Porsche Boxster Spyder
The roadster the purists kept asking for.
DFI 3.4, A/C deleted, top raised by hand.
3 reviewers · 5 videos
Reviewers strongly agree on its performance and handling, but split on value.
across 3 reviewers
"i think they're actually undervalued right now"
Zygrene · ▶ 13:31"This car costs £46,000 that's £5,000 more than the standard car and you get Less in return"
Top Gear · ▶ 2:52Performance
4.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“The 3.4 l Flat 6 now has 320 horsepower 10 more than the standard boxers and because it's lighter not to 60 is done in just 5 Seconds”
positive · Top Gear · ▶ 3:23“it has 320 horsepower... it handles it perfectly”
positive · Zygrene · ▶ 12:56“It's 3.4 L in capacity. It's DFI direct fuel injection... 320 horsepower at 7,200 RPM.”
positive · 9WERKS TV · ▶ 5:00Handling
5.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“hydraulic steering... way better than any electric rack... super playful”
positive · Zygrene · ▶ 12:20“I've owned a standard box to s for the last four years and I can promise you this is better it's reier it's more eager”
positive · Top Gear · ▶ 4:12“You can feel how lightweight this car is. Not just in the way it shifts, but in the way it goes through corners as well. The way it steers even.”
positive · 9WERKS TV · ▶ 10:41Fun to drive
5.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“this is a really happy car it's full of vibrant energy and enthusiasm”
positive · Top Gear · ▶ 7:12“he drives a boxer spider way more because it's way more you can rev it out way easier”
positive · Zygrene · ▶ 14:17“It's a fantastic case study in the joy of pure back to basics sports car driving.”
positive · 9WERKS TV · ▶ 13:06Daily drivability
2.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“what if you're driving along with the roof down and suddenly it starts to rain... it was a nightmare”
critical · Top Gear · ▶ 5:49“Is it a car to drive around in all year? No, to be honest, because again reference the roof is the big player... you need a garage uh to stick this car when you're not driving it.”
critical · 9WERKS TV · ▶ 12:05“it's not a good daily”
critical · Zygrene · ▶ 27:14Value
4.0/53 of 3 reviewerssplit“i think they're actually undervalued right now”
positive · Zygrene · ▶ 13:31“This car costs £46,000 that's £5,000 more than the standard car and you get Less in return”
critical · Top Gear · ▶ 2:52“If you're interested in one of these, it's important therefore to find the right car for you because depending on the spec of the car really will dictate how you're going to use it.”
positive · 9WERKS TV · ▶ 8:19Mechanically, the first Boxster Spyder ran the 987.2's MA1.20 3.4-litre DFI flat-six, lifted 10 hp over the Boxster S of the day and — because this is a direct-injection MA1 motor — free of the intermediate-shaft worry that haunts earlier M96/M97 Boxsters. The point was mass, not power. Porsche stripped it to the lightest car it sold: aluminium doors, lightweight buckets, A/C and radio deleted as standard, and the now-signature manual two-piece top — a tent-like shade you raise by hand rather than a powered roof. In the lineage, the 987 is the purist's prototype: 20mm-lower sport suspension, the humped twin-fairing deck every later Spyder would inherit, and a kerb weight that undercut the S by well over 150 lb. PDK was offered, but the manual is the one owners chase. It reads today as the moment Porsche decided the Boxster could be a deliberate lightweight rather than the entry car — the idea the 981 and 982 Spyders would later take to the GT-engine extreme.
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
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Signature manual two-piece fabric top — raised by hand, not powered. A/C and radio deleted as standard for weight (re-addable as no-cost options). A DFI MA1 engine, so the intermediate-shaft (IMS) bearing concern of earlier M96/M97 Boxsters does not apply.