Porsche's 718 Spyder pairs with the turbo four-cylinder in China: heresy or genius?

The Shanghai Auto Show 2021 is delivering plenty of automotive surprises, although unfortunately most of them are aimed at the local market. Proof of this is the move Porsche has made with the 718 Spyder in China, a market where it will get a different powertrain. That’s right: the German brand has yielded to the pleas of the Asian country and decided to sell a “lighter” version of its convertible sports car. This gives rise to a 718 Spyder whose heart is a turbocharged four-cylinder instead of the exhilarating flat-six, heresy or genius?

This move stems from the constant request by the brand’s Chinese customers for a car with the look of the 718 Spyder but cheaper. Let’s be honest, the German sports car’s styling is extremely attractive, and it’s no surprise that this combination, which reduces exclusivity and therefore the outlay required, has been requested.

And when it comes to design, we find almost no differences compared with the original 718 Spyder. We only notice differences in the bumpers, which are inherited from the GTS versions to maintain distance -and respect- from the six-cylinder version. The rest of the components remain unchanged, so one of its main charms stays present: the humps.

The cabin keeps the same layout except for one element that ultimately makes the 718 Spyder more capable: the manual gearbox. This type of transmission is lost in the four-cylinder variant, leaving the management of its 300 CV solely to the seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission.

The presence of this 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine changes not only the mechanical configuration but also the performance. On this basis, the engine of this 718 Spyder delivers 300 CV and 380 Nm of torque, figures that, with the PDK gearbox, allow the 0-100 km/h sprint to take 4.7 seconds and give a top speed of 270 km/h.

Either way, in principle this variant of the Porsche 718 Spyder is intended only for the Chinese market. However, rumours suggest Porsche will probably adapt this configuration for the European market under the 718 Spyder T name, aiming to achieve strong success by offering this speedster body for a long time without being tied to greater exclusivity or a limited edition.