Porsche Boxster Spyder road test
Porsche first used the Spyder name for a sports roadster in 1953, when it introduced the 550 Spyder (the car that, famously, James Dean was driving when he died). For over half a century, the name has only been used for very special models such as the 909 Bergspyder, 718 RSK Spyder and the RS Spyder Le Mans Prototype race car, and now it has been given to a special edition of its “entry-level” mid-engined roadster, the Boxster. But is Porsche indulging in a marketing-inspired devaluation, or is the Boxster Spyder really special enough to justify using a name so steeped in heritage?
With a purchase price of £46,387, the Boxster Spyder isn’t cheap: in fact, it’s about £6,000 more than the Boxster S model it’s based on. On top of that, there’s a fairly extensive options list that can add back in some of the features that have been taken out (air con, radio, sat nav, etc), plus the likes of ceramic brakes (£5,349,) PDK automatic gearbox (£1,962) and sports seats (£2,049) that will quickly rack up the price of the car. Indeed, initial buyers are spending £56,000-57,000 speccing their cars. It won’t be exactly cheap to run, either, despite Porsche managing to increase efficiency due to weight loss: official fuel consumption on the combined cycle is 29.1mpg with the manual gearbox or 30.4mpg with the PDK; CO2 emissions are 228g/km (manual) or 218g/km (PDK), so road tax will cost £405 or £215 a year. However, the relatively exclusive nature of the car (fewer than 100 will be sold each year in the UK) means that demand for used versions should be pretty high, which should mean very good residuals.
Read the full Porsche Boxster Spyder road test
RoadTestReports.co.uk provides road tests reports written by members of the Guild of Motoring Writers. These reports are complemented by car reviews submitted by the members of the public who drive the vehicles day in day out.
Porsche Boxster consumer car reviews
Porsche Boxster lease prices
Porsche Boxster new and nearly new
See also:
No comments yet
