When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Earlier today I was reading an article about the Euro 964 RS which is highly coveted in the air cooled world with values starting to skyrocket. Here’s a driver quality example with some modifications that recently sold on BAT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-porsche-911-rs/.
Many Porsche enthusiasts consider the 964 RS one of the best all around air cooled 911 driving experiences. What stood out to me about the RS is the formula Porsche used to reduce its weight 300 lbs and achieve the desireable driving experience. Here’s a list of what they did:
No rear seats
Removed door pockets
No Power Windows or mirrors
Pull strap door handles
Plastic windows
Aluminum Hood
Lightweight rear bumper
Lightweight flywheel
Stiffer lowered suspension
Lightweight seats
Lightweight magnesium wheels
Added 10 Hp
No A/C or Radio
Mechanical steering (remove hydraulic unit)
What stood out for me are how similar the 987.2 Spyders diet follows this recipe:
Aluminum doors
Aluminum hood
no door pockets
Lightweight top
Lightweight seats
Stiffer lowered suspension
Limited Slip
Pull strap to open doors
Eliminated rear motorized wing in favor of lighter stationary wing
Lightweigh front fog light
Lightweight wheels
Added 10 Hp
AC / Radio Delete option
Not everyone will understand these cars and many may not want or feel these changes when driving the car but for those of us who are after an undiluted driving experience I firmly believe the 987.2 Spyder offers something very special that is rarely found in cars, especially modern cars. There are some nay sayers that feel a Boxster will never be as good as a 911 and my comparison is bunk but I don’t believe these people have experienced the Spyder where it really shines. Around town, on the highway and on normal two lane roads the Spyder won’t feel special, it will only look special. But when your pushing the car hard through miles of twisty backroads and canyon roads, when the car communicates what each tire is doing and what surface your on, when the chassis tells you the rear or front is coming loose and you know which tire is losing traction and which has grip, when the controls respond exactly the way you expect you come away with an experience that is not only exhilarating but also stress relieving. All of this with complete reliability and nice materials of construction.
At current prices it is an undiscovered bargain of the century.
Interesting - and the 964 RS only put out 265 bhp iwith a 3.6, weighed around 2700lbs. I've always said the Boxsters of today are the Carrera's of old.
Afshin - I share your sentiments here on the Spyder. I wonder if anyone criticized the 964 RS for its lack of luxury features, as some do here with both generations of Spyders?
With the RS at 2700 #, the Gen-1 Spyder at 2811 is not the far off. According to Suncoast Porsche, the regular seat is in excess of 55 #, with the LWBS in around 39 #, a PCM around 7. It probably wouldn't take too much to get the overall 987.2 Spyder down to 2700# - a "Spyder RS". Thrown another $9250 at it for a GT2 RS CF hood, complete with it's Porsche Crest Decal (https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/GT2RSHOOD.html) and save ???)
Spyder RS plan
1. Ditch the PCM (7 #)
2. Ditch the AC (45#)
3. Ditch the passenger seat (39 - 55#)
4. Leave the top in the Garage (10# ?)
5. Replace the windows with plastic ones (20# ?)
6. Replace the hood with CF (40# ?)
7. Ultra LW wheels?
8. PCCBs?
9. Spyder RS decal on the back? (# ?)
Afshin - I share your sentiments here on the Spyder. I wonder if anyone criticized the 964 RS for its lack of luxury features, as some do here with both generations of Spyders?
With the RS at 2700 #, the Gen-1 Spyder at 2811 is not the far off. According to Suncoast Porsche, the regular seat is in excess of 55 #, with the LWBS in around 39 #, a PCM around 7. It probably wouldn't take too much to get the overall 987.2 Spyder down to 2700# - a "Spyder RS". Thrown another $9250 at it for a GT2 RS CF hood, complete with it's Porsche Crest Decal (https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/GT2RSHOOD.html) and save ???)
Spyder RS plan
1. Ditch the PCM (7 #)
2. Ditch the AC (45#)
3. Ditch the passenger seat (39 - 55#)
4. Leave the top in the Garage (10# ?)
5. Replace the windows with plastic ones (20# ?)
6. Replace the hood with CF (40# ?)
7. Ultra LW wheels?
8. PCCBs?
9. Spyder RS decal on the back? (# ?)
Anything else?
Joel you need to follow through on this, shedding another 100 lbs should make the Spyder as sharp as a needle. Maybe the only other change would be the addition of sport headers which would also shed more weight and add some volume to the exhaust.
yes, do it!
my old Spyder (Speed Yellow one) was designed to be a lightweight driver's car, no radio. Was going to delete air conditioning but figured that would be suicide in Texas. If the wife hadn't had knee replacement, I'd still have it but she just had too much trouble getting in and out of buckets, plus kept asking, "now tell me why we didn't get a radio in this car!"
