3/5/2023 0 Comments Porsche spyder![]() ![]() Adaptive dampers, a limited slip differential and torque vectoring deliver superb handling. ![]() The Spyder sits an inch and a half closer to the ground than the Boxster, and its chassis rides on a suspension setup derived from the 911 GT3. If the Spyder's looks suggest that it's more than your average Boxster, its performance seals it. The suede wheel feels solid and grippy, the perfect conduit for inputs and feedback. Snug, yet well laid out, the cockpit is bisected by the centre console with its familiar bank of switchgear shared by most of Porsche's lineup. A $3,000+ option, they're a lot more comfortable for a daily driver than the highly bolstered race seats in the recently driven GT4 which only slide fore and aft. Our tester featured 18-way adjustable suede sports seats. The 718 Spyder's jutting lower lip splitter, enormous 20-inch wheels, and rear flying buttresses suggest it's far more at home carving corners than cruising to the local hot yoga studio. It doesn't take more than a quick look to distinguish one from the other. But the 718 Spyder isn't just a Boxster with a few added performance goodies – it's a cloth-top GT4 with genuine track-focused ability. The softly-rounded Boxster has always struck me as bland, a safe way of acquiring the cachet of the Porsche brand. Introduced in 2019, the new 718 Cayman GT4 and Spyder squash the need for compromise with laser-focused handling, pure, naturally-aspirated flat-six power and wider availability. True sports car aficionados can now rejoice. Or they could have settled for its topless Spyder sibling, detuned by 10 hp and with a softer suspension derived from the Boxster GTS. Sure, they could opt for the sublime Cayman GT4 with its 385 hp flat-six and manual six-speed gearbox – if they were lucky enough to score one of the very limited production two-seaters. Porschophiles, however, weren't exactly enamoured of the engine's characterless performance and engine note. Needless to say, that legacy was one Porsche thought worthy of invoking when it introduced new turbocharged 4-cylinder versions of the 2016 Cayman and Boxster and dubbed them 718s. Back in the halcyon days of tiny, lightweight racing cars whose performance credentials rested not on sheer horsepower, but on the brilliance of their chassis engineering, Porsche developed a series of two-seat sports cars known as the 718.įrom 1957 to 1962, the 718 in its various iterations chalked up numerous victories from Le Mans to Formula One – powered largely by a 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder engine delivering only 142 horsepower. ![]()
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