After 5 Years in My Porsche 718 Spyder Am I Upgrading to a Spyder RS?

🔥After 5 years and 22,000 miles in my 2021 Porsche 718 Spyder, I'm considering upgrading to a Porsche 718 Spyder RS. This is my real-time decision — the financials, the performance comparison, the honest owner realities that no review covers, and my actual answer. This isn't a press car review. 

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 CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 - Should I Upgrade My Porsche 718 Spyder to a Spyder RS? | 5 Years & 22,000 Miles Later

00:19 - Why I'm Considering the Upgrade Now (Timing & Market Conditions)

01:09 - What Real Spyder RS Owners Say You Won't Hear in Reviews

01:52 - How Hard It Was to Get a 718 Spyder Allocation (My Ownership Story)

03:03 - I've Never Driven a Spyder RS — Here's My Honest Research

03:44 - What the Porsche Spyder RS Actually Is (It's NOT Just More Power)

04:22 - GT3 Engine vs. 718 Flat-6 — The Key Differences Explained

06:10 - Weight Savings, Carbon Fiber & the Weissach Package Breakdown

07:30 - Spyder RS Pricing: MSRP vs. ADM vs. Today's Used Market Reality

09:22 - True Cost of Ownership — Cost Per Mile, Insurance & Maintenance

10:19 - Will the Spyder RS Appreciate? Is It a Collector Car?

11:53 - The Financial Case: What It Actually Costs to Upgrade

12:52 - Head-to-Head Specs: 718 Spyder vs. Spyder RS (Full Comparison)

15:15 - The Convertible Top Problem — A Major Difference Most Reviews Miss

15:49 - Pros & Cons of Upgrading from 718 Spyder to Spyder RS

17:38 - Track Use Reality: Will the Spyder RS Actually Be Faster at the Track?

20:07 - Road Noise, Earplugs & Long Highway Drives — Is It Too Much?

21:25 - Wife's Perspective & Seat Comfort with Back Problems

22:18 - Is This Really an Upgrade or Just a Different Experience?

23:39 - The 125 MPH Top Speed Limit Problem (Huge Track Day Issue)

26:17 - Carbon Ceramic Brakes — Are They Worth It?

29:37 - The One Thing Long-Term Spyder RS Owners All Say

30:11 - My Final Decision — Am I Keeping the 718 Spyder or Upgrading?

31:09 - What Would YOU Do? Let Me Know in the Comments1) 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I've heard horror stories of people with back problems and not being comfortable. Now seems to be the time to take advantage.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

