What is the Spyder RS?

[ralphmusic]

The car is not at its best on long autobahn and autoroute journeys with wind and engine noise but it comes alive on normal country roads. I’ve done around 1200 miles so far on this trip and am looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

I visited a Manthey Porsche GT Circle event at Boxberg on the Stuttgart/Leipzig journey today. This consisted of one group doing Meister driving course in Porsche supplied GT3 RS and two other groups in their own GT cars on general handling and speed training.

Jorg Bergmeister was on hand for the Meister programme but also treated the other groups to a couple of passenger laps on a Manthey full fat GT3RS.

No camera allowed so no pics.

 

[JCX]

The car is not at its best on long autobahn and autoroute journeys with wind and engine noise but it comes alive on normal country roads. I’ve done around 1200 miles so far on this trip and am looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

I visited a Manthey Porsche GT Circle event at Boxberg on the Stuttgart/Leipzig journey today. This consisted of one group doing Meister driving course in Porsche supplied GT3 RS and two other groups in their own GT cars on general handling and speed training.

Jorg Bergmeister was on hand for the Meister programme but also treated the other groups to a couple of passenger laps on a Manthey full fat GT3RS.

No camera allowed so no pics.

How do you find the DSC controller? Does it dramatically reduce the weight transfer in various braking/turning/accelerating situations?

Would you buy it again if you didn’t already have it?

 

[ralphmusic]

Is the question in relation to my old Cayman?

 

[JCX]

Is the question in relation to my old Cayman?

No it was relating to your SRS. But upon reflection I think you only suggested that you may need one as opposed to actually having one.

Did your geo eliminate the rear axel hop and the front end vagueness?

 

[ralphmusic]

The settings are good at my track speeds with turn in and stability under braking being fine.

Along the pit straight at Goodwood there was a momentary hop under full power just by the pit entrance but only IF I was in the middle of the track. Of course one should be closer to the pit wall at that point tracking diagonally left over the length of the pit straight to Madgewick entry and on this line there is no hop.

I have only run at Spa and Goodwood so far and at Spa the setup was also good.

 

[JCX]

The settings are good at my track speeds with turn in and stability under braking being fine.

Along the pit straight at Goodwood there was a momentary hop under full power just by the pit entrance but only IF I was in the middle of the track. Of course one should be closer to the pit wall at that point tracking diagonally left over the length of the pit straight to Madgewick entry and on this line there is no hop.

I have only run at Spa and Goodwood so far and at Spa the setup was also good.

Good news. And on B-roads when pressing on?

 

[ralphmusic]

The settings are good at my track speeds with turn in and stability under braking being fine.

Along the pit straight at Goodwood there was a momentary hop under full power just by the pit entrance but only IF I was in the middle of the track. Of course one should be closer to the pit wall at that point tracking diagonally left over the length of the pit straight to Madgewick entry and on this line there is no hop.

I have only run at Spa and Goodwood so far and at Spa the setup was also good.

Good news. And on B-roads when pressing on?

I don’t press on sufficiently on public roads.

 

[JCX]

I don’t press on sufficiently on public roads.

So there is zero drama at legal speeds on twisty roads? Sounds fab.

 

[MrDemon]

at legal speeds no car gives any drama these days. Tracks is the only place for the 4RS.

 

[ralphmusic]

Up to 5,600 miles with another 3 Goodwood days and other trips including Beaulieu Supercar and Silverstone Festival with the Racing Club where we had use of a suite in the Brooklands building.

Drive by noise at Goodwood was around 96dB even with noise reducing tips so running there on 98dB static days is borderline. Static noise is 88dB with 4k soft limiter.

I cancelled two Thruxton days (90dB static) after the Goodwood day learning as I would pass static but fail drive by.

There were race teams preparing for the Revival on the last Goodwood day including a Mr Button in a C-Type and a full race Cobra.





I am running PFC pads which have good initial bite but otherwise all standard parts. Goodwood days do not usually have race teams prepping for race meetings but they follow the rules and add to the eclectic mix of cars on GRRC days. Looks like tyres will be best replaced for next year, getting a little track tired.

I try to stay in the centre of Chichester in the Cathedral grounds where there is good accommodation and parking. This partially makes up for the 5 hour journey from Exeter to Chichester in summer traffic jams.



The car has not missed a beat, hood is a "work of art" which you either accept as a feature or a reason to sell the car.

Loads new and used for sale in UK, Germany is the same although there are more new unregistered cars there than here, and production will finally come to an end in a month/six weeks. No replacement EV on the horizon - Porsche have just announced a normally aspirated new Macan for 2028 so perhaps they will similarly look to use an Audi platform for the 718 na replacement (in 2028?)

 

[ralphmusic]

First Year:

Just over a year since delivered and 7000 miles covered in the UK, France, Belgium and Germany at an average 19.99 mpg with fuel costing £2,340. Brake upgrade (pads) and alignment £2,330 and replacement tyre after damage from road surface £310. Insurance cover for 7500 miles was £1,690 plus £224 for a Spa track day.

Got it dirty early in February at the Pomeroy Trophy

Visited Spa en-route to join Club factory tour in Stuttgart

At Museum in Stuttgart

Visited Leipzig factory

... and was overtaken by Jenson Button on a GRRC trackday (pic in earlier post).

I sold a 718 GT4 and a 718 4.0L Boxster to fund the purchase. It's a really unique car that when asked whether they should get one, I generally suggest aspects of it (hood & noise) are not for everyone. Those characteristics don't bother me over the general experience. On occasions I think back to the GTS with its power hood and that my wife would actually passenger in it, but really she values comfort of other cars and it's my toy.

