2023 Porsche 718 Spyder RS caught testing

Keen on a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, but want even more noise in the cabin? Porsche looks to be working on a Spyder convertible version, if these images are any guide.

Porsche looks to be preparing to transplant the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS’s heart into the drop-top 2023 Porsche 718 Spyder – formerly the Boxster Spyder – as the 718 line enters its final years with petrol power.

Images snapped by our spy photography partners overnight show a 718 Spyder prototype testing on Germany’s Nurburgring circuit, equipped with a selection of hardcore upgrades – including a pair of top-mounted air intakes behind the doors.

They’re similar in size and identical in placement to the scoops seen on Porsche’s new 718 Cayman GT4 RS coupe – required to cool the car’s 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated flat-six, plucked directly from the larger 911 GT3.

In the 718 Cayman GT4 RS, the engine develops 368kW and 450Nm – down 7kW from a 911 GT3 due to the unique exhaust system needed for its mid-engined layout, but up 59kW/30Nm over a standard Boxster-based 718 Spyder, and its 718 Cayman GT4 coupe twin.

Other upgrades include the GT4 RS coupe’s centre-locking 20-inch alloy wheels, replacing the standard 718 Spyder’s five-lug alloys – though, in the case of this early prototype, the splitters, skirts and rear wing of the hero Cayman are absent from the drop-top.

The ‘buttresses’ typically present behind a 718 Spyder’s rear doors have been cut back for the prototype to accommodate the second set of air intakes. It’s unclear how the intakes would be integrated with the roof for the production car.

Porsche executives have previously expressed interest in a 718 Spyder RS – as the model would likely be called – though wouldn’t confirm one for production, when asked at the launch of the Cayman GT4 RS in February.

“I could imagine something like that. I think it’s manageable and feasible and interesting, but it’s not confirmed,” Andreas Preuninger, Porsche GT cars director, told Drive.

The vice president of the 911 and 718 (Boxster and Cayman) model lines, Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, added: “Technically speaking, this is possible [to build a 718 Spyder RS]. If we do it, I don’t know. The question is where to position it.

“As an open-top, it’s not a track-orientated car, so it must be something different. As always, we have a lot of ideas on the table and we have to make decisions.

“If you consider it as a wonderful extension of the RS idea to the Boxster platform … would I love to see such a car? Yes.”

Above: What a 718 Spyder RS could look like, albeit without the secondary air intakes.

Website The Supercar Blog claims the Porsche 718 Spyder RS will be revealed before the end of this year, with production beginning next year – however this report remains unsubstantiated for the time being.

New Porsche models typically spend around two years in development on public roads – however the technical similarities between the Cayman and Boxster, combined with the fact most necessary components have already been developed, could speed up this process.

Production of the 718 Cayman GT4 RS is expected to conclude towards the middle of 2024 – pointing to a limited run of 718 Spyder RS convertibles being offered next year. The 718 range will go electric around the “middle of the decade”.

The post 2023 Porsche 718 Spyder RS caught testing appeared first on Drive.