Spyder GT 4 - Page 3 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

ANyone else seen the report in Autocar today that Porsche is considering a GT4 version f Spyder ? Here we go again !!

Johnthepotter said: ANyone else seen the report in Autocar today that Porsche is considering a GT4 version f Spyder ? Here we go again !! Have you been in a bubble since 31st March? Did you miss the 2015 Boxster Spyder launch?

g7jhp said: Have you been in a bubble since 31st March? Did you miss the 2015 Boxster Spyder launch? The Spyder GT4 is a different car to the Spyder..... read the post!

Autocar reporting that after the Spyder they are considering a GT4 Spyder

Scott Parker said: The Spyder GT4 is a different car to the Spyder..... read the post! I read the post. I know the OP owns a 987 Spyder.

Any links to article ? I cant find any reference on there website

GT3CS - nothing on web site but it has a half page spread in this week's magazine. Too long to repeat here but extract "...... a senior source at Porsche said we are looking at it right now. Much of the engineering has already been done for the Cayman so we think this miight be a good direction for us....." It also suggests that an RS Version of GT4 is now more likely given success of GT4!

Johnthepotter said: It also suggests that an RS Version of GT4 is now more likely given success of GT4! I would genuinely immediately sell my CGTS to bankroll a GT4 RS - that would be a car to have! +400 hp and PDK + yes please Assuming the fantasy that PGB also would actually sell me one as i'm not currently in the circle of trust or a disappointed GT3 RS customer

These rumours were around even before the 981 Spyder was revealed. There was and still is talk about another "hot Boxster", a Spyder RS, essentially a GT4 with the Spyder body, positioned just below the GT4 RS. I'm sure the market would snap them up but it's all getting a bit silly if you ask me. I do get the feeling that Porsche will milk the "limited run last N/A flat six with manual" cow for a very long time to come.

My dealer confirmed that they have spoken to Porsche and this isn't happening?

anonymous said: [redacted] Spot on - I also think that further na development of the GT cars doesn't have to be synonymous with the end of the na and models life. The coming refresh of b/cayman into pot4 will be for their mainstream cars, keeping the GT products na (and extending on this platform) is a great way to maintain that halo and the motorsport equity within the brand - which brings new entry level customers forward, not as enthusiasts but because of the badge and the product their perceived to be buying

U Johnthepotter said: ANyone else seen the report in Autocar today that Porsche is considering a GT4 version f Spyder ? Here we go again !! Hi all....!! Long time lurker on the Porsche forum, but felt compelled to start contributing following the press release of the Gen2 Boxster Spyder... I have a Gen1 Spyder, which I absolutely adore, but have been tempted by the new Spyder model.... So much so, I have a deposit down for the new model at my OPC.....! BUT, some of the "rumours" surrounding the possible release of an "improved" GT4 version of the newest Spyder are getting me nervous!! If such a car, as suggested by Autocar this week, would be essentially the topless version of the GT4, for presumably not much more money, would I be wiser to "wait and see" what Porsche come up with...? I was really hoping to get "the last of its kind" in this new Spyder, but I'm starting to wonder whether Porsche will indeed "milk" this model as far as possible..... Dave

If you can get a 981 Spyder I would as it'll be sought after, so you can always ask your OPC for the option to trade up.

g7jhp said: If you can get a 981 Spyder I would as it'll be sought after, so you can always ask your OPC for the option to trade up. Can someone please explain to me how many Spyder versions exist currently, and the new offerings?

anonymous said: [redacted] +1 the ones with the hump! 987 Spyder (2010) 981 Spyder (New)

anonymous said: [redacted] Thanks So are these related to the Cayman R & the new GT4?

anonymous said: [redacted] Thanks, and I suppose the 981 Spyder will sport the GT4 engine, or not...

anonymous said: [redacted] That sums it up perfectly for me, thank you.

