The new Porsche Boxster Spyder makes 10 HP more than the regular Boxster S but, more importantly, at 2,811 Lbs it's 176 Lbs lighter. Here's how Porsche shed that weight and how it could have lost more.
Here's what Porsche did to lose that weight, details courtesy of Automobile:
46.3 Lbs: Manual soft top and one-piece aluminum hatch
The Spyder ditches the girlie man power soft top for a lighter manual item and also replaces both the rear trunk lid and roof cover with one piece of swoopy aluminum.
33.1 Lbs: Aluminum door skins
Steel is out, aluminum is in.
2.2 Lbs: No map pockets, nylon loops in place of door handles.
26.5 Lbs: Carbon framed seats.
15.4 Lbs: The fuel tank shrinks from 16.9 gallons to 14.3.
28.7 Lbs: No A/C.
13.2 Lbs: No radio, lighter battery.
11.0 Lbs: Lighter wheels.
At 19 inches, these are larger, yet lighter, meaning they're more expensive.
0 Lbs: No cupholders, no clear plastic cover over the instruments.
Meaningless subtractions help present the illusion of weight loss.
Of course, all that still ads up to a car that's 10 Lbs heavier than the 10-year-old 986 Boxster. If Porsche had really wanted to lose some weight, instead of just pretend in order to raise the price, here's what it should have done, probably saving money in the process.
Roof: Ditch the roof all together or substitute an Elise-style removable item. Don't need a roof? leave the extra weight at home.
Rear Deck: No need to fold the roof would mean you could ditch the need to open the deck.
Rear Trunk: No ability to open the deck would mean you could ditch the rear trunk lining and ancillaries like its light.
Fixed Doors: With no roof, who needs doors that open? Aluminum is all well and good, but ditching the hinges and handles is better.
Actual carbon seats: lose the luxuriously padded, electrically adjustable buckets in favor of fixed all-carbon race seats.
Replace the fuel tank with a fuel cell.
Fit smaller wheels: if 19-inch wheels can be lighter than 18s, then we bet 17-inchers or, god forbid, 16s would be considerably lighter. Bonus: less unsprung weight and rotating mass!
Wear earplugs: sound deadening typically ads as much weight as the Spyder claims it's lost.
Wear shoes: a thin plastic cupholder weighs virtually nothing, but an interior full of carpet has a measurable weight, lose it.
Stop posing: If you care enough to ditch the clear plastic instrument cover, then you can probably save as much or more by ditching the vinyl appliques.