Get rid of the stock battery. I went with a lighter AGM battery. Rational 1) it is lighter and 2) look where PORSCHE mounted the battery , very high on the car. It is not only reducing overall weight but insuring the weigh there is low on the car. PCCB's and Sport Buckets will certainly reduce weight AND the sport buckets are great seats, Yes Steve, its not always easy for me to get in but once there GREAT seats. PCCBs not only provide better braking but they reduce not only total weight but unsprung weight. As for wheels the standard 987 Spyder wheel is one of the lightest PORSCHE makes. Tires are another area where weight can be reduced. The Bridgestone R71's are great tires but Bridgestone's in general are a heavier tire. Mich. Cups will save a pound or two of unsprung weight at each corner over the Bridgestone's and there are other tire choices. While the stock exhaust on the 987 Spyder is fairly efficient it is heavy ( and PORSCHE sport exhaust even a few lbs more) a lighter exhaust say one made of Titanium would save pounds and also reduce rear end weight and thus slightly improve balance. That said be careful you don't get one that produces drone at cruising speeds, remember wife comfort. Bottom line its a fine mix between reducing weight and keeping the car enjoyable to drive for both you and the wife
Another point I would make is if you are focused on optimizing the 987 Spyder for all it can be and still keep it steerable you might look at some suspension upgrades. I have switched out the stock shocks for Bilstein coil overs thus allowing some adjustment and corner balancing. The next issue is alignment. The vehicle as it comes has lots of adjustment for the rear camber but is limited in the front to slightly less than one degree negative. By replacing the lower control arms with those from the GT 3 you can easily attain more negative camber at the front and a slightly wider track. I'm currently at 1.5 negative on the front and 2 negative on the rear. The car tracks great, turns in very sharply and yet does not adversely effect tire wear. In fact I find with this setup it tracks much better on the highway in stiff crosswinds
Agreed on the lighter battery and tires, I have done both and it is noticeable on this car. They’re also very easy and relatively reasonably priced to implement.
I’m about to embark on changes to the alignment to dial out the understeer and also sharpen the steering response beyond it’s current stock settings. My tech noted that my limitation will be the camber but I’m not really after any drastic changes. A small amount is all I’m after to fine tune the car and dial out the safety that Porsche implemented.
Another comment on weight, my tech weighed out the xenon headlights on the 987 and mentioned that each one weights 8lbs EACH more than the standard halogen lights. That doesn’t even include the additional washer motor and reservoir!
Looking back I’m still surprised that Porsche went as far as they did with the 987 diet, it’s really not common when you look back in Porsche street production car history.
Afshin - I share your sentiments here on the Spyder. I wonder if anyone criticized the 964 RS for its lack of luxury features, as some do here with both generations of Spyders?
With the RS at 2700 #, the Gen-1 Spyder at 2811 is not the far off. According to Suncoast Porsche, the regular seat is in excess of 55 #, with the LWBS in around 39 #, a PCM around 7. It probably wouldn't take too much to get the overall 987.2 Spyder down to 2700# - a "Spyder RS". Thrown another $9250 at it for a GT2 RS CF hood, complete with it's Porsche Crest Decal (https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/GT2RSHOOD.html) and save ???)
Spyder RS plan
1. Ditch the PCM (7 #)
2. Ditch the AC (45#)
3. Ditch the passenger seat (39 - 55#)
4. Leave the top in the Garage (10# ?)
5. Replace the windows with plastic ones (20# ?)
6. Replace the hood with CF (40# ?)
7. Ultra LW wheels?
8. PCCBs?
9. Spyder RS decal on the back? (# ?)
Anything else?
I have a 2012 Cayman R, factory AC and radio delete. Factory LWB seats. My car is PDK equipped, which adds weight, of course; steel brakes, PSE exhaust, no other options. I had the dealership install the sport Chrono software as this allowed me to not have PCM/stereo nor the silly dash wart.
Added weight:
2x Schroth 6 points, plus harness bar
BGB diff cooler for PDK
LN Engineering 2.5 quart deep sump oil pan
I've replaced OEM suspension with coilovers, Tarrett bits throughout, assuming that did not significantly impact weight one way or another.
I am at 2942, 1/2 tanks of gas. I doubt the factory claimed weights for the Spyder, just as I do for the R.
Carbon hood is not ligher than the aluminum, or just marginally so.
Dumping the factory steering wheel might save 10 lbs due to eliminating the airbag.
Lightening the bumper/impact supports under the bumper covers is supposed to be a good source of weight reduction.
Carbon hatch and poly window saves about #30.
Getting down to 2700# would be quite a task, but would be amazing if possible.
At current prices it is an undiscovered bargain of the century.
+1 !!
Obviously, when embarking on a weight savings mission, not all mods yield the same bang for the buck. To reinforce the comments of others above with respect to a lightweight battery, the May issue of C&D looked at the Weissach Package on the GT2RS, which, when added, depletes your wallet by $31,000 and lightens your car by only 40 lbs. equating to a cost-per-pound saved of $775 -- pretty hefty! The article then looked as some common weight savings measures the owners of "average" 911's could adopt to achieve much greater weight savings at a significantly reduced cost, such as LWBs, CCBs, battery, CF hood, lexan window, lightweight wheels, and exhaust -- all items you guys are discussing here. Here's the breakdown of cost-per-pound-saved:
Obviously, when embarking on a weight savings mission, not all mods yield the same bang for the buck. To reinforce the comments of others above with respect to a lightweight battery, the May issue of C&D looked at the Weissach Package on the GT2RS, which, when added, depletes your wallet by $31,000 and lightens your car by only 40 lbs. equating to a cost-per-pound saved of $775 -- pretty hefty! The article then looked as some common weight savings measures the owners of "average" 911's could adopt to achieve much greater weight savings at a significantly reduced cost, such as LWBs, CCBs, battery, CF hood, lexan window, lightweight wheels, and exhaust -- all items you guys are discussing here. Here's the breakdown of cost-per-pound-saved:
12-24-2018, 07:47 PM
The 987.2 Spyder Recipe
