Porsche 718 Spyder RS
The 911 GT3's 9,000-rpm flat-six dropped into an open-top Boxster — PDK only, no roof to hide behind.
GT3-derived 4.0, 9,000 rpm, PDK-only halo.
15 reviewers · 17 videos
Reviewers strongly agree on its performance and handling, but split on daily drivability and value.
across 15 reviewers
"Porsche has reduced the spring rates on the suspension to give it a softer ride more compliant more daily driver usable."
Doug DeMuro · ▶ 5:05"this requires you to make a Time investment in it and to put up with an awful lot of stuff"
The Intercooler · ▶ 19:58"this is a glorious special object and it's worth every bit of the 200 Grand that it costs"
Motor1 · ▶ 7:01"it's £50,000 more expensive"
The Intercooler · ▶ 25:30Performance
5.0/515 of 15 reviewersstrong consensus“it's that final RPM that just hooks you in from 8 until 9 there's a harder Edge to the howl and it absolutely fly it really builds horsepower that last 1000 RPM”
positive · Harry's garage · ▶ 12:09“it's actually the valve overlap above 8,000 RPM that makes it sound like the engine's about to explode in a very satisfying way”
positive · Motor1 · ▶ 0:58“The 4 L naturally aspirated Flat 6 lifted from the 911 GT3 and put into a boxer... it has about 495 horsepower and about 330 lbet of torque.”
positive · Doug DeMuro · ▶ 2:04Handling
5.0/515 of 15 reviewersstrong consensus“the box is such a balanced chassis it it's just dreamy in this spec”
positive · Harry's garage · ▶ 15:06“handling is as good as you'd expect actually it's amazing there's no rigidity lost from the GT4 RS as far as I know”
positive · Motor1 · ▶ 2:05“the steering is fantastic tremendously precise and so is the handling that the car is flat it is predictable it Corners perfectly.”
positive · Doug DeMuro · ▶ 3:45Fun to drive
5.0/515 of 15 reviewersstrong consensus“it really created an outstanding package”
positive · TheTopher · ▶ 30:39“it's impossible not to love this car purely from that engine transforms this car it's coming completely different with that Motorsport engine”
positive · Harry's garage · ▶ 17:21“it's moving it's dancing it moves more like a Cayman GTS and less like an RS so there's yaw motion”
positive · Motor1 · ▶ 5:02Daily drivability
4.0/515 of 15 reviewerssplit“Porsche has reduced the spring rates on the suspension to give it a softer ride more compliant more daily driver usable.”
positive · Doug DeMuro · ▶ 5:05“It's a lovely lovely comfortable car to cruise around in and that just shouldn't be the case.”
positive · Joe Achilles · ▶ 17:49“this is much more approachable the suspension is so much more forgiving”
positive · Zygrene · ▶ 13:31Value
3.5/515 of 15 reviewerssplit“this is a glorious special object and it's worth every bit of the 200 Grand that it costs”
positive · Motor1 · ▶ 7:01“it's £50,000 more expensive”
critical · The Intercooler · ▶ 25:30“one of the greatest sports cars on sale today at any price.”
positive · Doug DeMuro · ▶ 26:51Mechanically, the Spyder RS swaps the GT4's 4.0 for the GT3-derived 9A2 Evo — the 992 GT3 and 718 GT4 RS engine — 493 hp at 8,400 rpm and a 9,000 rpm ceiling, fed by the intake snorkels mounted just behind the occupants' heads. It is PDK-only, like every modern RS; the manual that defined the lesser Spyders is gone by design. The hardware is GT4 RS: ball-jointed suspension, the RS aero and cooling package, carbon-ceramics optional. Where it places in the lineage, this is the open-top GT4 RS, not a trim of the regular Spyder — a separate, GT-grade halo. The +79 hp, the extra 1,000 rpm of redline and the unfiltered induction put it on a different tier, and Porsche frames it as the pinnacle of mid-engine open-top driving. It is also a full stop: the final newly-developed combustion-engine 718 before the line goes electric, which is why it was spoken for almost immediately. Where the manual Spyders were about lightness and analogue feel, the RS is about the GT engine — the most extreme the badge has ever been.
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
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GT3-derived 9A2 Evo 4.0 shared with the 718 Cayman GT4 RS and 992 GT3. Process-air intake snorkels sit just behind the occupants' heads for the induction soundtrack. PDK-only. The final newly-developed combustion-engine 718 before the line goes electric.