A Spyder in the Big Apple

New York is like a talisman for Porsche. The iconic German sports car company has enjoyed good fortune from its decades-old association with America's largest city.

It all began in 1950, when Ferry Porsche introduced America to Porsche – in New York. The Big Apple was the setting again a few years later, for the reveal of the 356 Speedster. New York and Porsche have a good thing going and it continues 65 years down the track, following this week's reveal of the Porsche Boxster Spyder.

Just as New Yorkers are so often stereotyped, so too the Boxster Spyder promises to be no-nonsense and uncompromising.

Its introduction completes a trilogy of new variants revealed this year, including the 911 GT3 RS and the Cayman GT4. However, the Boxster Spyder is philosophically bound closer to the 918 Spyder and the 550 Spyder of 1953, a purpose built racer you could comfortably drive on the road. The Boxster Spyder is a lightweight, driver-rewarding sports car with few distractions and fewer luxury features. If driving is your thing, this thing is your drive.

Boxster Spyder shares its rear-mounted 3.8-litre flat six-cylinder engine with the Cayman GT4 but with fewer kilowatts. The reason is air flow. The Cayman GT4 wears larger air ducts pulling more air into the engine, while the Spyder's ducts remain unchanged and slightly restrict the engine's peak power. The resulting peak outputs are 276kW and 420Nm produced across a wide torque band from 4750-6000rpm.

Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder also share front apron along with the additional cooling vent just in front of the bonnet's leading edge.

Porsche claims 0-100km/h acceleration in 4.5 seconds and 0-200km/h in 14.8 seconds, if you can shift the six-speed manual correctly. Weighting just 1315kg, Porsche trimmed kilograms by deleting the sound system, air-conditioning and by deleting the motors, arms and actuators which raise and lower the soft top. The Spyder's soft top is now manually operated.

You want driving purity; the Boxster Spyder delivers. You want an automatic transmission; visit your Toyota dealer. Porsche made the hardcore decision to offer Boxster Spyder with six-speed manual transmission only. No compromises... and that means the steering is perfectly balanced, the pedals correctly spaced for quick heel-toe downshifts, and the brakes combine confident feel with firmness.

Boxster has always been close to brilliant as a true driver's car with excellent chassis balance and the sort of feedback you crave as a driver. The Boxster S, launched more than a decade ago, left few complaints except its chassis deserved more power.

In comparison, Boxster Spyder outpowers the Boxster GTS by 33kW and laps Nürburgring Nordschleife, Porsche claims, in 7 minutes 48 seconds. It is 8 seconds quicker than the Boxster GTS.

Australian deliveries begin in August priced at $169,000. In the US, Boxster Spyder pricing is set at USD $82,000, or $2k less than the Cayman GT4. Cayman GT4 production for 2015 is almost sold out, and Porsche expects demand for Boxster Spyder to be strong.

"It isn't a limited edition and we're not limiting production, but we believe demand will be greater than availability," said Bernhard Maier, member of the executive board of Porsche management.

"I believe the new Boxster Spyder is one of the purest expressions of Porsche's core promise. With its looks, its simplicity, its lightweight construction and of course its name, the new Boxster Spyder is a direct link to some of Porsche's earliest, most important and best loved racing cars. The Spyder name is really important to us. We don't use it very often. We save it for something truly special."