► Porsche Boxster Spyder is back!
► Unveiled at the 2015 New York show
► Manual roof, 370bhp, thrills aplenty
You knew it was coming – we scooped it last month. Now the (short) wait is over: meet the new 2015 Porsche Boxster Spyder, unveiled at the 2015 New York motor show.
It’s not the first Boxster Spyder, of course. The previous-gen model of 2010 became something of a cult classic among Porsche fans, valued for its pared-down kerbweight, keen chassis and retro speedster styling. No pressure for its successor then, but the present 981-series Boxster is such a talented starting point that this is unlikely to be a disappointing car.
What makes the new 2015 Boxster Spyder special?
This is a Boxster for driving purists (or perhaps that should be puritans). You’ll need to use old fashioned elbow grease to raise and lower the fabric roof, and a proper manual gearbox is the only transmission option.
That’s connected to a rather brilliant engine: another development of Porsche’s 3.8-litre flat-six, moonlighting from its day job in the 911 Carrera S (and weekend work in the Cayman GT4). In the Boxster Spyder it’s tuned to 370bhp. It’ll polish off 62mph in 4.5 seconds and top speed is no less than 180mph. In a Boxster!
Interesting tail…
Like its predecessor, the Spyder gets a pair of bumpy buttresses behind the seats to make it stand out from the rest of the range. According to Porsche, they’re cribbed from the 718 Spyder racing car of the ’60s. They culminate in a kicked-up ducktail spoiler that’s pure 2.7 RS. Meanwhile the front and rear bumpers are borrowed from the Cayman GT4.
The seats are a bit special, too. They’re superlight shell-backed carbon buckets like those of the 918 supercar. There’s no adjustability for the backrests – you’ll need to suffer for your art if you drive a Spyder.
Speaking of suffering, so seriously does the Spyder take its dieting that you don’t even get a radio as standard. Or air-con. (Don’t worry, both can be optioned back in. And Porsche won’t even charge you for the privilege, remarkably).
Okay. Deep breath. How much?
That’ll be £60,459. While that’s an eyebrow-raising premium of around £20k over the base 2.7-litre Boxster, it’s around £7k more than a Boxster GTS. Look at it that way, and factor in the uprated brakes, unique bodywork and 911 engine transplant the Spyder entails, and it doesn’t seem so bad. Or maybe we’re getting carried away.
It’ll be available a little earlier than expected, reaching UK showrooms in July 2015, with order books open now. If you want one, don’t delay, as the Cayman GT4 essentially sold out in hours and CAR’s had a queue of readers complaining they missed out.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder makes its public debut at the 2015 New York show – click here for a full A-Z of the show’s most important new cars.