So another concern that numerous uh owners have mentioned to give up that 140 mile an hour plus experience. And as you probably figured out by now, should I upgrade my Porsche 718 Spider to a Spider RS? You know, after five years and 22,000 miles of ownership, I'm thinking that it might be time for an upgrade. I've done over 30 hours of research, but I need to make this decision now because my Porsche 718 Spider is pretty much worth what I paid for it uh five years ago. And I don't know how long it's gonna maintain that value. Meanwhile, um spider RS, uh, you know, years ago when they weren't uh when they were new cars, there was they were almost impossible to get. Uh you had to pay ADM on top of the car. It was brutal. But now Spider RS are on the nearly new market, um, a couple years old, and some of them only have a few thousand uh miles on them. So it's the perfect time to make this decision. In this video, I'm sharing all of the money, emotions, and the hard truth of making this decision. And most of all, the biggest concern is what if I get it wrong? I'm also sharing what I learned from my research on videos and forums from real owners that have actually experienced this car to know what I'm actually getting. And many of those real owners shared exactly what they experienced that wasn't exactly what they were expecting before purchasing their Spider RS, and only became apparent after years of use. Now, we all know that you can't get a new allocation for a Spider RS uh right now. You can't get a new allocation for any uh 718 uh Porsche. They're not being uh made anymore. But like I say, there's lots of uh Spider RS available on the used car market. I've seen them on Auto Trader and I've seen them on Bring a Trailer. And of course, the great thing about those cars is they're available for delivery right now. Now it was extremely difficult to get an allocation for my 718 Spider when I purchased it. I waited for years, uh, but I wanted to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted a very special limited production uh Porsche, and uh and the spider fit the bill perfectly. Over 400 horsepower. It was available in manual and PDK. It's an absolute gorgeous car. And of course, I could spec it from scratch. So I wanted that Miami blue color. Okay, my wife wanted that Miami blue color, um, but I could choose exactly what I wanted. I wanted a low spec car because I also tracked my uh my Porsches. And uh so I wanted uh a low spec car that didn't add a lot of weight to the car. I have uh trouble with my back, so I needed to get lumbar support. Um, and I made that super important decision of manual versus PDK. I went PDK because of the track use that I was planning uh for this Porsche. And I got a couple things wrong, that's for sure. But I detailed those things in my video 10 things I wish I knew before purchasing my Porsche 718 Spider. And I'll put a link to that in the description below so you can check it out a little bit later. Now, this video is a little bit different than my other videos because I've never actually driven a Spider RS. This is my real-time, real-world decision making on whether I'm gonna make the move or not. And you're joining in. If you're new here, subscribe and hit the bell. I post honest, numbers-driven performance car ownership reviews. No PR cars and no paid reviews. So here's how I'm gonna break this down what the spider RS actually is and why that's important, then the head-to-head numbers, the financial case, then the track and real ownership realities that most reviews miss totally. And finally, my decision. The decision comes at the end, but don't skip ahead because the information that leads up to that decision is actually more important than the decision itself. So the RS is not just a more powerful Porsche spider. It's built by the same team that took takes the GT3 to the GT3 RS. In other words, in words, they make significant changes in the in the spider to make it an RS. So there's the carbon fiber hood, there's carbon fiber front fenders, there's those uh weird vents in the top of the fenders. Uh the the whole car is changed. The suspension is changed. The suspension, instead of having uh rubber bushings, now has uh ball bearings. So it's a lot more um it's you can feel the the road a lot better through the suspension than you can uh with the spider. And of course, there's that glorious GT3 engine that's uh now in the spider RS compared to the four-liter engine that's in the spider. And uh so these are two totally different engines. Um the the Spider RS is is uh basically a race car engine that's uh that's that's been detuned uh for the street. Um very, very high performance uh four-liter engine, producing almost 500 horsepower compared to the the spider's uh 414 horsepower, which is uh which taken the base um 911's engine, the three-liter engine, it's increased this displacement up to four liters and it's gotten rid of those turbos. And of course, the spider RS does not have any turbos. And then, of course, in actual use, the spider has a red line of 8,000 RPM, whereas the Spider RS has a red line of 9,000 RPM. And owners uh claim that anything over 7,000 RPM in the Spider RS is absolutely phenomenal, which gives that Spider RS a totally different character. Many