Porsche Puts 2019 718 Boxster Spyder Through Its Paces
An undisguised prototype of the 2020 718 Boxster Spyder has been spied out-and-about on the Nurburgring, looking and sounding absolutely superb. Porsche has been testing the hardcore version of its roadster for quite some time now and it is widely assumed that the car will be mechanically identical to the upcoming 718 Cayman GT4. If that is indeed the case, power wil come from a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six 鈥渂orrowed鈥?from the 911 GT3, albeit detuned to produce around 430 hp mark. That may be well down on the 500 hp of the GT3, but the mid-engine layout, smaller dimensions and lower weight of the Boxster Spyder promise to more than make up for the inferior power. What鈥檚 more, enthusiasts will be pleased to know that the sports car will feature a manual transmission. Curiously, the prototype in question does not sound anywhere near as brutal as the GT3. We鈥檙e hoping this is simply because the driver isn鈥檛 driving the car to its limits or, maybe, the exhaust system is not the final item. All reports around the new Boxster Spyder point towards it being lighter than the regular 718 Boxster.
6490 RS performance package to gain magnetic ride suspension (along with a host of other features noted at the bottom of the review) to make it a usable daily. The transmission in the old A45 didn鈥檛 like going all that slow either, while the new A45鈥檚 updated system seems far more composed and willing to be quietly driven around town at low speeds without any jerky notions. As does the S Tronic gearbox in the RS3. Both cars were set to Comfort mode and had their air conditioning blasting. After about 20 minutes, the AMG鈥檚 engine temperature was sitting noticeably above normal (3/4), even though it was hardly getting out of second gear, while the Audi appeared to have no such temperature issues. After a while, the Merc also presented us with tyre pressure errors, as well as a failure in the adaptive headlights. It鈥檚 hard to say if these were temperature related, but the Audi had no such problems. Both these problems went away in the AMG after some time.
Both cars were filled up with BP Ultimate 98 RON fuel before the city loop and then refilled again after covering identical distances. The Audi used 3.9 litres of fuel while the Mercedes used 3.88L of fuel. Nearly identical in start-stop traffic. Over the bumpy roads heading from Kelvin Grove through the city and back, both cars absorbed the bumps with limited annoyance to passengers. They are surprisingly not all that much firmer than their donor cars. In fact, the adaptive and magnetic suspensions probably result in a better overall experiences. It鈥檚 difficult to give a definitive answer on which was more comfortable, as the Mercedes tended to absorb the initial shocks from potholes or speed bumps better than the Audi, but the Ingolstadt-bred hatch settled quicker post-trauma. While idling in traffic in Sports (AMG) or Dynamic (RS) mode, both cars sound possessed. The Audi has a nicer idle with a deeper burble and a rougher sound that suits its nature. The AMG, though, loves to crackle and pop on the slightest bit of acceleration, while it takes some serious use of the right foot to get the Audi to get theatrical.
More on that in the dynamic test. Both cars have a reversing camera and reasonable rear visibility, though they are also equally terrible at doing three point turns (11m turning circle for both). And it took us far too long to work out how to make the AMG park itself, so we gave up, while the RS is a simple button to activate the system. Both are the sort of car you鈥檇 definitely let your wife drive to the shops without having a panic attack (or the other way around). They sit high enough not to bottom out, while the general manoeuvrability of each car in tight spaces is probably better than you鈥檇 expect despite the terrible turning circle. Overall, there鈥檚 not all that much between them when it comes to the everyday commute. We found both cars blended in with traffic with minimal attention garnered, which is a shame in one way but a blessing in another. From our perspective, if the everyday commute was a big factor in the purchase decision, you would probably lean more towards the Audi. But only because it looks better inside and out, and offers more comfortable seats. 8885 more than the also-optioned-up AMG though, and you couldn鈥檛 buy it without the magnetic ride option (which Audi really should package independently as a cheaper option), which equals out their final scoring for the road test. Ultimately though, we are talking about sports cars here and you are paying a lot of money for their performance credentials, so that should mean more than around town livability. During our initial in-city and traffic road tests, it was obvious that the AMG was like a scalpel waiting to go to work.