djlynch

Agreed

ir_fuel

This is what makes me sick wrt all special Porsches of the last couple of years.

"Back in the days" when you went to Spa for a track day, or you spent a day at the Nordschleife, there were GT3s in all flavors. It was the car to have if you were serious about driving on track, be it a 996 mk1,mk2,RS, 997 etc etc.
Nowadays these cars have disappeared because their value skyrocketed and nobody wants to risk their "investment" anymore on track.

What's even worse is the same is happening with the cars that just rolled out of the factory. 991 GT3 and GT3 RS (and maybe the Cayman GT4 too in a year?) values have taken such ridiculous proportions that you'll only see them the first year they are on the market (as they can still be tracked while keeping the miles low on the car) and by next year they will also disappear in garages as not to "ruin the investment".

It's a very sad state of affairs. These things were and are developed to be driven, and driven hard, on track, for hours and days without any issues (how many brands make cars that you can drive from the showroom to the track, give you decent handling and you do not need to be worried about gearbox or engine over heating or brakes fading after 5 minutes). What happens now is we get Ferrari ownership behavior in the Porsche crowd.

For petrol heads, the market was a lot healthier in 2010 than it is today IMO.

jeanrabelais

Collectible? Maybe, who doesn't like to covet or own nice or fun things. Investment? You'd be delusional to think you could buy a new car as an investment. In the best situation possible, one might break even, but that's not an investment. I don't think anyone here really thinks they are buying an investment. Speaking for myself, I'm buying a well designed german convertible with a fine lineage that will be very fast, light, and turn on a dime. I'm expecting to take a financial hit as soon as I drive off the lot. I'm in my 40s so I really don't expect to ever see this car increase in value. I expect most folks will think it's a Boxster, which it is to a large extent. I think of it as a cheap 911s and I figure I'm saving 30k over an equivalent 911. I also don't expect to sell it - ever unless it isn't what I signed up for, but I suspect it is and more.

djlynch

Me too. I hope it's all I want

clutchplate

How is the insulation of the top? Have you compared it to a powered 981?

Mark Dreyer

There is no insulation. It is a thin piece of canvas material. The few times I've had to drive with the top up the road noise wasn't bad.

skuplist

I just saw a post on MSN news on the internet today listing 10 new cars that could become collectors in the future. One was the GT4 and Spyder. Unfortunately it didn't stay on there long and I can't find it now but it shows the main stream media is noticing.

Underblu

I agree. I plan on driving and enjoying my Spyder. I wouldn't expect it to appreciate and if it depreciated less than other new Porsches I have purchased I'd be quite happy. While I'm sure Cars, art, etc., can be good investments I'm far more comfortable investing in companies.

The only point i was making is this. If I was a betting man I think the 981 Spyder will be more collectible over the long term than the GT3 and GT4 even though the GT3 and GT4 have already appreciated. I gave my reasons as to why I feel this way. But I didn't buy a Spyder as an investment, I bought it as a fun open air Porsche to enjoy.

Goofnik

Today I finally got to do a proper break-in drive of ~580 miles (now at 835 miles on the odometer) over about 12 1/2 hours of wall-clock time. About 11 hours in the seat keeping revs where they're supposed to be.

I went from Boston to Maine (Bangor, then down the Bold Coast to Rockland, then back home). I had to leave early because eastern MA was scheduled to get some light rain, but not too early because southeastern ME was also raining with it scheduled to end fairly early. In, "told you I was hardcore" fashion, I fueled up, dropped the top and off I went. In fact, the top remained down for every second I was driving.

So... Rain with top down in highway speeds (wind deflector not installed). What happens in the Boxster Spyder?

• At a drizzle, nothing. Maaaaaybe a drop or two on top of the door panel after 15-20 minutes, and two or three on the paassenger seat headrest, despite the windows being down.
• At a light rain, I rolled up the windows to keep myself dry. Part of this is when I set off it was 60F, and as I went north it would drop to 38F. For 20-30 minutes this was fine.
• However, once there's enough water on the trailing edge of the A-pillar exterior trim, that water seems to very slowly seep through the front of the window and onto the top of the door panel (at the front). Not much. Perhaps 1/2 a teaspoon after an hour. Any weight transfer seemed to accentuate this.
• A few drops would dress the top of the seat headrests as they rolled off the top of the window. Nothing much. The low pressure area behind the seats (again, no wind deflector was installed) also created vortices that slowly covered the rear-view mirror in a fine mist.

All-in-all, I drove for somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours in the rain before I pulled into a service station, and quickly dried it up in a minute with a waffle weave towel. There MAYBE was an ounce of water between everything. If the seal at the front of the window was extended just a wee bit, the only thing that likely would've happened was the rear-view mirror getting misted (which could be prevented by putting the deflector in).

So pretty good car top-down in light rain at legal highway speeds, though I think at a medium rain or worse (which will last more than 15 minutes) you should stop and raise the top. And yes, everyone looks at you like you're absolutely bat**** insane.

lumber

^nice

taibo

I just sold a 991.1 C2S to buy a 981.1. I'm a long time porsche owner, but all of my experience has been with watercooled 911's... 1973 911T, 1996 993 C4, 1996 993 C4S. The styling and refinement of the 991 brought me back to Porsche. Mine was fully loaded with PDK.

I loved the 991 styling, fit and finish, and mechanical sophistication, but it was almost TOO good of a car to drive at legal speeds and even on spirited backroad runs. Have you ever heard the saying, "its more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fask car slow". IMO, the 991 was like driving a taut mercedes on at freeway speeds and was just a little TOO well behaved at safe backroad speeds. It was most at home on the track where you could open it up and use its full potential.

My other fun cars are an S2000 and a GTI - slow cars driven fast. From what I've read on this forum and from the admittedly limited media coverage is that the Spyder is perfectly suited to my needs... its a fast car that delivers an engaging driving experience whether driven fast or slow.

Its got the power and arguably even more agility than the 991 C2S and the aural and sensory experience of the S2000. Its also likely to be the first and last its kind.

I'm hoping the 981.1 Spyder will be my forever car.

taibo

Well said, Underblu. Of course, I happen to agree with you.

I've spent most of my career trusting my instincts, ignoring the herd, and following my heart... its generally worked for me, and when it didn't... at least, i did what i wanted!!!

BryanCO

Entirely possible.

Sportwagen

That is precisely my point. To anyone but Porsche fanboys, those are all parts bin variants. No reason why we should expect them to be in the media spotlight, especially when sandwiched in between two other big media debuts.