New Porsche 718 Spyder RS now available to order

New Launches 

If you're planning a trip to this year's Goodwood Festival you'd better not blink. If you do there's a chance you'll miss what could turn out to be the best two-seater sports car you could possibly lease. Powerful, agile, perfectly balanced, and making its UK debut at the festival will be the brand-new Porsche 718 Spyder RS, otherwise known as the Porsche Boxster.

But this is no ordinary Boxster. Thirty years after the original concept car was revealed, Porsche has now launched the most powerful version yet of the popular mid-engined roadster.

The 718 designation actually applies to all of the Cayman and Boxster models which now sit in the same range, the main difference being the coupe or soft-top body options. The 718 Spyder RS sits at the top of that range and is the open-top counterpart to the Cayman GT4 RS.

The front end of the new Porsche 718 Spyder RS is almost identical to that of the Cayman GT4 RS. The standard front bonnet is made of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) for lightness while side blades on the outer ends of the bumper increase downforce. The front spoiler lip is slightly shorter than on the Cayman GT4 RS, and instead of a wing, the Spyder RS features a striking ducktail rear edge.



The new 718 Spyder RS comes with a manually operated single-layer lightweight soft-top consisting of two parts: a sun sail and a weather deflector. Both are completely removable and can be stowed together or singly in the vehicle. The sun sail can be used alone to shade the occupants from intense sunlight, or together with the weather deflector to create a complete top that provides effective protection against rain. And if you fancy saving an additional eight kilograms from the weight of the car you can leave the top at home entirely, which also makes the sound of the engine through the lightweight stainless steel sports exhaust system an even more compelling experience.

The 718 Spyder RS also comes as standard with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), mechanical limited-slip differential, ball-jointed suspension bearings, and 20-inch diameter forged aluminium wheels.

And the best part is what you'll find under the bonnet – although being mid-engined that's a metaphorical bonnet.

For the first time, there's a Boxster with an enormously powerful engine in the shape of the 500bhp six-cylinder engine usually found in the 911 GT3.

 

The 4.0-litre engine revs up to 9,000 rpm and combined with a short-ratio seven-speed PDK transmission propels the Spyder RS from 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds. The car reaches 124 mph in just 10.9 seconds and will keep going until it hits the top speed of 191 mph. Despite the supercar performance the lightweight roadster should still return around 21mpg so it won't even cost that much to run – relatively speaking of course.

If that's not enough for you there's also an optional Weissach Package featuring lightweight forged magnesium wheels, titanium tips for the sports exhaust, and the upper part of the dashboard covered with anti-glare Race-Tex material. Porsche will also do you a titanium watch with carbon dial designed to match the configuration of the car if you've got an extra £10k going spare.

Make no mistake, this is the most powerful Boxster ever made so consequently it's also the most expensive.

Prices for the Porsche 718 Spyder RS start from £123,000. Add the Weissach package and a few other options and you could quickly bump that up past the £160,000 mark. And that's before you add the Swiss watch to the bill.

All of which points to the most obvious conclusion. If you really want the pinnacle of German engineering in a two-seater sports car then leasing the new Porsche 718 Spyder RS is definitely the way to go.

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