My 718 Spyder Build

I already talked about my decision to sell the Turbo and buy a 718 Spyder and provided some background on the heritage behind the Spyder, so in this post I’m going to go into more detail about the actual car that I ordered and the reasons I configured it the way I did. The Porsche online configurator is so much fun, and you can daydream about the perfect stripped down GT3 or the most decked out new Turbo. They keep improving it…my dream would be if they would add historic models with the options back in the day to play with.

The fun and games stops when you move from daydreaming to actually having to lock down the spec you want to order. Almost all Porsche’s are custom configured. Even cars that are for sale on dealer lots have been customized by the dealer. The only real exceptions are cars that are pre-configured special editions, customized by the Porsche Exclusive group. When a customer is ordering a car, they take on the fun and the stress of deciding what the perfect car is for them. It’s a long process of research, watching videos, making decisions, second guessing and then you repeat this until the day your Sales Associate tells you it must be locked so the car can be built 🙂

Some decisions were pretty easy:

Manual Transmission – One of the main reasons I wanted to make this move was for a more engaging driving experience so the manual transmission was an easy one. Free choice…winning.
Color – Never black, ever again. I was tempted by a bright skittles color and would have loved to do a paint-to-sample but that is complicated and expensive. None of the blues did it for me and python green or speed yellow screamed mid-life crisis more than I was willing to own. I have always loved white cars and I think the white and black two-tone look matches the Spyder beautifully. I went basic white over metallic white because to me it looks more sporty and the metallic white is too cool, I like the warmer tone of the basic white. Also free…win.
Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes – An expensive option but I have them and love them on my Turbo. These are basically lifetime brakes for a non-tracked car, are much lighter for less unsparing weight and have zero brake dust. I debated painting them black but really like the PCCBs in yellow as they are intended to be so that will be the one splash of color in the build. This was not a free option…
2-way Sport Plus seats – Again, have them in my Turbo and love them. Easy, simple and very comfortable. I don’t see the value in paying thousands for heavier 18 way seats and I’m too big to live with the bucket seats on a daily basis. Free…so much winning.
Satin black Porsche logo for the white/back theme and rebadged otherwise.
”Downgrade” from track oriented Cup2 tires to high performance summer times to get my favorite tire, the Michelin PS4S, perfect for Seattle and the type of driving I do.
2-Zone climate – I love the set it and forget it feature.
Heated seats – Yes please in the Northwest.
Carbon Fiber interior trim and lighted carbon fiber door sills. I love the look and it holds up better than the aluminum finishes.
Light design package – Here Porsche, take an extra $350 so I don’t have to explain why this car doesn’t have light up visor mirrors like every other car in the world
Bose and Apple Car Play

Choices that took a bit longer:

Leather or alcantara wheel and shifter. I have always had leather but given the other alcantara in the interior, I went that direction this time.
Contrast stitching color. Yellow, red or silver (white really)…I was on the fence about this the longest. Yellow to match my brake calipers or silver for a better two tone look. In the end I went with silver because I found the yellow to be a bit busy and thought silver reinforced the two-tone look I wanted. A bit boring perhaps.
Headlights. I upgraded to the Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) but didn’t go all the way to full LED. I like the look of the blacked out Bi-Xenon headlights over the full LEDs and they work great. A little form over function here but it also saved money on the build.
Color – Okay, I know I said this was easy, but every time I see a Miami Blue, a Python Green or a Yellow Porsche, I can’t help feeling like I should have gone more bold with my build.

Way more detail that anyone likely cares to know, but that’s true for this whole blog 🙂 Here’s my official Porsche build code where they maintain all of the options I picked although I don’t know how long until they recycle these numbers – Final build.

Here are some configurator photos…a far cry from the real thing but they give you an idea of how things will look when it all comes together.