Essentially the spyder is already nearly all gt4 with a soft top!the fact it has different suspension although very good and may suit the car chassis better on the road than the race track bias gt4 suspension!i am sure if you do a lot of track days the spyder suspension could be improved upon to better the gt4! IMHO the gt4 will not be a "race" car until it gets a proper Motorsport engine and I suspect the gt4 RS ( track car)has a version of the gt3/ RS engine . IMHO the gt4 is no more a gt car than say a 997 S with Motorsport suspension and. Aero is to a 997 Gt3. I think they both 981 Spyder/gt4 are excellent cars in the same way the 987 spyder and CR are but in no way is the 981 spyder inferior to the gt4 just different and more suited to where it will spend most of its time! So I cannot see a gt4 spyder when one already exists albeit not as track focused. Only future gt cars will have a NA engine so I suspect future Spyders if built will have fl4 turbo and the gt4 a version of the gt3/ RS engine making the current gt4 a bit of a marketing exercise and future models costing closer to £100 k than £70 k

I would agree with a GT4 Spyder being unlikely. The new 981 Spyder is niche enough with av 1 max 2 per OPC expected so any further hardcoring of the model would be super niche......

itsybitsy said: Essentially the spyder is already nearly all gt4 with a soft top!the fact it has different suspension although very good and may suit the car chassis better on the road than the race track bias gt4 suspension!i am sure if you do a lot of track days the spyder suspension could be improved upon to better the gt4! IMHO the gt4 will not be a "race" car until it gets a proper Motorsport engine and I suspect the gt4 RS ( track car)has a version of the gt3/ RS engine . IMHO the gt4 is no more a gt car than say a 997 S with Motorsport suspension and. Aero is to a 997 Gt3. I think they both 981 Spyder/gt4 are excellent cars in the same way the 987 spyder and CR are but in no way is the 981 spyder inferior to the gt4 just different and more suited to where it will spend most of its time! So I cannot see a gt4 spyder when one already exists albeit not as track focused. Only future gt cars will have a NA engine so I suspect future Spyders if built will have fl4 turbo and the gt4 a version of the gt3/ RS engine making the current gt4 a bit of a marketing exercise and future models costing closer to £100 k than £70 k Nobody asked you to defend your purchase, we are just discussing rumours about a potential new car from Porsche.

Not defending any purchase it's just an observation that's all !the spyder doesn't pretend to be a track car but instead a really great road car and for me passive suspension is a plus over PASM and I for one would have been happy if the gt4 had passive ( like the 6 gt3rs) and not pasm!

anonymous said: [redacted] Which at the end of all said is what you can do to the spyder thus giving it the same if not better chassis than a gt4 and would still have the same engine ! Would punters still have got excited if Cayman GTS came with a similar chassis to the gt4 but retaining the 3.4 but costing £6k more than say a regular CaymanGTS with x73 suspension?i suspect most would have saved the £6k! The big draw for most on both the new cars is the engine!

av185 said: I would agree with a GT4 Spyder being unlikely. The new 981 Spyder is niche enough with av 1 max 2 per OPC expected so any further hardcoring of the model would be super niche...... I would tend to agree. Surely Porsche would be jeopardising their own "halo" creations if they subsequently "tinkered" with the end results, merely in order to extract maximum marketing exposure...? I would have hoped that if Porsche really felt that a "GT4 Spyder" was necessary, it would have taken the place of the new 981 Spyder, rather than be a further "add-on" to the model range. What's more, where on earth would they place a GT4 Spyder in the current model range...? As the Cayman GT4 is only £5k more expensive than the new Spyder, Porsche have got a VERY narrow pricing bracket to work within.... Unless they make it MORE expensive than the new Cayman.... But surely that would be ridiculous, considering Porsche's pricing structure for the rest of the Boxster/ Cayman range, ie. the Boxster is consistently the cheaper of the two!!

itsybitsy said: Which at the end of all said is what you can do to the spyder thus giving it the same if not better chassis than a gt4 and would still have the same engine ! Would punters still have got excited if Cayman GTS came with a similar chassis to the gt4 but retaining the 3.4 but costing £6k more than say a regular CaymanGTS with x73 suspension?i suspect most would have saved the £6k! The big draw for most on both the new cars is the engine! I have a GT4 on order and I am sorry but you are way off the mark. In no specific order the things that attract me to the car are : the manual gearbox (reworked by the GT department), the GT3 brakes, adjustable aero with downforce,the adjustablility of the suspension settings, adjustable anti-roll bars, GT3 front end, the clubsport package... The engine is all well and good but without the above It only adds to straight line speed. Please read the technical differences between the two cars suspension set ups and hardware, they are quite different. In my opinion the Spyder will be a great car but it is not the same as a GT car however much you want to convince yourself otherwise. Edited by lsb on Saturday 11th April 21:21

