Sneak peek: 2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder

This is the Porsche Boxster Spyder, and it will be the lightest Porsche on the market in February 2010 when it arrives in showrooms around the world. It weighs in at 1275kg, fitted with PDK, which makes it 90kg lighter than a PDK equipped Boxster.

Adding more sweetness to the package is news that the Spyder will produce 320bhp from its 3.4 litre flat six. More astute Porsche connoisseurs will have already clocked that is 10bhp more than a Boxster S.

With the roof up, the fabric only cover is unlikely to do more than offer basic protection. Porsche have said the Spyder “has been developed first and foremost for driving in the open air”. Which also probably explains why they didn’t bother too much with how the roof looks.

If you are chasing that wind in your hair feeling, though, you can do this in very brisk fashion by sprinting to 100km/h in a mere 4.8 seconds. With retuned suspension you can bet that Stuttgart’s finest have made the most of lighter weight to ensure this car steers and handles with absolute precision.

The rear bulges over the engine cover are not the most convincing aesthetic solution ever seen on a motor car, but this is a small price to pay for what is sure to be a cracking drive. Speaking of prices,European customers will be paying a bit under €63,500(AU$105,000) to drive a Spyder away from their favourite Porsche dealer. The public will get their first look at the Boxster Spyder at the LA Motor Show in December.

More after the break.

Purist Mid-Engined Roadster is the Lightest Porsche

Light, Efficient, Open: Boxster Spyder Making World Debut in Los Angeles

Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is introducing a new top version of the Porsche Boxster, a light mid-engined roadster making its world debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in December.

Weighing just 1,275 kg or 2,811 lb, the Boxster Spyder is the lightest model throughout the entire range of Porsche cars. Clearly recognisable right from the start, this new mid-engined roadster represents the true, purist form of the Porsche sports car – light, powerful, consistently open, and very efficient.

This is precisely the formula already applied in creating Porsche’s most successful road-going sports and racing cars, ranging from the legendary 550 Spyder all the way to the RS Spyder so successful in motorsport today.

The Boxster Spyder now continues this clear-cut philosophy with full homologation for the road, thus reflecting a common wish expressed by Porsche customers. The new model is entering the market in February 2010 as the third version in the Boxster range, joining the Boxster and Boxster S.

The new member of the Boxster family stands out clearly at very first sight from the other versions of Porsche’s mid-engined roadster. Quite simply because the Boxster Spyder has been developed first and foremost for driving in the open air, the low-slung, light soft top extending far to the rear serving exclusively to protect the driver and passenger from bright sunshine, wind and weather. When closed, the soft top, together with the extra-low side windows and the two striking bulges on the single-piece rear lid, boasts a stretched and sleek silhouette reminiscent of the Carrera GT.

Significantly less weight than the Boxster S, a lower centre of gravity and an all-new sports suspension give the Boxster Spyder the right kind of driving dynamics clearly reflecting the unique look of the car.

The Boxster Spyder features a 3.4-litre six-cylinder with Direct Fuel Injection upfront of the rear axle. Maximum output is 320 bhp, 10 bhp more than in the Boxster S.

Equipped with PDK Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe and the Sports Chrono Package, the new Spyder, using Launch Control, accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Again with optional PDK, fuel consumption is a mere 9.3 litres on 100 kilometres (equal to 30.4 mpg imp) in the NEDC New European Driving Cycle. Top speed, in turn, is 267 km/h or 166 mph – with the roof open.

In terms of its fundamental concept, the entire Boxster family is the successor to the legendary 550 Spyder built back in 1953, both models sharing the same mid-engine roadster concept, low weight, back-to-the-roots lifestyle, and supreme agility combined with equally outstanding driving pleasure.

The 550 Spyder was the first sports car from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen developed specifically for racing but also homologated for the road. In the years following its production, this unique Spyder weighing only 550 kg or 1,213 lb, scored numerous victories on race circuits and in the road races so popular at the time.

The 550 Spyder was followed by other extremely successful Porsche Spyders such as the 718 RS 60 in 1960.

In 2004 and 2008 Porsche dedicated a limited edition of special Boxsters bearing the additional name Spyder to these legendary racing cars. By contrast, the new Boxster Spyder is a regular, specially developed and upgraded production model with far-reaching modifications versus the Boxster and Boxster S.

Market introduction of the new Porsche Boxster Spyder will start worldwide in February 2010. The base price in the Euro countries is 53,100 Euro. Including 19 per cent VAT and national specifications, the market price of the new Porsche Boxster Spyder is 63,404 Euro.