2016 Porsche Boxster Spyder: The lightest, fastest Boxster of them all

2016 Porsche Boxster Spyder: The lightest, fastest Boxster of them all

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NEW YORK -- Unique front and rear fascia, the streamlined tonneau cover and the minimalist bikini top should be your first hint that the 2016 Porsche Boxster Spyder is something special. The strongest and fastest Boxster of this generation, the new range-topping Spyder is also the lightest thanks to its "less is more" approach to tech and amenities.

The 2016 Boxster Spyder adds lightness by removing tech and amenities.Sarah Tew/CNET

Lighter

The Spyder jettisons the standard Boxster's power fold motors for the soft top. The new lightweight manual fabric roof is opened and closed by hand and features two fins that stretch back, snapping into the roadster's tonneau and completing the silhouette.

The Spyder is only available with Porsche's six-speed manual transmission; there is no automatic option, which saves weight and should appease purists. To those same ends, the Boxster Spyder also has no navigation, no radio, no speakers and no air conditioner in its stock form. Though Porsche is quick to point out that all of these bits can be added back in at no cost to the buyer and the entire range of Boxster audio upgrades and Porsche infotainment with navigation are also available as paid options.

The Spyder is available without navigation, a stereo or even air conditioning. However, it's telling that the only example on display was not so spartan.Sarah Tew/CNET

The driver (and up to one passenger) sits on a standard Sport Seats Plus and commands the Spyder's improved steering with a unique steering wheel that's 10mm smaller in diameter than the rest of the Boxster models'.

Stronger

The entire car sits 20mm lower than the standard Boxster thanks to a stiffer, sportier suspension. Sitting amidships is Porsche's 3.8-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine making 375 horsepower. That output makes the 2016 Boxster Spyder the most powerful Boxster yet. (Though, it's still kept just a hair short of the more track-centric Cayman GT4's 380 horsepower.)