owners feel that it's a spider turned up to 11. And let's not forget the RS is likely the final internal combustion, normally aspirated engine that will be put into the Boxster platform. But who really knows what portion we'll be replacing the 7 to 18 uh product line with anyway? The vents and the fenders, the aggressive front splitter, and that very distinctive GT4RS nose. Signal, this is a very special car. But don't be fooled, this is not a GT4RS uh convertible. It has a slightly softer suspension and a less boomy uh ride at lower RPMs. For one, and number two complaints that pretty much every reviewer and every owner had about the GT4 RS when being used on the street. So the Spider RS weighs 40 kilograms less than the Porsche 718 Spider. So those weight savings came from a carbon fiber hood, the carbon fiber front fenders, came with that convertible top, that very fussy convertible top that we'll be talking about a little bit more uh later. Um, but uh that's decreased some of the weight. Now to get the full, the to realize the full 40 kilograms of of weight differential, you also need to go with a YSAC package and get the magnesium wheels. But keep in mind that's unsprung weight, and that definitely helps with handling. Now many folks have wondered why the Spider RS wasn't offered with a manual transmission as the spider was offered with a manual transmission. But the Spider RS owners feel that that PDK transmission does a phenomenal job of keeping the car in its power band above 5,500 RPM. And Doug DeMuro's take on the Spider RS was one of the greatest sports cars available on the market today at any price. Now he ranks it above the GT4 RS, but slightly below the Ferrari 296 GTB or the Porsche ST. Sure, my spider and the spider RS kind of look like a track focused baby Carrera GT, but there's no there's no uh dispute whatsoever that the Spider RS is much more aggressive looking. And that's not by accident. Porsche specifically designed it to look that way. All right, let's talk money. So currently my Porsche 718 Spider is worth about what I paid for it, 103,000 uh US dollars. Um and but I need to take advantage of that equity to be able to trade up to the Spider RS if that's what I'm going to do. As I mentioned so far, I've had pretty much zero depreciation, but how much longer is that gonna go on for? Who knows? So now seems to be the time to take advantage. When the Spider RS was new, the base price was 167,000. Now I question how many were actually sold for that uh price because there was so much going on uh at that time with allocations, difficulty getting allocations and things like that. And a lot of dealers required um $25,000 to $35,000 in mandatory options for you to be able to get that allocation. And then there was the ADM that was often added on, that could have been $20,000, $30,000 or even $40,000. So that pushed the price of the Spider RS to $230,000, $250,000 in many cases. And let's not forget that YSAC package and those magnesium wheels together were over $30,000 option by themselves. And many owners chose to go with paint to sample to make their cars truly special, and of course, ceramic brakes. And of course, the cost just kept climbing and climbing and climbing. But now things have stabilized quite a bit, especially in the in the nearly new department. Um, bring a trailer, you can often see uh spider RS is averaging out around $200,000. Sure, there's uh versions that are totally loaded to the hilt with paint to sample, the YSock package, um, those uh magnesium wheels, et cetera, uh selling for $250,000. But in a lot of cases, that's less than what the owners originally paid for. So now those cars are available for less than MSRP. And like I said, they're available for delivery right now. In the last review of my spider, I showed that the car was costing me about $1.10 per mile uh since my purchase. And again, a lot of that was fueled by the the fact that I've had pretty much uh zero depreciation. Now, um with a spider RS, what will be my cost per mile? Well, of course, who knows um what's gonna happen with depreciation in the future, but assuming it stays about the same, the cost per mile will probably be double because insurance is gonna be more costly and service is definitely gonna be more costly. And again, um a very popular option with the Spider RS is going with the front axle lift. Well, if you go with the front axle lift, although it's a great idea to save that uh front splitter, um the problem is that uh, first of all, you've got to remember to deploy that front axle lift before you actually get to that speed bump or that driveway. But all suspension work, all front end work will now be more costly because there's more parts involved and there's more uh disassembly and reassembly whenever they're serviced. And then there's that last internal combustion, naturally aspirated engine in a boxer uh derivative uh argument. So because of that, does that mean these cars are going to become collector cars in the future? They may very well be, because uh they're a GT car, they're a high performance car, and uh they're they're although they weren't uh I don't think they limited production, um, but uh there weren't a lot of them produced. And they're a very, very unique car. So that