Porsche 718 Spyder RS Comes Close to Being Perfect
With Porsche’s monster 4.0 liter flat-six engine shoved in the 718 Spyder RS, motoring heaven is so close you can hear the gate unlocking.
We’ve all kinda known that Porsche has been holding back with their Boxster and Cayman models. Purposefully stunting them to save face for the 911 they spent a long time perfecting. Odd, given that Germans are well known for relentless advancement. But Porsche is… different. That said, when the Boxster debuted as a production car in 1996, it had 2.5 liters and 201 horsepower. Thirty years later, it has 4.0 liters, and 493 horsepower. So in the form of the 718 Spyder RS, Porsche finally got this one right, too.
Damon Lowney from PCA gets down to the nitty gritty on a recent op-ed on PCA’s website. In the report, he states the obvious: “Porsche has built what nobody would have expected just a few short years ago.” It’s true. Porsche has just started the neutering process with the 718 by way of offering only flat-four engines. That lasted a few years before they finally got wise to making what Porsche enthusiasts want.
And apparently they listened really closely. Because Any Porsche nut would tell you the magic combo is the 911’s big engine in the small drop-top. That’s how we arrive at the 718 Spyder RS. Powered by Porsche’s 4.0 flat six plucked from the GT3, the Spyder is now a 9000 RPM screamer. Porsche knows sounds matter and intake noise “will surely raise the hairs on the back of your neck, particularly when considering the placement of the engine air intakes, or combustion scoops, as Porsche calls them,” according to Lowney.
It’s got the GT4 chassis parts, too. PASM suspension is softened ever so slightly for the Spyder by way of bushing in place of rose joints, and springs that are a bit easier to compress. It’ll slip through the air just as easily as the Cayman GT4, just with a bit less road-holding downforce. So it makes no mistake that it’s a fast car, while acknowledging the GT4 RS is the more focused machine.
But given the namesake of this website, we have to point out the elephant in the room. The Spyder RS only comes in PDK. It’s an absolute shame because while the RS designation means it’s a track-focused model, no one will argue this car will have a performance advantage over the Cayman GT4 RS. Lowney is on the same page, saying “why not give customers the opportunity to experience this glorious flat six in a mid-engined Porsche with a manual transmission — this one and only time?!”
Porsche could get away with it by at least offering it as an option.Yeah it would be slower and won’t have the magazine popping headlines. But you simply can’t replace the rowing of one’s own gears. Especially when Porsche makes one of the best manual transmissions in terms of driver feel and feedback.
And so it seems Porsche is a victim of its own success. The RS models sell. And the recipe of open top Boxster plus GT3 driveline is just too good for them to pass up. Sure it costs near as much as $160,000.00, but it’ll sell. Because it is fast and good. But Porsche, it’s really OK if you tip the scales a little bit away from “fast,” and more towards “good.”
Photos: Porsche
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