Tested: Porsche 718 Spyder RS Is an Uncaged Tiger

From the May/June issue of Car and Driver.Animals in the zoo get bored. Their instincts grow dull, and the sparkle leaves their eyes. So, zookeepers have enrichment programs: exercises and puzzles to sharpen skills and claws. If you’ve been feeling like a captive tiger in the cage of your boring daily driver, Porsche’s 718 Spyder RS is enrichment for humans. Everything about it, from revving its scintillating flat-six to its 9000-rpm redline to snapping its clever manual top into place, reinvigorates your spirit. The bears and elephants will be jealous. The Spyder elicits human envy too, because even though it sounds ferocious and shares DNA with track monsters such as the Cayman GT4 RS and the 911 GT3 RS, it’s a street-friendly sweetheart. This is the first Boxster-based RS model, with all the lightweight and race-inspired components those initials promise. The Spyder shares its operatic powerplant, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, adaptive dampers, and available carbon-ceramic brakes with the Cayman GT4 RS. But whereas the RS’d Cayman is track focused, the Spyder makes concessions to street comfort. With the dampers in Normal mode, the most uncomfortable aspect of the Spyder RS is hoisting your hindquarters over the seats’ prominent—and hard—side bolsters.While it’s tamer than a GT4 RS, the Spyder is far beyond a base 718 Boxster. It sits 2.0 inches lower, so you’ll need the optional front-axle lift ($3040), and its front and rear tracks are wider. The springs and dampers are softer than the GT4’s, and the anti-roll bars and ride height are adjustable. Add a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires to the mix, and the Spyder sticks to the pavement like a fried egg on unseasoned cast iron.
HIGHS: Howls like a werewolf, light as a soufflé, somehow still comfortable.The 493-hp 4.0-liter flat-six has dry-sump lubrication, solid lifters, and individual throttle bodies—it’s designed to rev fast and stay at high rpm for as long as you have the nerve to keep the pedal down. Guiding this car out of a curve and onto a straight while slinging the needle up the tach is so involving and gratifying that you might not even miss a manual option.The carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic hood and front fenders save mass. Porsche also reduced sound-deadening materials, ditched the headlight washers, and even replaced the traditional badge on the hood with a sticker to shave a few precious grams. The automaker claims you can eliminate another 22 pounds by speccing the Weissach package ($12,570) and the magnesium wheels ($15,640). Our test car had it all and weighed in at 3167 pounds.More on the Porsche 718 modelsThe cabin gets slimmed-down carpets and door panels but still boasts leather and microsuede. Skip the optional Bose stereo ($990); the engine drowns it out. If Sherlock Holmes had heard the howl of a 718 Spyder RS echoing across the moors, he would have hightailed it for London and left the Baskervilles to their fate.
LOWS: No manual available, nose lift is a must, enrichment doesn’t come cheap.The manual soft top is another weight saver. Porsche says not to exceed 124 mph with the top up but claims 191-mph capability with it down. In our testing, the Spyder hit 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, vanquished the quarter-mile in 10.9 at 127 mph, and held tight to the skidpad for 1.05 g’s with just a smidgen of understeer.The $211,090 as-tested price is about the only heavy thing on this Spyder RS. But your inner tiger will never be bored again. VERDICT: Way more fun than your average cat toy.SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Porsche 718 Spyder RS
Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE

Base/As Tested: $163,650/$211,090
Options: 20-inch 718 Cayman GT4 RS forged magnesium wheels, $15,640; Weissach package, $12,570; Porsche ceramic composite brakes, $8000; Gentian Blue Metallic paint, $3540; front-axle lift system, $3040; Black with Arctic Grey leather seat trim, $2160; Bose Surround Sound system, $990; brake calipers in High-Gloss Black, $900; Satin Aluminum painted wheels, $600 
ENGINE
DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 244 in3, 3996 cm3
Power: 493 hp @ 8400 rpm
Torque: 331 lb-ft @ 6750 rpm 
TRANSMISSION
7-speed dual-clutch automatic
CHASSIS

Suspension, F/R: struts/struts
Brakes, F/R: 16.1-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc/15.4-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
F: 245/35ZR-20 (95Y)
R: 295/30ZR-20 (101Y)
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 97.7 in
Length: 173.9 in
Width: 71.7 in
Height: 49.3 in
Passenger Volume: 49 ft3
Trunk Volume: 4 ft3
Front-Trunk Volume: 5 ft3
Curb Weight: 3167 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 2.8 sec
100 mph: 6.6 sec
1/4-Mile: 10.9 sec @ 127 mph
130 mph: 11.6 sec
150 mph: 17.0 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.6 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.0 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 2.1 sec
Top Speed (mfr claim): 191 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 147 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 290 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.05 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 17 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/City/Highway: 16/14/19 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDLike a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews. In 2020, she received a Best Feature award from the Motor Press Guild for the C/D story “A Drive through Classic Americana in a Polestar 2.”  In 2023, her Car and Driver feature story “In Washington, D.C.’s Secret Carpool Cabal, It’s a Daily Slug Fest” was awarded 1st place in the 16th Annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards by the Los Angeles Press Club.
 
Source: caranddriver.com