definitely could make it a collector car. So because of that, there may be appreciation going forward. How much? Who knows? But again, uh that's uh part of the risk, I guess, in making in choosing a car like this uh as a partial investment. But again, if it's going to be investment, then you need to think uh about it as an investment car. So the the higher return on the investment will be the cars that are loaded to the hilt with the PTS. So they'll be a lot more than $250,000 uh dollars uh right now on the the used market. And of course, you'll have to keep the the usage down, the kilometers down. Now, I don't buy cars for resale value. If I get great resale value or I get uh a minimal depreciation, that's a bonus. I drive cars to drive them. Now, obviously, to uh maximize the value of my car, I'd have to sell it privately because obviously uh dealers are gonna discount my car if I use it as a trade-in. So I have to look at the comparison between um the savings on taxes uh for my car when I uh if I use that as a trade-in, as opposed to selling it privately. So that's gonna factor into the whole equation. So it really boils down to the differential between the two cars. So assuming I can sell mine for about $100,000 uh dollars US and uh Spider RS I'm looking for, uh probably about $210,000, because again, I don't need the YSOC package, I don't need those magnesium wheels and those kinds of things. And I I don't even want uh carbon ceramic uh brakes. We'll talk about that a little bit later. Um, so I I don't need those things, but by the time I make the move, the differential, by the time I get tax in there and that kind of thing, it's probably gonna look at $140,000. I'm gonna end up paying on top of my car. Oh, and by the way, another thing I have to look at uh going forward is that uh in terms of the maintenance and the servicing cost of the spider RS compared to the spider, I'm pretty sure that just about all um all parts are gonna be at least 50% higher on a spider RS than a spider, just because they are a spider RS. All right, so what's the Spider RS gonna give me that my spider doesn't? Well, from the the REN list owners uh that have had both cars, um they say the the real difference is about above 7,000 RPM. They say the spider RS is absolutely transformative, it's absolutely a phenomenal driving experience, and that's really what it's all about. And let's not forget that amazing exhaust note as that spider RS uh heads to that 9,000 RPM red line. And I can just imagine myself going up the back street at Canyon Tire Motorsport Park, um, where with my spider, I'm hitting 140 miles an hour with a spider RS of probably closer to 150 or 150 more miles an hour, but I'll be listening to that amazing soundtrack from that GT3 engine. Although thinking about that track experience, that it might actually be a negative. I'll speak a little bit more about that later. And that GT3 engine is definitely a racing derived unit with those titanium connecting rods, forged pistons, and that central oil feed system. This is not the same engine with more power, it's a fundamentally different engine. And if we take a second to compare the specifications between my 718 Spider and the Spider RS, we can see that the engine, the four-liter flat six that's in my car, is a motorsport engine, whereas the four-liter flat six is the GT3 derived engine. 414 horsepower in my car, up to 493 horsepower in the spider RS. 8,000 RPM uh red line in my spider, 9,000 RPM in that spider RS. Zero to 60 time, 3.4 seconds in my car, 2.8 seconds in that spider RS. And the weight of 1,450 kilograms in my spider versus 410 kilograms in that spider RS. And the transmission in my car is that seven-speed uh PDK, while the spider RS is, of course, PDK only, and it's also a seven-speed. And then there's the top speed in my car, which is 177 miles per hour with the top up or top down. But what about the spider RS? Well, it's limit to 125 miles an hour with the top up or 190 miles an hour with the top down. And if we look at the MSRP, mine was 103,000 new, and it's currently about the same on the used car market, whereas the spider RS, kind of for what I'm looking for, about $210,000 right now. And any discussion about Porsche 718 Spiders has to include talk about the convertible top. So with my uh Porsche Spider, it takes about uh 30 seconds to raise or lower the top. However, with a Spider RS, it has a two-piece top and it takes a couple minutes. And that's if you know what you're doing. And both cars came from a factory with uh cup two tires. Now I changed out to uh Michelin uh pilot 4S just because I'm in I'm in Canada and it's a little bit cooler up here and uh it rains a little bit more, especially with a track where I go to. And uh cup twos aren't the greatest in the rain or in the cold, or if it's raining and cold, yeah, they're horrible. All right, let's talk about the pros and cons about going from my spider to spider RS. All right, let's first of all talk about that extra 79 horsepower and that 9,000 RPM red line. The GT3 racing derived engine, that's amazing. 