes only slightly more force. As a good measure tug on the fins again to make sure they are inserted securely.

This sounds complicated but it's really not hard at all in practice.

Mark Dreyer

mb996

hf1

Just when I warm up to the Spyder, I read posts like these and go back to strongly preferring the non-Spyder auto-top. Those top tails are a useless nuisance and a contradiction in a purist Boxster. Then add the mandatory open/close dance around the car. I just don't see why these must accompany the best Boxster. The 981 GTS could have been a 3.8.

I understand that for most Spyder fans "it's not a big deal and the car is worth the hassle", but that would be equally (if not more) valid for its auto-top iteration.

wizee

digitalrurouni

That's what I do as well. Never had any problems as a result.

Dazugus

I enjoy doing the open/close dance. The only complaint I have for the 981 Spyder roof is the motor assist. I wish it was fully manual.

skl

I also always close the trunk last. Actually I'd prefer the erector set top from the 987 spyder so you could leave the "top" part on with the rear window off. That would be perfect on many days in the Sonoran desert to keep the sun off you put still have great flow through ventilation. Guess you can't have everything...

Suicide Jockey

No problems with my wings, DK. Once they're in, they're in. I think you're the first to report this strange occurrence with the wings. Tough to explain. If, indeed, you check the wings by pulling up on them once inserted into the rear lid and they remain firmly attached, then it's a mystery why/how they pop out a couple of hours later. I'm tempted to say you simply must have failed to actually properly attach the wings to the rear lid on those 1 out of 4 occassions where they have popped out, but I'm sure you know what you're doing. What's even stranger is they only pop out while the car is parked. You'd think they would be more inclined to come out at speed.

It does sound like you are following the correct procedure for raising the roof, as Porsche instructs below, by securing the flaps in the rear trunk lid after the rear lid is closed. Seems like some/many folks here do the opposite and secure the flaps on the rear lid before the rear lid is closed. The order may be irrelevant -- could be six of one, half a dozen of another, for all I know -- but I figure why not just follow the procedure Porsche specifies?

The procedure for raising the hood in detail:

1. Unlatch rear lid electrically by push button and open manually.
2. Open hood cover flaps, left and right.
3. Raise hood manually.
4. Close rear lid.
5. Detach ends of fins from hood and insert them on rear lid.
6. Latch hood to windscreen frame by hood button or vehicle key.

Well, I'm here to report that more often than not, I don't get the click you guys describe and yet my flaps are firmly attached. The click does happen now and then, but not usually with my car. Whether I hear the click or not, I always pull up on the wings to make sure they are, indeed, secured in their sockets and I feel the "button" underneath each wing to make sure it is recessed. Bottom line: If you don't hear a click it doesn't necessarily mean the flaps aren't secured.

Suicide Jockey

You've made it known time and time again your dislike of the Spyder top and preference for the standard electric top present on other Boxster models. I know you struggle with the Spyder primarily for this reason. I would say pass on a Spyder because you will be forever cursing the top. Get another Boxster variant that has a fully automatic top and be happy. The Spyder is a great performer, but a GTS or S is no slouch by any stretch and probably the vast majority of the time you will be driving the car on streets or under circumstances where you can't fully exploit the Spyder's full performance advantage. Thus, why get a car where you detest one of its most prominent features and can't notice or experience on most occasions what advantage it offers over "lesser" models?

You have to keep the 981's top in perspective:

The 987 Spyder top was not warmly received initially and for a long time the car unfortunately suffered a stigma as a result of the top, one which has thankfully gone away (though not completely) in the last couple of years as the uninitiated have come around to understand what original owners have known all along -- it's a brilliant piece of kit in its multiple applications and unparalled as a single weight savings measure.

When it came time for the 981 Spyder, Porsche couldn't repeat the 987 debacle by offering the same top. I wish they had stuck with the 987 top, but the bean counters dictate that cars be sold and fearful from the 987 adventure Porsche engineers caved to pressure from the marketing department and came up with the 981 roof to satisfy the three major complaints of the very vocal critics of the 987 roof: Inability to reach top speed with the roof up, inability to run the car through a car wash, and inability to raise and/or lower the roof in a "reasonable" number of steps and in a "reasonable" amount of time.

The 981 roof is a response to those three complaints and Porsche achieved all three objectives while also achieving weight savings over a standard Boxster auto-roof and maintaining the flying buttress-look Porsche has chosen to distinguish Spyders from other Boxster variants. Now it might not be to your liking, but apparantly it's the best Porsche engineers could come up with and given the number of criteria the roof had to satisfy, I'd say they did a helluva good job. Perfect? Hardly, but, again, they had the 987 roof fiasco hanging over their heads with cetain design criteria which had to be met. The fact that the same roof appears likely on the upcoming 982 tells me the engineers, who will have had four years or so to mull over the 981 roof design, could not come up with anything better to meet all the requirements and criteria already discussed. If there was a better solution, they would have implemented it on the 982 one would think.

I personally love that Porsche decided to really set off the Spyder lineup from other Boxster variants with the very distinguished flying buttress top. It adds a totally different profile to the Spyder, which I think most agree could be described as "racier" and certainly more exotic, while also achieving some weight savings. Too often for my taste manufacturers don't do enough to distinguish one model's trim line from another. Not so with the Spyder! You can't mistake a Spyder for another model in the Boxster lineup.

Put a regular Boxster auto-top on a Spyder and much of the latter's distinctiveness -- it's unique outward appearance -- is lost.

Put a regular Boxster auto-top on a Spyder and weight savings is also lost.

Put a regular Boxster auto-top on a Spyder and the notion of a "purist" Boxster is also diluted. I don't see how the 981 semi-manual roof is a "contradiction in a purist Boxster," or how adding a full-on automatic roof would make a Spyder more "pure."

Archimedes

il pirata

Actually it's been reported before...in fact I think one RL member lost some paint. In any case double check the wings before driving off. It's the weak link in the car.