mile2424

Trying to decide whether to keep my Spyder which I absolutely love or spec out a custom GTS? Anyone driven both? How do they compare? Thoughts and opinions please?

mdrobc1213

I think it will depend on what you actually are planning for use and how you spec both out. More info is needed tho to render an opinion. Are you refering to a daily driver or 2nd or even 3rd vehicle? How are you going to use the vehicle? Are you single? Significant other who weill need to be involved/considered? Kids? Are you comparing a spyder vs Carrera GTS convertible? Also I assume we're talking about a Boxster Sypder vs Carrera GTS and not the Speedster vs GTS which is a totally different comparison. Expound more and I think you'll get more anwsers/opinions...other than go with the one you love!

simsgw

You can read my review of the Spyder at topspeed.com but to sum it up, I would tell a non-Porsche-owner considering a GTS that it is a fabulous sports car that provides an experience you'll find unlike any other car you've driven. And I would say the same thing if that non-owner were considering a Boxster Spyder. Both are great sports cars in every classical sense as well as being in the performance class of modern super cars.

Now between owners, I'd say the subtle differences rule.

The Spyder: more direct exposure to the elements in the classical sports car sense, but also in the "Omigod, how did I get stuck behijnd this city bus" sense of a modern commuter. A little claustrophobic compared to the coupe, but it's a roadster after all. That sense of intimate closure contrasting the open world all around is what makes roadsters a special experience in the car world. We retired to a nearly rural area and I drive my Carrera to the country club on most trips. Whenever I like, I can add twelve miles and take the long way through the local mountains. And I do that a couple of times every week just because the car is a joy to drive that way. Or I can turn the other way and make a run up into the Tehachapi mountains for a couple of hours. I love the Carrera, but my driving situation permits either choice and I was sorely tempted by the Spyder.

The GTS (or any current Carrera): open it up and you have a sports car. Delightful sounds and other sensations as you wind through mountain roads hitting every apex with that subtle crunch of the outside edge of the inside tires on the shoulder. Dodging beetles crossing the road just because the steering is that good and it's fun. Trees overhead throwing shadows into the cockpit and the smell of the fields. Joy. Then you hit the city roads and close it up so the OPX goes away. With the windows closed, you have a touring car that will eat the miles. Younger friends report doing four and five hundred miles in a day without being repelled at the idea of doing another hundred if something appealing waited over the horizon. Trips like that are not a fun thing to contemplate in any roadster, though I'm sure the Spyder makes it as tolerable as any.

The Carrera in the S or GTS forms is slightly faster. The 'base' Carrera is about the same as a Spyder. In other words, all four models are faster than any sane driver can use on public roads, but if you care about track times, get the GTS or an S with the power kit.

Handling has subtle distinctions that other people speak of as if they screamed at you. I find that the differences whisper myself. Both are extremely well-behaved road cars in any weather, and at the track either will blow off turbos of generations earlier than the 996 and if the time comes that we meet, I'd bet a coke on my S against a 996TT. I think the improved handling would offset his power advantage.

People applaud (or some complain) of a "pendulum effect" with the Carreras versus the mid-engine stability of the Spyder. I feel what they're talking about, but the effect isn't dramatic enough to me to have justified a name if others hadn't already assigned one. I enjoy it, but didn't feel it except as "great steering; light responsive car" until some people pointed it out to me as a 911 characteristic. But you have to allow for my having driven Formula Fords for years. In corners below 85 mph, you steer a FF with the throttle and you bloody well have to take throttle into account at any speed if you prefer facing forward. I'm so used to seriously tail-happy cars that the difference between a Carrera and a Spyder is like the difference in sound recordings between Dolby and "Digital Theater Sound" or DTS. I can detect it, but I wouldn't spend a nickel on the difference. If you drive a Spyder already, the Carrera won't startle you in any mode from normal to sport plus. The handling of either car is superb.

Great cars and I would summarize the difference as the Spyder being a car the driver will love and the passenger will tolerate. The driver will wish for a second car when long drives in traffic are at hand, and most pax will insist. The coupes operate in either mode, but without the special feeling a roadster provides. Faster of course, but not the piquant "enclosed while wide-open" feeling that a tight body with no top provides. (Uh... oh, never mind. I said it and I meant it as written.)

Gary, who should have said that OPX=Other People's eXhaust

KBS911

Great write up. I just got a new GTS and your thoughts capture much of what I feel is the difference between my prior GT3 and the GTS . Especially the passenger part. My wife loves the GTS, but only tolerated the GT3.

mile2424

I can't explain how much I love and how perfect the Spyder is. Like others have said, many of us know how unique it is, it's truly a throw back to the purist cars of the 550, 356 eras. It looks like nothing else in the Boxster or Porsche lineup and has iconic styling and race car performance and comfort all rolled into one.

I guess my main problem is whatever car I choose will be my daily driver. I don't take people with me in the car often. I do have a bike and sometimes go surfing so a roof would be nice at times but I'm more the type that would get the spyder and borrow a friends car when need be.

Maybe I'm just sooooooooooo jealous that cayman is getting a riviera blue Spyder. This and Mexico Blue (I know very similar) have always been my all time fav Porsche color! I have not driven both to compare but I have read very positive reviews about the GTS. I guess one attraction to the GTS would be to spec and order my own assuming they are still in production. Obviously there is quite a price difference as well.

When I was born, I came back from the hospital in a 356, so whatever I choose, I want to have the soul and passion of excellence that Porsche represents.

aussie jimmy

keep the one you have, imho.