lsb said: itsybitsy said: Which at the end of all said is what you can do to the spyder thus giving it the same if not better chassis than a gt4 and would still have the same engine ! Would punters still have got excited if Cayman GTS came with a similar chassis to the gt4 but retaining the 3.4 but costing £6k more than say a regular CaymanGTS with x73 suspension?i suspect most would have saved the £6k! The big draw for most on both the new cars is the engine! I have a GT4 on order and I am sorry but you are way off the mark. In no specific order the things that attract me to the car are : the manual gearbox (reworked by the GT department), the GT3 brakes, adjustable aero with downforce,the adjustablility of the suspension settings, adjustable anti-roll bars, GT3 front end, the clubsport package... The engine is all well and good but without the above It only adds to straight line speed. Please read the technical differences between the two cars suspension set ups and hardware, they are quite different. In my opinion the Spyder will be a great car but it is not the same as a GT car however much you want to convince yourself otherwise. Edited by lsb on Saturday 11th April 21:21 We are basically talking about the GT4 being more hardcore than the Spyder...and rightly so. Not necessarily better road performance in the real world...but more track friendly similar to the GT3. Anyway, who wants a convertible track weapon?....not me....but the slightly less power and non GT but 'sports' tuned suspension will like as not be compensated by the reduced weight.....making road real world road performance very similar between the two cars.

lsb said: I have a GT4 on order and I am sorry but you are way off the mark. In no specific order the things that attract me to the car are : the manual gearbox (reworked by the GT department), t Which is the same as the spyder and GTS models albeit a shorter gear shift! The GT3 brakes, adjustable aero with downforce,the adjustablility of the suspension settings, adjustable anti-roll bars, GT3 front end, the clubsport package... Which are not needed on a road ,occasional track car! The suspension I have mentioned not being needed in a road car! The engine is all well and good but without the above It only adds to straight line speed.not true as the spyder is only 8 seconds slower on inferior tyres so on the same tyres is not much slower ! Please read the technical differences between the two cars suspension set ups and hardware.not much difference in hardware ! they are quite different. In my opinion the Spyder will be a great car but it is not the same as a GT car however much you want to convince yourself otherwise. I am not trying to convince myself! I really think the gt4. Is being talked up if you want a track bias car buy a 997 gt3 whereas the spyder is the better road bias car over a gt4 Edited by lsb on Saturday 11th April 21:21[/footnote] [footnote]Edited by itsybitsy on Saturday 11th April 21:46

av185 said: We are basically talking about the GT4 being more hardcore than the Spyder...and rightly so. Not necessarily better road performance in the real world...but more track friendly similar to the GT3. Anyway, who wants a convertible track weapon?....not me....but the slightly less power and non GT but 'sports' tuned suspension will like as not be compensated by the reduced weight.....making road real world road performance very similar between the two cars. I agree a convertible is not the best track weapon hence porsche developed a gt4 Cayman and not a. Boxster gt4 ! Both cars have had there chassis developed for different uses but there really is not much between them until porsche put a Motorsport engine in a gt4!

itsybitsy said: Edited by itsybitsy on Saturday 11th April 21:46 No, you are right. That in- depth answer has convinced me that the GT4 is being "talked up" whilst the Spyder isn't a clever piece of timing on Porsche part by tagging onto the GT4 momentum and getting disgruntled customers who did not get an allocation a great consolation prize; instead it is much better on the road whilst being just as quick on track - a car that has no compromise it seems. Thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge which is so obviously superior to technical details I have previously read.

lsb said: No, you are right. That in- depth answer has convinced me that the GT4 is being "talked up" whilst the Spyder isn't a clever piece of timing on Porsche part by tagging onto the GT4 momentum and getting disgruntled customers who did not get an allocation a great consolation prize; instead it is much better on the road whilst being just as quick on track - a car that has no compromise it seems. so there is half as many spyders to gt4 coming that will satisfy all those disgruntled customers who did not get an allocation? Thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge which is so obviously superior to technical details I have previously read. i have no superior knowledge but a man who does {walter rohl} is buying a spyder and not a gt4! as for one who has no interest in either car at the moment i am only stating observations and if i wanted the superior track car then there is no subsitute to a 997.2 gt3!