40 kilograms lighter, but I don't know if I'd actually realize that. I definitely wouldn't get those uh magnesium wheels, so now all of a sudden we're 30 kilograms lighter, and I'm sure there's some other things too that I wouldn't be getting. Although I would probably get one that's a lower spec. So typically a lower spec carries less weight. The improved aerodynamic uh downforce, the available of the front axle uh lift system. It's the final internal combustion engine boxster derivative. So does that mean it will have more appreciation going forward as opposed to depreciation? And you can't discount the Carrera GT visual lineage. And when it comes to cons, it's gonna cost me $120 to $140,000 to make that upgrade. Those cup two tires, yeah, I'll probably have to replace those with um uh four S's. The two-piece uh convertible top, yeah, that's definitely gonna be more demanding. It's louder on long road trips. Again, it's PVK only, but that doesn't really bother me. Um blind spot monitoring, still an option. Yeah, the rear three-quarter view is still a pain. And you know, my 718 Spider is already one of the last internal combustion engine boxsters. And you know, one RS owner that came from having a 718 manual spider said that he actually felt that the the the shift action in the uh spider RS with that PD can PDK transmission actually felt him more at one with the car than it did with his manual transmission 718 Spider. He felt that that Spider RS's uh transmission was specifically tuned to that spider's engine character. Because you know what? It probably was. Now I'm instructor with the Porsche Club, and I track my uh 718 Spider at K en Tire Motorsport Park uh here in Canada. And I'm starting to wonder how much faster we're gonna track times actually be with that spider RS. So um, yeah, I know the sound of that uh that GT3 um engine uh in that spider RS, that's gonna be fantastic. I know that uh getting from that 7,000 to 9,000 RPM, the whole feeling and excitement of that, that's gonna be fantastic. But is all of that really worth it? And I guess that's the real question I need to answer here. Is that extra bit of performance and that extra bit of excitement really worth it? So in my previous video, 10 things I didn't know uh before purchasing my 718 Spider, I mentioned a bunch of things, uh a bunch of concerns or things that I wasn't too sure about uh that I wish I would have known before I bought the car. And I'm wondering how many of those would actually be solved by buying uh the Spider RS? So one of the concerns I had was um the convertible top. Um like I went from a Boxster S to my 718 Spider. And uh so it's it's more work uh to raise and lower the top in the 718 Spider. So there's definitely situations where I just haven't raised or lowered the top just because of that additional amount of work. Whereas in my spider R uh in my Boxster S, I just pushed the button, the top went up or down, and it was uh much easier. Now the Spider RS, it's a whole new, a whole different can of worms with that two-piece top and taking a couple of minutes, even after I'm quite familiar with doing it, and it's significantly more difficult to put the spider RS top up or down with just one person as it is uh with a 718 spider. Or at least that's what I've seen in the videos I've seen online. A few other uh Ren List owners that uh said that they went from a 718 spider to a spider RS said that they felt that the spider, the 718 spider felt more intimate um when when driving and uh out on the road. And uh so you know that's got me questioning that a little bit. I love the intimate feel of my car when I drive it on the street. Will I be losing that with the spider RS just because it's of its raw, it's it's more raw in how it delivers that performance? And of course, there's a whole noise uh situation. So wind and road noise is significantly higher in the spider RS. I've seen uh videos and I've seen other posts about people um using earplugs whenever they drive their spider RS because when you get accelerating and you get into that that amazing power band and that amazing rev range between 7,000 and 9,000 RPM, the decibels that are reaching your ears are like rock concert levels. So you definitely don't want to take a chance on uh uh damaging your hearing. And I'm also questioning uh whether the its use on interstate highways is gonna be um better or worse with the spider RS than it is with my 718 Spider. I'm planning a thousand mile uh road trip uh this summer and going to Porsche Parade in uh at uh Lake Placid. And uh so I'm looking forward to taking my 718 Spider. I know it's gonna be kind of loud, but I know that with Spider R S it's gonna be a whole lot louder. And uh so uh I'm gonna have to be wearing earplugs. Is my wife gonna have to be wearing earplugs? We're gonna have to be uh adding more sound panels around the side uh side of our um uh inside of the top to absorb some of that noise to make it bearable on interstate highways. I don't know, it's a concern though. And then there's my wife's uh involvement in the whole thing. She really, really likes our 718 spiders, she's comfortable with the 18-way uh seats. Um, but if we went with a um uh GT3RS, I definitely have to find one with the comfort seats because there's no way that she would put up with those buckets. There's just no way she would uh put up with that. And to be honest, uh with my concerns uh with uh my back, I have to have lumbar support and that