Economics on the car have not been great re residuals and I am putting miles on using it, but I'm planning on keeping it until probate so government will pay 40% of depreciation.

No problems with car aside from normal "roof not secure" message even when roof is stowed in the rear trunk, oil level still the right side of 50%, Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres have not been tricky so left them on. I did scuff one carbon roll hoop cover when wrestling with the hood but PPF protected the carbon and was replaced. I carry a centre-lock removal kit for emergencies and hope never to have to use it.

For 2026 I'm planning on more events, fewer track days (track cover becoming difficult) and possibly to Germany for one or two events. Insurance is the same as last year and it'll need a 2 year service at 12,000 miles and maybe I'll replace the tyres then - back to Cup2 or possibly a Michelin road tyre depending expected use.

Looking forward to another good year with this 'mad as a box of frogs' car.

 

[Scrounger]

Great to hear you're still enjoying the SRS Ralph. It's good to see you're using it as intended rather than being a garage queen as I'm sure many are.

Depreciation only becomes a factor when/if you come to sell it but you can't put a price on life experiences. After our Euro trip last year I most probably will never sell my GTS, too many memories and it ticks pretty much every box for me. I'm hoping my kids will enjoy it as much as I do when I'm gone (hopefully not for a while though).

How to you find the engine noise when on the motorways? Is it really that loud or does that only become apparent when 'pushing on'?

Dan

 

[MrDemon]

Nice, I still could not buy one for these 4 reasons.

1: Roof up speeds and wind noise
2: the noise over all with that intake
3: low MPG on log runs, does not help with those even shorter ratio's buzzing you at 100mph !!!
4: less midrange torque at 3k revs than the 4.0 GTS or a normal 718 Spyder !!

I was just about to buy another 718 Spyder and remap it to 450BHP but it's sold a day before I went to see it very annoying who buys a Spyder in the snow ! . But I feel a PDK 718 to be a much nicer car all round than the RS. And of course £40k cheaper !
SRS is a strange car and just not that sort after now in the UK or Europe for what ever reasons that might be ! maybe the same reasons I don't want one even £30k below list. If they get to £95k I might buy one for a Sunday 30 minute blat car. But it's not a car I would ever tour in Europe in or want to drive down a motorway.

 

[ralphmusic]

Great to hear you're still enjoying the SRS Ralph. It's good to see you're using it as intended rather than being a garage queen as I'm sure many are.

Depreciation only becomes a factor when/if you come to sell it but you can't put a price on life experiences. After our Euro trip last year I most probably will never sell my GTS, too many memories and it ticks pretty much every box for me. I'm hoping my kids will enjoy it as much as I do when I'm gone (hopefully not for a while though).

How to you find the engine noise when on the motorways? Is it really that loud or does that only become apparent when 'pushing on'?

Dan

Dan,

At legal motorway speeds in the UK and Continental Europe of up to 130kph (aside from derestricted Autobahn) it's OK. Autobahn speeds not so much but at least 200kph/125mph is max recommended hood up (I exceeded that by 2 mph at Goodwood and the event shows up on a PIWIS scan). The fastest I've been is 152mph top down before braking for Woodcote at Goodwood and I wasn't thinking of the noise!

The primary sound is open throttle induction noise which is quite attractive (to me) but at any steady speed this is not loud. The wind/roof/windows hood up noise is as might be expected given the arrangement. With the hood off there is more wind buffeting than in the Boxster GTS. In good (not raining) weather I run with the hood off except on a long journey where the hood means no buffeting and calmer overall.

Ralph

 

[ralphmusic]

Nice, I still could not buy one for these 4 reasons.

1: Roof up speeds and wind noise
2: the noise over all with that intake
3: low MPG on log runs, does not help with those even shorter ratio's buzzing you at 100mph !!!
4: less midrange torque at 3k revs than the 4.0 GTS or a normal 718 Spyder !!

I was just about to buy another 718 Spyder and remap it to 450BHP but it's sold a day before I went to see it very annoying who buys a Spyder in the snow ! . But I feel a PDK 718 to be a much nicer car all round than the RS. And of course £40k cheaper !
SRS is a strange car and just not that sort after now in the UK or Europe for what ever reasons that might be ! maybe the same reasons I don't want one even £30k below list. If they get to £95k I might buy one for a Sunday 30 minute blat car. But it's not a car I would ever tour in Europe in or want to drive down a motorway.

We agree, "It's a really unique car that when asked whether they should get one, I generally suggest aspects of it (hood & noise) are not for everyone. Those characteristics don't bother me over the general experience. On occasions I think back to the GTS with its power hood and that my wife would actually passenger in it, but really she values comfort of other cars and it's my toy."

 

[MrDemon]

why I have waited so long on a even a 718 PDK Spyder is if I should just buy the last of the 4.0 GTS boxsters. Head really just says buy a 4.0 GTS Boxster and fit an exhaust and remap.
A working roof with a button and a remap offering 450NM torque just make more sense to me, but my heart wants the 718 PDK Spdyer even though it would annoy me more of the time.

I never put the roof down on my manual 718 Spyder very often to be fair, because I could not be arsed, in a GTS I would have it up and down all the time. plus I love the rear tyres only being 265's makes the car feel very alive on the road over the 295's

I adore my Cayman GTS PDK 4.0 SPASM car. it's just a great car to drive every day of my life. then I run the 992 GT3 touring at the week ends.