Yahoo Autos Which Stripped Porsche Boxster Is Right for You?
The amount of variants Porsche makes of each model in its lineup can be perplexing. Minor variations abound, and it can be hard to determine why some exist, or which is right for you. In some cases, they are interchangeable and the variant doesn't matter. But some are just a little more special than the others.
For the 718 Boxster, two editions stand out. On one end of the lineup is the Boxster T, a stripped out version of the base Boxster, which uses the 2.0 liter turbocharged flat-four combined with a number of handling and light-weighting modifications. On the top end, there's the Spyder, a car that seems to be related to the T in name alone. The turbo engine is dropped for a 4.0-liter flat-six and the suspension is directly off the 718 Cayman GT4.
In terms of price, these two cars are at nearly opposite ends of the Boxster spectrum. The T starts at $68,900 and includes essentially every option an enthusiast needs. The Spyder starts at $97,300. Is it worth the $30,000 premium? Depends on what you want.
The Spyder is undeniably special, particularly with its new engine and suspension. The last Spyder and GT4 shared a slightly detuned version of the 3.8-liter flat-six found in the 911 Carrera S, a decision that always felt like Porsche was trying to limit the cars from being better than the iconic sibling.
But the latest generation gets a brand new 4.0-liter flat-six. For the new 4.0, Porsche starts with the 3.0-liter unit in the 911, removes the turbos, and ups the displacement, resulting in 414 horsepower and an 8000 rpm redline.
It's not a screamer, the engine note is more a bark, but power delivery is wonderful. A rising wave that feels like it's never going to crash. Absolutely fantastic.
