Hello all on the Boxster forum. I have a 997.2S w PDK. Which I love. I live in So Cal and have started to consider an open top option. When I look at getting a 991 Cab, you're looking at my car plus $50-60K. So I start to think of different options. The Boxster Spyder looks awesome. But then why not a 981? I'd keep my 997 by the way. Some more thoughts. I have two young kids and play golf, so I have no time for track. My son who is almost 8 - adores Porsche's (and golf BTW) so he and I would use it a lot. If I need to drive all 3, I have the 997.

I would like a Boxster Spyder in white. Funnily enough, I'd prefer to get manual vs PDK (although I love my current PDK). I also wouldn't mind sport buckets. I think a Spyder would be a canyon carver, real sports car vs luxury, GT car. I do say a Boxster Spyder but what about a 981 manual. Maybe the 981 has a few more creature comforts. Pro's and cons between the two? What, options are important? And what to look out for? I am not in a huge rush. I see quite a few on market - asking from $58 to $69K. Pricing seems a little all over the map.

Maybe I'm babbling, but looking for some words of wisdom from the experts. Thanks in advance.

 

Like you I have a 997.2 with PDK ... and some enhancements and a Spyder also with PDK. The 997 is a keeper as I believe it is the last of the sports car 911s. I have driven a 991 on the track and it is quick but has relatively little feedback and too electronic for me.

Now to the Spyder, I can sum it all up by saying it is the most fun "out of the box" car Porsche has made in a long time and again I believe it will be a classic down the road in the same category as the original 356 speedster. It is truly fun to drive. Yes, get sport bucket seats if you can that to me is a must! I have them in the 997 and my wife also likes them and we are both over 70. Transmission option is your choice ( as really is everything) but you can't beat PDK with the sport steering wheel and true paddles. Good luck in your search

 

If working to put the top up & down is going to bum you out then you won't like the Spyder. Other than that it's still the best most powerful (albeit by five ponies) Boxster available today. Agree with the assessment on the sport buckets, I love them but they don't adjust much so other people may not. The Spyder is a unique animal, either you "get it and love it or you don't", I also think it's a future classic.

If I were going to have one criticism it's that you have to take care with that top as there are a multitude of ways you could damage the paint with a cable end or something else. In perfect weather no problem, in an impromptu down pour, you still have to be careful and that's where a towel in the trunk for the driver is a good call.

 

I went from a 996T to a Boxster Spyder. It took me a little while to get past the 911 snobbery and settle back down into reality---but that's just me. On back twisty roads the Spyder is an amazing handing car, gets great fuel mileage (on one tank I can easily do 330 highway miles), and is very easy to live with. The only thing is the manual top---you'll either love it or hate it with a passion. You can't swing into the store and push one button and have the top go up to protect the interior from idiots who like to do things to other people's stuff. You do have to watch that---at lease I do here in Washington DC.

The car also does attract a lot of attention---pics just don't do them justice. I have more people gawking at my Spyder than any other car I've owned. That attention can be both good and bad as you can imagine. Without much security from the tarp roof it can be a curse.

As said above---out of the box the Spyder is about the most fun car you can own. You can enjoy it without seeing your life pass before your eyes every time you get on it. The fun factor is exceedingly high with this car.

 

Spyder, sport buckets, manual, PSE. Done


I drove the 981. It's a nice car. It's not special though and the Spyder is very special. Living in SoCal, you'll never put the top up. My top has been in my garage since the day the car arrived.

I'd offer you mine, but I'm never going to sell it favorite car to drive by far.

 

Like others, 997 and now 981 on order. I chose the 981 because I don't like leaving the car parked and open for hours and no tonneau is really possible. While I track I'm not good enough to fault the new power steering, in fact, thought the 997 steering while providing amazing feedback was a bit twitchy at speed on the Freeway. So, a vote for the convenience of power top (and MT).

 

Another 997S owner, went for the 981. Since you play golf, here's something to think about.

 

Strange you see lots spyder for sale as I can't find any
PL
03 C4S

 

The Spyder is perhaps the best modern Porsche and the last of the true sports cars. The top takes literally two minutes once you get the routine. And that's if you are slow and careful.