I doubt Walter Rohrl has to "buy" his car :-) I have no doubt that the Spyder will be a great car but I doubt that the months spent by the GT team have counted for nothing when differentiating between the two cars. After owning and tracking a 996 GT3 and a 996 RS and driving a 997 RS I look forward to trying something different in the Porsche range. I am not sure how you are so sure a 997.2 GT3 is superior if you have not driven both - you may well be right but how can you write with such utter conviction without first hand experience ?? Opinion and fact are not the same thing. Substituting the former for the latter is just hot air. Edited by lsb on Saturday 11th April 23:14 Edited by lsb on Saturday 11th April 23:16

To put my side of my argument to bed until we get some real road tests is I feel the Spyder will be the better road car with occasional track use and the gt4 a better track car with occasional road use ! But I would be happy with either car and that is a dilemma I have at the moment on which way to jump. also would not be surprised if some of the development of the gt4 crossed over into the Spyder.,and it's chassis is not lesser just more suited,so back to the topic I don't think there will be a gt4 spyder

itsybitsy said: To put my side of my argument to bed until we get some real road tests is I feel the Spyder will be the better road car with occasional track use and the gt4 a better track car with occasional road use ! But I would be happy with either car and that is a dilemma I have at the moment on which way to jump. also would not be surprised if some of the development of the gt4 crossed over into the Spyder.,and it's chassis is not lesser just more suited,so back to the topic I don't think there will be a gt4 spyder +1 Producing a "GT4" Spyder would fly-in-the-face of conventional beliefs regarding the intended uses of both cars: dedicated track cars get a hard-top, sunny-day road cars get the soft-top.... To create a razor-focussed track set up on the 981 Spyder would seem a bit of an oxymoron.... The new car appears to have the necessary "upgrades" (brakes, engine, aerodynamics) to suit it's purpose well, AND perform well on track. Any further crossover of GT4 parts is almost certainly unnecessary and would be detrimental to the Spyder's road use/enjoyment. The ONLY viable reason Porsche could have for such an upgrade to the new Spyder would surely be to "milk" the car until it runs dry.... Which would be a HUGE shame.

The absence of front lift option on the GT4 is in itself quite a restricting factor for normal road use which would not apply to the Spyder.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche...

EricE said: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche... See first post on this thread?

Beaver said: EricE said: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche... See first post on this thread? I think EricE is just adding the article, which the OP wasn't able to do last week. So potential GT4 Spyder and GT4 RS, would be great. More likely to be just another Autocar story rather than reality!

g7jhp said: So potential GT4 Spyder and GT4 RS, would be great. Great if you missed out on the new Spyder, not so great if you've just bought one and Porsche then release a "hot" version for only a couple of grand more....!!

Swimfinz said: g7jhp said: So potential GT4 Spyder and GT4 RS, would be great. Great if you missed out on the new Spyder, not so great if you've just bought one and Porsche then release a "hot" version for only a couple of grand more....!! True, but as you have an original 987 Spyder and a new 981 Spyder should you choose, you can't complain too much....unless you're just speculating!

g7jhp said: True, but as you have an original 987 Spyder and a new 981 Spyder should you choose, you can't complain too much....unless you're just speculating! I wish I was in a position to speculate!! Unfortunately, in order to get hold of the new 981 Spyder I'm going to have to part with my beautiful 987 model.... A REALLY painful decision to make.... That's why I'm so determined to make the "right" decision: something difficult to do in the absence of experienced journo road-tests/ test-drives etc....Getting hold of one of the "last of its kind" in the 981 Spyder is a big factor in my decision to change, hence my concerns over any imminent "GT" version of the new car.... Trying to get an answer from the OPCs regarding this is like drawing blood from a stone....!!! I simply get the "we don't get told anything" answer, which I find pretty unbelievable...!!

