ForceReconTrojan

could you elaborate more on this part? thanks.

jabo

The sunshade you see pictured above, can be folded in such a way that when installed under the spyder roof, between the front cowl and the rear metal hoop, allows the top to be less prone to flutter at high speed.

I have had the car up over 140mph on track, with no issues, using this mode.

The biggest problem I had before installing it this way, was that when running at high speed, the top would flutter, and would tap the top of my helmet, causing blurry vision.

Afterward, totally stable.

YMMV

arena-RTR

Just to play devils advocate, in Porsche's defense:

1. The car does not come with Power seats, switchable PSE, Shocks Sport chrono, stiching fancy interior panels carbon trim dual climate etc unless you pay extra to add it

2. You wouldn't want to drive a car every day that had no sound insulation, and it probably only adds a whopping 25 lbs of weight anyway... if that.

3. Electric Fuel door?


I guess I'm just puzzled as to what it is you really want?

ForceReconTrojan

Thanks Jabo, if you get a chance can you snap a pic of it in place...trying to visualize this.

Sportwagen

I thought *I* was playing devil’s advocate here ...

1. I don’t really know what the Spyder will come with. I was assuming it would have similar standard equipment as the GT4, minus the Motorsport parts; hence I expect to see Sport-Plus seats, PASM , PSE, etc. All the comfort and convenience items and the various switchable modes are not what I personally think of when I imagine a pure, minimalist sports car. And carbon fiber trim is just a pet peeve of mine. I think it looks cool, but I find its use as cabin trim ironic, since its purpose as a lightweight material would be accomplished even better if it was omitted entirely.

2. My personal opinion is that the 981 is almost too quiet, which is why I guessed the amount of sound deadening material to be significant. *Some* is useful, but the 981 has much more than I need. And for the Spyder’s mission as the lightweight, purist sports car, shouldn’t every pound count?

3. The electric fuel filler door refers to the fact that you cannot open the fuel door without the key in the ignition. There is apparently some kind of electric lock mechanism there, which I personally deem unnecessarily complicated. It is another pet peeve of mine ...

Most of this is just me venting that Porsche’s idea of a minimalist roadster in the past has differed from what I would like to have seen. I would have loved to see Porsche build their version of a Lotus Elise. Instead, they kept many things that I consider superfluous while getting rid of something I find necessary. So, this is what I hope they might do differently with the 981 version.

Regardless, I am very interested to see how the new top works. If the clamshell were hinged at the rear, I could see how unhinging the two flying buttresses might create enough clearance to open the clamshell, then you could fold the roof and buttresses into its compartment, and then close the clamshell.

fast1

3. The electric fuel filler door refers to the fact that you cannot open the fuel door without the key in the ignition. There is apparently some kind of electric lock mechanism there, which I personally deem unnecessarily complicated. It is another pet peeve of mine ...

Mine must be broken because my fuel door works without the key in the ignition.

arena-RTR

I think he may be mistaken, but I definitely cannot speak for every single Porsche model... But in the last decade, Porsche, as with most modern german cars, the fuel door lock (which is an incredibly simple mechanism) is connected to the vehicle's lock/unlock function. If the car is unlocked, the fuel door is unlocked, regardless of whether the key is in the ignition or not.

Sportwagen

Actually, i think you may be correct. The car just needs to be unlocked. But just the fact that we are even talking about this door already makes it unnecessarily complicated...

arena-RTR

You and me both- which is why I am so excited about the Cayman GT4.

Remember, while Porsche will allow you to load the car up with a bunch of power seats, carbon leather stitching, etc., The base car does NOT come with any of it: As a salesperson I can honestly say 100% of new Porsche buyers are dumbfounded when learning how little comes in a base-spec car: With the exception of the lotus and possibly the Subaru BRZ/Scion FRS, *every other brand on the market* forces the buyer to pay for significantly more nonsense.

Again, I hear what you are saying, but I fear that if the american market doesn't recognize what Porsche already does better than anyone, like other brands they will stop doing them.

arena-RTR

Wait wait- I've got it: I think I have the perfect Porsche for you: Light weight, Carbon Fiber chassis, manual transmission, NO electronic nannies, hydraulic brakes with no abs...

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Dig-It

So how is the roof going to work?

After staring at the pics of the prototype, I still can't figure it out. I keep trying to visualize that the mechanism will be similar to the 987 Spyder, but there seems to be a third crossbar support to the roof that its predecessor didn't have (running laterally in between the top of the windshield and the bar across the top of the roll bar hoops).

Someone posted that the roof system will be a two-piece manual operation like the last Spyder - and I'd really prefer that to a heavier motorized mechanism - but given what we've been shown so far, I'm not seeing how that's possible.

I'm really looking forward to replacing my Aqua Blue Spyder that I foolishly sold a few years back. If all the rumors hold true about what the 981 Spyder should be like, I'll be in luck and this should be a better performing car than my last one (read: not a better car, just better performance wise).

Anyone else have thoughts on how the roof might operate?

jabo

Yeah, this has me puzzled as well.
I can see that they have put the 'Spyder' script on the rear shell under both buttresses, and covered it with black mask just like the seats. Does this mean that those might be moving elements?
From the pics, it seems there is an attachment point that differs from what we have currently. It looks like it might be movable.
If it is a manual top, will the glass remain curved like a normal boxster or will it have the cut redone like the 987.2 Spyder? The squared cut glass instead of rounded.
Finally, how will the rear lid open? Where will the hinge be?

No way to know without more pics.

987720

I am expecting a new round of spy photos coming soon... especially with the GT4 and GT3 RS now official.

ForceReconTrojan

This whole thing is the weirdest " spy, unveiling (premature)" I have ever witnessed from Porsche. Usually we see camouflage, we will see the Ring shots and even like with the 991.2 we will see the parked but locked snap shots of the inside.

This is something else entirely. You have someone with total access to the cars that presumably is not Porsche affiliated and they are taking pictures inside with the door open of 1/2 completed work and close-ups and a mix of hi-res and low-res pictures. We did not see this with the Gt4 or GT3RS...can you name another recent Porsche this pattern was seen?

Not disputing the existence of this car but this is not the recent norm from Porsche AG at all! In fact if I was the Marketing VP or R&D guy there would have been some jobs lost here. Just weird.

jabo

Agreed, this is weird.
I know you have been one of the more skeptical of us out there, but the clues really don't lead us to anything solid.
The action of the top is by far the biggest mystery.
I don't want a powered top, but I would love a top that is more watertight.
And, why is the back decklid camouflaged? What the heck are they hiding under that center piece?
That said, it does seem like these are pictures of an actual product.
The front brakes are GT4 sized, the front spoiler is similar but not as deep so perhaps lower downforce.
It looks like they won't put a rear wing on it, which would spoil the look.
The biggest upside will be finding out how big the engine is, and how light the car ends up being.
If we see a 3.8 in this thing, the market will be even more anxious to ****** them up, PDK or no.