| First Drive | Silverstone, England | Porsche Boxster Spyder |

When Porsche first told us about the Boxster Spyder it caused quite a stir in the Car Enthusiast office. Not because of the thought of a pared back, quicker, more focused Boxster. Nope. It was because the first official picture had the car cowering under a bridge during a rainstorm. No sideways, tyre-smoking action shot. No blurry cornering iconography. Instead, a picture that said 'it's raining! Run for cover!'

Weird because, as it turns out, the insinuation that the Spyder's canvas roof is useless is only partly true. But also because the Spyder is an absolutely sensational driver's car, and one that we'd be happy to risk drowning in if it meant a bit more time on the track.

In the Metal

Porsche claims that inspiration was drawn from the original 550 Spyder (aka the 'Little Bastard' that James Dean was killed in) for the eponymous Boxster. It takes a Boxster S, strips out lots of the kit, lowers the suspension, lightens the body by making some of the panels from aluminium, adds a locking differential, boosts power by 10bhp and charges about £4,000 for the privilege. That's before you've started adding the eschewed kit back in.

But the main visual differential is the 'double bubble' (or whatever you want to call it) engine cover. With the top up, the canopy roof looks quite unusual too, and in contrast to expectation it doesn't eat into headroom or dissolve in the rain.

Let's get the roof dealt with then. It's a two-piece fabric arrangement that takes four minutes to dismantle or erect… if you're well practiced, perhaps. The first few attempts will, unquestionably, be a two-person jape of hooks, metal bars and buttons. Yet, once up, and despite the aforementioned press picture, it works fine. Our only minor gripe is the swirl of wind noise above about 60mph. But then what do you expect?

What you get for your Money

To shave about 80kg from the Boxster's kerb weight - taking it to 1,275kg - Porsche has been as comprehensive as it could be without resorting to making the interior out of straw. From the inside it's actually not that noticeable, apart from the fabric door handles and the lack of a radio or air conditioning. And because the roof rolls up like a cheap tent, there's a fair amount of luggage space, relatively speaking.

The fully skimmed Spyder costs £44,643. You can make it even lighter by adding trackday-friendly carbon-ceramic brakes. From there, it goes all Yazz: the only way is up. Too big for the standard lightweight buckets? The thicker, flatter sports seats are a no cost option. Then you can stuff back in, for a fee, such as the satnav, climate control, heavier wheels (so long as they're 19 inches in diameter), a PDK twin-clutch auto, a sports exhaust, heated seats, bi-xenon headlamps... whatever you want short of a split-folding rear bench, basically. The ceramic brakes cost £5,349, by the way, though the radio is free.

Driving it

Any rationale about the Boxster Spyder is rendered slightly pointless by the driving experience. Porsche knows it's a niche purchase - a second or third car for driver types that have a track predilection - so arguing it's impractical and overpriced is missing the point.

The drive-enhancing changes over and above the Boxster S - stiffer, lower suspension, the differential, weight losses and power gain - seem small, but they fine tune a car that was already something special. The sublime Cayman is slightly stiffer, but the Spyder offers a uniquely visceral type of open-air involvement. It's not the quickest car in the world (though 5.1 seconds to 62mph, or 4.8 with PDK and launch control, isn't sluggish), but the nuances of information the Spyder feeds to your every contact point with it make it great.

It's a horrible cliché to refer to a car and a go-kart in the same sentence, but indulge us here. The Spyder is so balanced, its steering so natural and full of feel, its throttle and brake calibration so right, that controlling it is easy to the point that you can, on a track, fling it around with the abandon of a dodgem car, fearlessly. The turn-in is quicker and more direct than a Dispatches sting on a corrupt politician, yet the back end is as predictable as the idiotic civil servant being stung.

We drove the standard six-speed manual, as well as the PDK with 'push/pull' paddles, and the same 'box with traditional Porsche paddles on the steering wheel. The PDK seems to get better and better with every new application. And here, the Spyder's CO₂ emissions are so improved with it that the car drops a VED band, saving £400 in first year 'showroom tax'. It's happy to chase a high gear during relaxed driving, but will jump down as many gears as necessary in less time that it would take you to move your hand to the gear lever, never mind make the change.

Still, we'd opt for manual. Old argument (and the second cliché of this review) but it's still more involving. The PDK arguably leaves more brain space to concentrate in steering, braking points, exit speed and all that other track stuff, but on the road, when you just can't drive legally at 11/10ths, the manual feels better. That's so because, despite a ride that might be slightly too firm for some day-to-day, one of the Spyder's appealing traits is that it can make mundane driving feel slightly special. Any corner, at any speed, feels good in this car.

Worth Noting

In the pantheon of fast and focused cars, there's something credible and righteous about lightweight alloys. At the same time, we tend to sneer at ditching a radio to save weight. It's interesting then that losing the radio shaves 3kg off the Boxster's weight, whereas switching to 'lightweight' alloys loses just 2kg. Put that in your carbon fibre rucksack.

Summary

There's no doubt that this is a niche car, compromised as a daily driver, and thus suitable for only a few suitably moneyed and enthusiastic punters. That's why Porsche predicts just 100 sales in the UK per year - about a tenth of overall Boxster numbers. But, the Spyder really is an exquisitely focused car. We say that not because it's the sharpest track car in the world, in the sense that it's built purely for outright speed, but because it will be so useable and entertaining for so many people, on road and track. That's regardless of skill or experience. Assuming you practice your skills with the roof before venturing out on a cloudy day, it's perfectly useable for the child-less playboy or girl.

Go on, take the plunge (possibly literally). If nothing else, you'll look slightly different to every other Boxster owner out there.