Officially Revealed:
After a few months of seeing Porsche test the upcoming 718 Boxster Spyder in cold weather on snow-covered roads, the upcoming droptop is finally on more appropriate ground in new spy shots of the model at the Nürburgring. The roadster continues to look great, but we hope Porsche take the bikini-style top off soon to reveal how the new nacelles flow into the open-roof design.
The design of the 718 Boxster Spyder appears to be largely complete. The company does an incredibly poor job of attempting to obscure the LED running lights up front. There's also black tape on the rear diffuser in a similarly bad effort to conceal the new part back there. The biggest visual changes are at the top and rear where the company installs extra roof straps that attach to the body and a revised rear deck.
Porsche still remains quiet about official details, but an array of rumors suggest the 718 Boxster Spyder and its hardtop sibling, the 718 Cayman GT4, would use a detuned version of the 911 GT3's 4.0-liter naturally-aspirated flat-six engine. The output is still allegedly in excess of 400 horsepower (298 kilowatts), which should be plenty in these compact sports cars. The GTS trim that currently tops the range produces 365 hp (271 kW) from a 2.5-liter turbocharged boxer four-cylinder
Recent photos also provided a look inside the Spyder (see gallery above) and confirmed the availability of a manual gearbox. A dual-clutch gearbox should be an option. Occupants also find quite a bit of Alcantara in there, including around the steering wheel and shift boot. There's a big infotainment screen in there, too.
Given the state of this test mule and previous ones, the Spyder and GT4 could debut soon. The development looks largely complete. We suspect that Porsche is just waiting for the right moment to unveil them.
Source: CarPix, Automedia
Gallery: Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder Nürburgring Spy Shots
