GRM Boxster Spyder

Somewhat inspired by boxterbuddy's thread...

Porsche has that recent Boxster Spyder, but I guess for most people on here (me included), that one's a little too rich for a car that you can probably use on a daily basis if you live in the desert.

But it got me thinking - at least some of the work should be doable by a competent home mechanic. So, if you wanted to build a Boxster that's still usable on an almost daily basis (so it'll have to retain the roof) but you want to make it lighter, better handling and give you improved feedback, what would you do to/with it.

So far, I've thought of:

• Getting a basic-ish spec car that's fairly light. No satnav or similar toys, probably retain a radio but no heavy system
• Chuck out the seats and replace them with good racing seats. Recaros, maybe?
• I'd leave most of the sound deadening in place due to the DD requirement
• Upgrade the suspension
• Errrmmm....

the boxster is on my list... personally I would ditch some sound deadening too... take it out piece by piece until you get a sound you like

Are there lighter body panels out there? Although that would probably be getting expensive. Depending on where you live, remove the AC--it is a convertible. Lighter exhaust, take out the passenger side airbag, convert to manual windows (if possible)...

Ah yes, AC removal. Should've thought of that. I was thinking about lighter body panels but a quick Google didn't throw up anything.

chances are, being german, the stock exhaust weighs a ton. I would replace it with a nice stainless system. maybe borla. I would definatly ditch the air con.. useless in a convertable imho

Pick a early low spec S model.

RS doors. RS Aftermarket door panels. Remove AC/Radio. Remove roof replace with SPec Skin. Sound deadening delete. Hollow spokes, Aftermarket GT3 replica seats, exhaust smooth tube. Would cut out ~250-300 lbs and give you bigger tires.

Thinner windshield? Lay-up your own hood in carbon? I would take out all the sound deadening, but leave the carpet. Not sure if you would have to worry about the carpet melting though....I doubt it. Erm...never fill it above a half tank? Gas is heavy ya know!

makes you wonder if the windsheild from the old 911 spyder could be adapted

What's the weight of an early Boxster S (986) compared to the new 987 Spyder? It might be that the old car is already as light as the 'light weight' version of the new car. That being the case consentrate on the F part of F=MA as the M part is already there :)

Trying to answer my own question and failing. 10 mins Googling I"ve found that the official Porsche kurb weight for the Spyder is 2,817 lb's. For a 99 Boxster S I've found the following figures 2,775lb's, 2,882lb's. 2,855lb's, 2,943lb's etc etc. Every site has a different #. Basicaly a 99 S could be 50lb's lighter to 200lb's heavier.

So it looks like you'd have to concentrate on the M part of F=MA after all :)

The other issue there is, if you want to autocross the two cars, the spyder would be stock (assuming it gets classed there) and the 986S based Spyder 'clone' would be a SP or STR car. Not that that will matter to many, but it will to some.

A boxster is a Porsche. This means their is a nice supply of go-fast and weight reduction parts in aftermarket. However any time you replace stock for "lighter aftermarket" in a Porsche it costs you lots of money.

This is the case even for old cars. Even so you can get an older boxster light for alot less money than brand new spyder. Heck you can probalby get close or exceed power to weight with swap for a 3.4 from a 996.

A swap like this may cost 10k, but figure 15k for the car, 10k for the motorswap, 5k for "light go fast parts" = 30k. less than 1/2 the price of of boxster spyder.

Maybe I'm not plugged into the modern Porsche scene, but I find it far easier to get go-faster bits for my 911 than I can find decent go-faster bits for a Boxster. There seem to be lot of parts for them that border on the 'fake carbon fibre' E36 M3, but even places like Pelican don't list that much this side of a Turbo kit.

Yes, manifolds, exhaust, suspension but not much to lighten the interior, the CF hoods you get look awful etc pp. Maybe I should just consider another 'classic' 911 or 964 and start playing with that.

Of course this is all window shopping at the moment, I have the nasty suspicion that I'll be driving around in rather more mundane jalopies for the foreseeable future.