Unique looks and an amazing drivers car. What's not to love?

The only reason I sold mine was to get the Cayman R. At the track, I prefer metal over my head.

While the 981 has some nice features and upgrades, it lacks the passion the Spyder elicits. For me, it's just a nice car, nothing special. Drive both and you will know which is right for you.

 

Interesting that you say that... Last year I was trying to pick a roadster and tried the 981 and had that exact same feeling. It was a really nice car but I didn't get an ear-to-ear smile from it the way I did from my Miata. I didn't try a Spyder, though. I'm thinking of adding another car to the stable and I really don't know what it's going to be.... I'll have to track one down. I want that pure driving experience and I'd love to find it in Porsche.

 

Definitely try the Spyder. I have always been a fan of the Miata although I prefer the first generation over the current. You feel very connected to the first generation Miata, very mechanical feel and very easy to understand what the car was doing. The current generation feels vague in comparison. The Spyder is like the first generation Miata with superpowers. You can still feel everything but it has tons of power and the handling is beyond belief. The car has so much grip you can go around corners at crazy speeds.

 

They Spyder can carry clubs too. Just take your Drivers out of bag first, then lay them in the back with the bag.

Sport Buckets are a must- If you find one without them, pass or knock off $7k-$5k off what they are asking.

 

Second what Chad mentioned, I can fit clubs in the back trunk but have to take out the driver and then wedge it carefully in after.

 

Silberwolfen ended up buying my old Spyder that I traded in for an 05 Turbo S. I miss that car more than you know. I am actually looking to get rid of my Turbo S for a perfectly optioned, low miles Spyder. I didn't know what I had in that Spyder until I drove the 996 off the lot. I was too hung up on the fact that it was just a "Boxster," and not a 911. I should've just put that bs behind me and enjoyed it for what it was.

 

not to quibble, but I'm a bit surprised to hear 997 drivers consider the 991 to be so different as to say that the 997 is the last of the sports car 911s. Personally, 996/997/991 were all grand touring cars relative to the 964. The first modern Carrera was also the last stick-to-the-script Carrera. The 993 softened up the transition towards the evolution from 911 sports coupe to 996/997/991 grand touring. I even consider the 997 and 991 GT3's to be grand touring cars but obviously over-hauled for the track. No one ever said a grand touring can't make a good good GT endurance racer at LeMans just like a big, long Aston Martin.

Now on the other hand, through its 16-17 years from the first of the 1996 986 2.5 to the 981, the Boxster has remained essentially the same car -- it's still a roadster. Its proportions haven't changed so much that its migrated into a different category of sports car like the Carrera did in those same 17 years.

And all Boxsters have been fun cars right out of the box. People chided the first of the Boxsters for not having enough power. But what they were really saying is that they didn't adapt to the car. A roadster is not supposed to have a huge engine. These are complaints of people who think that a highpowered driving experience is the only kind of sports car experience. They expect the car to adapt to them and not the other way around. Ironic too that this would be a complaint because Porsches have never been big on power relative to other sports car options. The base Carrera didn't cross the 300 HP mark until the 997, some 1 million or whatever Porsches later.

And on weight, the early 986 2.5 was a few low cost, doable mods away from being Boxster Racing spec weight. Even today, the 2.5 with its low weight, and in the right hands, can stick in the mirrors of a car made some 12 years later like a 2008 987.1 Point is the emphasis is keeping the car light and not bloating the proportions (what 911's stop doing at least 14 years ago). With the exception of a couple of production years, this has been the main ingredient in all Boxsters. In this respect, the Boxster has been the most consistent Porsche to stick with the sports car principle that made the brand great and not otherwise become diluted with commercial considerations like having a spot for baby seats.

p.s.
A 550 just sold for $3.8 million. Now that's a classic. Might be a while before any 356/911 road car brings in that kind of change. That's roadster lineage for you. Even if Porsche upselling/marketing spin tries to tell you grand touring Porsches is where its at.