Overview
IT FEELS like the 718 Spyder RS is a car Porsche’s engineers have been wanting to build for years but were held back by management wary of creating something from this mid-engine platform that could overshadow the flagship 911 and highlighting the inconvenience of physics when installing a powerplant that far back in the chassis.
Well, the Spyder RS is here now, and it’s every bit the purist’s Porsche.
This is a car with raw, unfiltered performance, packing a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six that revs to a staggering 9000rpm and letting you know all about it by routing the air intakes close enough to the occupants’ hearing organs as to risk ingesting their earwax.
Backing up all the spine-tingling theatrics is a machine that makes few compromises in the pursuit of driving purity, but that comes at a cost.
Priced at $401,140 (before on-road costs, but including $65,840 of options in the case of our test vehicle), it’s a machine that feels honed for the track yet rules on the road.
Our Opinion
From the moment you slip behind the wheel of a 718 Spyder RS – particularly when specified with the $22,610 Weissach Package plus another $3320 in Weissach-specific interior extras as this one is – there is little doubt that this car is the realisation of an enthusiast’s dream and a Porsche that is as about close to race-ready as you can get without requiring a helmet.
Comfort isn’t the priority here; this cabin is all about saving weight. Suede-like Race-Tex materials and carbon-fibre accents dominate with little in the way of luxury. Even the floor mats are carbon (a $1240 option).
The front wings and the bonnet are made of carbon-fibre, the headlight cleaning system is dispensed of along with sound insulation and thinner carpets are fitted while interior door handles are fabric loops and elasticated nets replace door bins.
Even more carbon is fitted to this car. The Weissach Package applies naked carbon weave to the various engine and cooling air intakes, door mirror shells, central brake light, rollover bars and on the rear spoiler’s Gurney flap. And the exhaust tips are titanium.
Further carbon has been optioned: Window triangle trims ($950), bonnet ($2470) and the door sills ($790) which are also illuminated. Another few grand has been spent on decals and Racing Yellow seatbelts with matching door pulls plus contrasting embroidery and stitching.
The manual soft-top roof keeps things light, though it’s not exactly quick to deploy when the weather turns and you can’t drive with it attached above 200km/h. You either drive this car, or you don’t. Either way, it’s a commitment.
Still, Porsche hasn’t completely abandoned usability – even if the in-dash media system is looking rather dated. The adaptive sports seats with 18-way electric adjustment and Bose sound system being no-cost options is a nice touch, even if the engine is the only soundtrack you’ll want.
On the subject of which, the 4.0-litre engine, churning out 368kW and 450Nm, delivers an exhilarating note as soon as you fire it up, flaring into life with a blip of revs seemingly designed to evoke the starting bark of a low-inertia thoroughbred race engine.
The word that springs to mind at this moment is ‘hardcore’ and the grumbly, lumpy low-speed experience – including tyres rubbing on the guards at full lock – backs this up.
It even takes quite a shove of the throttle to get moving once the PDK transmission is engaged which, as speeds rise, is juxtaposed by this pedal’s predilection for precision and finesse.
You’d be mad not to spend $4900 on the front axle lift system even though it doesn’t quite solve the issue of scraping over speed bumps or driveways. This little car doesn’t hide its focus on performance but you’d rather listen to the engine than its underside being graunched.
But the moment you hit the right stretch of road, it all makes sense. An exhilarating surge of power. Induction noise that fills the intimate little cabin and – to risk over-sharing – delivered what can only be described as an eargasm as we revved it out to the 9000rpm redline on a long uphill stretch.
You can hear and feel this car’s track-bred DNA with every input or, more accurately, its response to those inputs. This is a car that Porsche has likely been holding back from building for fear it would outshine the 911, but now that it’s here, it’s undeniable – the 718 Spyder RS is an absolute masterpiece.
The flat-six heart of this RS Spyder is glorious. It revs freely and eagerly, the sound is intoxicating, it’s responsive, precise, and completely in sync with the PDK whether you intervene using the paddles or leave it alone.
It’s the kind of driving experience you don’t get with turbos or hybrids; there’s an old-school purity to it that you rarely find in modern performance cars.
Which makes the presence of an idle stop-start system feel completely out of place – a nod to emissions regulations that thankfully doesn’t get in the way of the driving experience once up to speed.
To that end, the steering is razor-sharp, offering the kind of feedback and precision that makes you feel deeply connected to the road and at one with the car.
Combine that with the lightweight chassis, impeccable engine and a transmission that serves up cogs as readily as a royal butler serves hot tea, and the Spyder RS feels nimble, agile and forgiving – flattering, even – despite packing some prodigious power-to-weight.
Of course, all this comes at the cost of comfort. The suspension is firm, no doubt about it. You feel every bump, crack, and imperfection on the road, but that’s the price you pay for this level of precision and rough corner surfaces don’t corrupt the steering or your chosen line, which can also be oh-so-satisfyingly adjusted using the pedals.
Find some smooth roads, though, and the Spyder RS is in its element, flattening corners and gripping with confidence even in less-than-idyllic conditions.
Conditions that made us grateful for how communicative and responsive this car is –once we’d become accustomed to the volume and detail of feel and feedback on offer that is.
It’s balanced, fairly neutral and analogue enough for the average ape-brained driver to get some serious satisfaction out of without getting into understeery trouble or mid-engined snap oversteer. In fact, this is one of those cars that subtly encourages you to do better, which is ever-so rewarding.
The $14,960 ceramic composite brakes are brilliant, full of feel and seemingly less affected by lower temperatures than other Porsches fitted with this fade-resistant, lightweight tech.
We were pleasantly surprised by this given we drove on roads that had copped an overnight soaking and we had to drive accordingly. Same goes for the tyres, big wide Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s (245/35/20 front and 295/30/20 rear) that we feared would aquaplane unpredictably.
But predictable they were, and, as a package, the 718 RS Spyder too, for all its raw and visceral performance focus.
You’re probably not going to buy this as a daily driver but if you’re after something that makes every country drive a thrilling experience, and you don’t mind a few compromises, the 718 Spyder RS is one hell of a swansong for the petrol-powered Boxster on which it’s based.
