Reviews July 8, 2010, 1:04PM EST

First Drive: 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder

Porsche's baby roadster grows up—the new Boxster Spyder offers 320 hp and jets from 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds

By Thane Peterson

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Editor's Rating:

The Good: Light weight, handling, macho good looks

The Bad: Clunky convertible top, only marginally better performance than Boxster S

The Bottom Line: The ultimate performance Boxster, by a hair's breadth

Reader Reviews

Up Front

"A pure roadster reduced to the essentials" is how Porsche (POAHY:US) describes the 2011 Boxster Spyder, a high-performance reworking of the Boxster S. By "reduced to the essentials," the company means that the Spyder doesn't come standard with air conditioning, cupholders, or a radio. These omissions reduce the car's weight to a mere 2,811 lbs., 176 lbs. less than the already ultralight Boxster S. The goal: even better quickness and handling than the S at a comparable price.

If you balk at the idea of paying $60,000-plus for a car lacking in basic amenities, stop reading now. The Boxster Spyder is aimed at serious driving enthusiasts, the type of owners who regularly spend weekends at a racetrack (or dreams of doing so). Porsche expects to sell only 1,000 to 1,200 Spyders in the U.S. annually. If comfort in daily driving is your priority, the S is a better bet.

The Spyder starts at $62,150—that's $3,250 more than the Boxster S and an enormous $13,600 more than the regular Boxster. For the extra money you get numerous performance upgrades, including a locking rear differential, a lower and stiffer chassis, a fixed rear spoiler, lightweight aluminum doors, a sculpted aluminum rear hood, lightweight 10-spoke/19 in. alloy wheels, a different front fascia, and lightweight sport seats. In place of the Boxster S's conventional convertible top is a rudimentary removable ragtop that has to be rolled up and stowed in the trunk by hand.

If an ultralow curb weight isn't your priority, you can add back the radio and cupholders to the Spyder free of charge, but air conditioning (which comes standard in the Boxster S) is a $1,760 option.

The Spyder's 3.4-liter inline six-cylinder engine is similar to the one in the Boxster S but has been tweaked to eke out more power. The Spyder engine generates 320 horsepower (10 hp more than the S's) and 273 lb.-ft. of torque (7 lb.-ft. more than the S's) and reaches peak output at 7,200 revolutions per minute, 950 rpms above the S's maximum engine speed.

As with the S, there's a choice of a six-speed manual transmission or (for an extra $3,420) Porsche's terrific seven-speed PDK double-clutch automatic with steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters.

The Boxster Spyder is rated to get 19 miles per gallon in the city and 27 on the highway with a stick shift or 20/29 with the PDK automatic transmission. It doesn't have government crash-test ratings, but standard safety equipment includes reinforced doors and windscreen, a stainless-steel alloy roll bar, and seatbelt pretensioners, as well as front, side, and head-protecting airbags.

Behind the Wheel

I drove the Spyder and Boxster S on a track at the Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York, accompanied by three professional Porsche racing drivers, Hurley Haywood, David Donohue, and David Murry. The Spyder is a blast to drive, especially in the company of racing royalty, but the Boxster S is so good that only obsessive driving enthusiasts are likely to be able to discern the differences between the two.

The Spyder is just a tiny bit faster than the Boxster S, for starters. With the optional Sport Plus package, the Spyder accelerates from 0 to 60 in a mere 4.6 seconds—which is blazingly fast, but only one-10th-of-a-second faster than a similarly equipped S. Without Sport Plus, the time is 4.9 seconds with a stick shift and 4.8 seconds with PDK—again, a mere one-10th-of-a-second faster than the S.

The improvements in handling are slightly more pronounced. The Spyder is set 0.8 in. lower than the S, and you sit lower to the ground when you slip behind the wheel. The springs are shorter and stiffer, and the dampers set harder, so the Spyder's suspension feels slightly sportier without being overly harsh. The ride is comfortable in daily driving.