Swimfinz said: I wish I was in a position to speculate!! Unfortunately, in order to get hold of the new 981 Spyder I'm going to have to part with my beautiful 987 model.... A REALLY painful decision to make.... That's why I'm so determined to make the "right" decision: something difficult to do in the absence of experienced journo road-tests/ test-drives etc....Getting hold of one of the "last of its kind" in the 981 Spyder is a big factor in my decision to change, hence my concerns over any imminent "GT" version of the new car.... Trying to get an answer from the OPCs regarding this is like drawing blood from a stone....!!! I simply get the "we don't get told anything" answer, which I find pretty unbelievable...!! Why do you find it unbelievable, I would be much more surprised if they had any idea about what is likely to happen over the next 12 -36 months, that sort of knowledge would be for the Porsche top brass not the field troops. I would guess they get a lot of their ideas on what is happening from the same media sources as the rest of us.

anonymous said: [redacted] Surely they will just wait for the mid life refresh of the 981, this would enable them to refresh the pricing (providing a justification). It would also make sense to release further GT versions i.e. RS etc.. to provide another halo product sat above the mainstream product range especially if the refresh brings with i pot4s. A better question might be what other motorsport projects do we actually think would be worked on instead? Well a GT2 is at least 18 months away.. I think its likely we see a GT4 RS before that and accompanied with a hotter GT Boxster - certainly from a product development pov it would be an easy way to carve out another latest variant, whilst completing little further R&D

I thought it was quite obvious that the new Spyder was created to regain some of the development costs for the GT4. It does share a few parts like the engine (which had to be modified to fit into the 981 platform), manual transmission with torque limiter, bumpers, some calibration and various other bits and bobs. A GT4 RS seems as good as confirmed due to the extreme success of the GT4, why would they pass up an opportunity to do the same thing again with the Boxster? Chances are that both cars will be N/A 6-cylinder and manual-only which should make them an even more attractive package in the future when the "regular" line-up gets downsized 4-cylinder turbos to meet Co2 regulations. We should be thankful that Porsche gives enthusiasts these gems, go out and try to buy a quick new N/A manual BMW and tell me how it went.

A GT4 RS is a fairly logical step. I'm sure it would be very desirable and would also fit within the overall range well. But a GT4 Spyder a bit less so. The big point about the GT4 was the fact it was full Motorsport dept car. Would the ethics of the Motorsport dept develop an open top (boxster based car). The Motorsport cars are all deliberately coupe shells (unless they have a carbon tub to play with). There has been no rush to create a GT3 convertible/targa ever. On the Boxster how would the clubsport package look? The big rear wing? I think it would devalue the motorsport element of porsche. I personally think a GT4 Spyder on top of the range is going too far. The Spyder model isn't actually meant to be limited anyway, so they could get more return back by simply producing more Spyders. The nice thing about porsche is that the range is normally quite predictable with steps to not date models that quickly or catch buyers by surprise. If you buy a certain model, you know where in the range it sits and what to expect above or below it. You don't buy a Carrera S and then get miffed they've brought out faster models. If I bought a new Spyder though, I would not expect a higher model boxster to come along. It's why I went away from lotus. If you buy a model, you don't know what is around the corner that will date it or supersede it. It's also why I would not buy (if I actually could) a new Mclaren. One minute you have the latest model, the next there is a special edition or an update with a new face slapped onto it.

DS240 said: A GT4 RS is a fairly logical step. I'm sure it would be very desirable and would also fit within the overall range well. But a GT4 Spyder a bit less so. The big point about the GT4 was the fact it was full Motorsport dept car. Would the ethics of the Motorsport dept develop an open top (boxster based car). The Motorsport cars are all deliberately coupe shells (unless they have a carbon tub to play with). There has been no rush to create a GT3 convertible/targa ever. On the Boxster how would the clubsport package look? The big rear wing? I think it would devalue the motorsport element of porsche. I think it's right the GT3 doesn't go convertible/targa - the turbo fills that spot. Porsche does have the 918 Spyder and I think there's room for a more focused GT4 Spyder. Most of the more focused motorsport manufacturers offer open top cars - Radical, Caterham, Lotus etc. The original Porsche 550 Spyder was a racing car that could be used on the road, so it's in the genes. DS240 said: The nice thing about porsche is that the range is normally quite predictable with steps to not date models that quickly or catch buyers by surprise. If you buy a certain model, you know where in the range it sits and what to expect above or below it. You don't buy a Carrera S and then get miffed they've brought out faster models. If I bought a new Spyder though, I would not expect a higher model boxster to come along. Didn't they do exactly this when they introduced the 997 GTS over the 997 C2S? Although not as drastic as some, Porsche still have a history of introducing 'special editions' usually to sell through product before the new platform model. Anniversary cars, black editions, turbo S, 918 Spyder edition etc