Defenders of the Boxster and Cayman—you know who you are—have spent years deflecting tiresome, reductive takes from fans of the brand’s more storied sports car. To wit: “Well, not everyone can afford a 911.” Or, with a smugly arched eyebrow, “Porsche would never give the Boxster enough power and technology to really compete.”
So it gave me great pleasure to drive a 718 Spyder RS from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and leave a few drivers of that other Porsche sputtering when I flew past. Really, fellas, try and keep up. It helped that I picked a great road to spring surprise attacks: The Palms to Pines Scenic Byway traces 62 thrilling miles from cactus country into the forests of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto ranges, with temperatures that plummet as the elevation rises.
There’s so much to love about the 718 Spyder RS, a Boxster so good that Porsche, perhaps unfairly, doesn’t officially call it a Boxster. But we managed to choose five things that made us gaga over this rare-and-sizzling RS, a Rennsport name first applied to the 718 RSK racer in 1957, six years before the 911 broke cover in Frankfurt. And because no car is perfect, we focused a critical gaze on three issues that vex to varying degrees. So hop aboard with us, compare notes, and see if you concur with the pluses and minuses of the 718 Spyder RS.
1) A Flat Six from Heaven
A Boxster has never needed supercar levels of power to have fun. But after years of playing backup, the Spyder RS steps to the front with a superstar engine. Straight outta the track-slaying GT3 RS, the 4.0-liter flat-six combines 493 horsepower with an addictive 9,000-rpm redline, conducted through a PDK automated gearbox with seven shortened gear ratios. The Spyder RS storms to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, dispatches a quarter-mile in 11.3 seconds, and can hit a literally hair-raising 191 mph. On paper, the 331 pound-feet of torque doesn’t blow you away. But it’s all about the journey to those naturally aspirated peaks, rather than the glut of perfunctory torque served up by turbocharged cars or electric vehicles. This svelte roadster reacts to the slightest touch of the accelerator. There’s dry-sump lubrication for trusty lubrication under extreme g-force loads. Individual throttle bodies for each of the six cylinders. It’s a madcap distillation of motorsport tech in a street-legal machine.
2) Heavy Music
When it comes to sound, an engine is only as good as its supporting cast. First, the Spyder RS strips away sound deadening. And the engine’s mid-engine positioning and plumbing are key to the Porsche’s metallic, Marshall-stack thunder. Versus its closed-roof cousin, the Cayman GT4 RS, the Spyder RS has room for an extra set of intakes ahead of the rear roll bars—just behind the noggins and eardrums of a driver and passenger. Those intakes direct airflow to a central box behind the rear seats. So whether the fabric roof is on or off, occupants are treated to an immersive aural experience.
A lightweight stainless-steel exhaust, tipped with titanium with the optional ($12,570) Weissach Package, amplifies a tune that changes color and intensity across the full spectrum of engine revs. A chesty baritone down low rises to a shrieking six-cylinder crescendo at its peak. A console button makes it even louder.
3) Lithe & Lovely
The Boxster has grown more extroverted and detailed since its tub-shaped, retro-tinged original of 1997. But the RS takes things to a whole ’nother level. The Spyder looks pretty, powerful, and exclusive. And it avoids the lurid, animalistic attitude that can make a 911 GT3 RS seem overmuch on the street.
The Spyder’s signature element is dual fairings that swell from the rear decklid, a look that recalls a sexy speedboat. Form follows function with widened front and rear axles, the former borrowed near-intact from that GT3 RS. The body incorporates all sorts of slats and cleavages to move air where it’s needed, including NACA ducts for brake cooling and underbody flow. A natty ducktail spoiler curls up at the rear. For even more visual “kapow,” the Weissach Package uses lightweight, exposed carbon fiber for the hood, intakes, mirror caps, and other parts.
4) Immersive & Involving
There are faster cars. There are more powerful cars. But I struggle to think of a current sports car that’s more rewarding and pleasurable to drive than the 718 Spyder RS, especially with the roof stowed and occupants sniffing the breeze like happy pups. Compared with a 911 GT3 RS, or the stiffer-sprung Cayman GT4 RS, the Spyder RS is designed to perform its best tricks on the street.
En route to Palm Springs, the Spyder leads me through the trickiest tests like a Zen master, albeit one with a German accent. This Porsche responds to the most subtle caress of its slim-section steering wheel or brake pedal, the latter with optional carbon-ceramic brakes that amp my confidence in gut-check mountain curves. This roadster’s inimitable mid-engine balance is boosted with a smartly tuned adaptive suspension and Porsche Torque Vectoring. As ever, light makes right, with a svelte curb weight of 3,214 pounds.
5) Mission Control
Forget the flash, whether it’s boy-racer details or trendy digital gimmickry. The Spyder RS is all business inside, from its carbon-fiber-backed full bucket seats to a Race-Tex clad steering wheel with a blessedly slim, 360-mm (14.2-in.) diameter. Ingress and egress aren’t the easiest, but you’ll thank those burly seat bolsters the first time you pitch the Porsche into a corner, whether on the road or a race course.
And now, here are three things we’d change in this otherwise faultless performer:
1) Fiddling with the Roof
The price of the Spyder’s romantic style is the loss of the Boxster’s conventional power-folding top. In a perfect world, owners will save the Spyder for days with ideal weather forecasts, and leave its roughly 40-pound, two-piece fabric roof in the garage—ideally in a box marked “Rube Goldberg.”
The Bimini-style top, which Porsche says is mainly to shield occupants from too much sun, takes minutes to erect or stow, as you strain to line up and hook the top to the windshield header, and then fiddle with tension hoops and cables and a pair of pop-up, fold-down anchoring clips.
A separate weather guard can be buttoned across the back in case of severe weather. The fussy process is like erecting a tiny pup tent without directions. It also requires hopping out and repeatedly walking around the car, especially when you’re driving solo. But things do get easier with practice. And sans top, the Spyder’s seamless silhouette makes it look exotic and desirable as it glides down the road.
2) No Manual
Since this is a fantasy Boxster, the fantasy should extend to an optional manual shifter, no excuses. One consolation is a PDK automated gearbox whose tall console lever mimics a manual’s look. The other is the PDK itself, including millisecond-quick changes, and a PDK sport mode with enough shift feedback to feel through a pair of driving or racing gloves. Tugging the stick rearward elicits manual upshifts, with a forward flick for downshifts, recalling motorsport gearboxes. You can also thwack steering-wheel paddles to your heart’s content. But a clutch pedal and an old-school stick would send this car even more over-the-top.
3) So, You Expected a Bargain?
If the 718 Spyder RS performs like a top-shelf 911, it’s priced like one at $164,200 to start. That includes a $1,300 gas-guzzler penalty for its 16-mpg combined fuel economy. With options including a Weissach Package and a $15,640 set of magnesium wheels, my test Spyder RS would cost $211,090 (!) in showrooms. That’s nearly three times the $74,900 price of a base-model 2025 718 Boxster! It’s also sneaking toward a $244,995 base price for a 2025 911 GT3 RS.
That said, some fans are clearly eager to ante up. Especially with Porsche—if it doesn’t change its mind—readying the retirement of gasoline-powered 718s in favor of an electric-only lineup. This Spyder RS appears to mark the end of an internal-combustion era, making it catnip to certain collectors. Putting myself in their driving shoes, I only foresee one problem: Keeping mileage in check, with the Spyder RS begging to come out and play every time you walk past.