kind of thing. Um I can't get lumber supports uh with the uh with the buckets. Now I have seen that uh some owners have uh uh again speaking about the Buckets. Some owners have gone with um uh putting uh P1 designs, um, replacing the padding in the middle of the seat and adding lumbar support. That's definitely something that I have to do. So there definitely is a decision out there, but again, more cost. So I guess one of the questions I'm really coming to right now is is this really going to be an upgrade or is it just gonna be a different experience? So here's what makes me pause. Is the spider RS actually better for me, or am I just mesmerized by the thought of having more power and the ability to actually make this happen now? As I mentioned earlier, I'm a track instructor with the Porsche Club and I track my 718 Spider at K entire Motorsport Park. Now on the back straight, I take my 718 spider, I get 140 miles an hour on the back straight. There's the problem. So the spider RS, the top is only good for 125 miles per hour. What happens above that? It starts to flap. And uh and that flapping can actually uh cause damage to that top. It can actually stretch the top and then it won't fit properly. So in fact, there's a warning that comes up on the dashboard when you hit over 125 120 or 125 miles an hour that tells you not to drive the car with the top closed above that speed. So if I wanted to take the Spider RS on that same track, um hopefully hitting 150 miles an hour or something like that, I'd have to either use uh the top down and have arm restraints, which isn't the greatest because it often rains at that track. And uh, and to be honest, I think I would just find that a little bit uh too distracting. Or I just limit my uh top speed on that back straight to 120 miles an hour uh with the top closed uh and continue on. But am I gonna do that? Is that an upgrade? No, that's not an upgrade at all. Sure, the car will be faster in the corners and on some of the uh slower straights or some of the yeah, some of the other straights, I guess, uh accelerating up those straights. But to um to give up that 140 mile an hour plus experience, yeah, I'm not gonna do that. So another concern that numerous uh owners have mentioned is that uh when they put the top up, they get this warning message saying the top isn't fully closed. They can't figure out why they go through the whole thing, it's not fully closed. So what they need to do is they to fix that problem, what they need to shut off the car, get out of the car, close the door, lock the car, unlock the car, open the car, start it back up, and then the message should go away, hopefully. Let's not forget that the Spider RS does have center lock wheels, which are very cool. But again, it adds a whole new level of complexity for changing those wheels and where you can go to have a flat uh tire um replaced or something like that. So, you know, do I really need that extra complexity compared to my 718 spider? You know, I'm not sure. And of course, another thing is, and I touched on it again uh briefly earlier, was that uh 40 kilogram uh weight savings. So to achieve that, I've had to go with the YSAC package and with the magnesium wheels. Well, again, $30,000 to $40,000 to achieve that. I mean, yeah, I know the 10 kilogram uh weight savings by the wheels is unsprung weight, which is which is the best place to remove weight in the car. It actually improves with your handling and uh control. But is it worth that amount amount of money? Not to me. And the optional $3,000 front axle lift. Yeah, I think that's a great thing to have. But again, that doesn't mean that you're not gonna scrape the front end. That's just gonna mean that you're gonna have to remember to raise up the front of the car with that axle lift before you get to something that's uh potentially gonna scrape the splitter on the front of your car. And of course, the extra complexity that adds to the front end of the car. And again, as mentioned earlier, to get the maximum return of the Spider RS as an investment, you would need to make sure it's got everything. It's got the YSOC package, it's got the uh magnesium wheels, uh, carbon ceramic brakes, of course, the bucket, ceramic bucket uh seats, um, paint to sample ideally, etc. And you're gonna have to keep the usage of the car as low as possible. Now, keeping the the is that why you buy cars is to keep them as low as possible. I mean, if you want this just as an investment, that's fine. Um but um if you actually want to use it, it's really not gonna be much of an investment. And again, speaking about those carbon ceramic brakes, yeah, I know they're great and they have magnificent bragging rights. But in reality, when I look at uh when I go to track days and I see so many of my friends that have uh Porsches or other cars with carbon ceramic brakes, they change them out to steel brakes almost immediately just because of the massive cost. Sure, when you purchase the car, it's a bargain at $10,000 because the replacement cost for the rotors and pads is $30,000 to $40,000. But remember, if you actually use this car and you need to replace those uh rotors and pads at $30,000 or $40,000, that's a huge expense. And the guys say, you know what, when I went from the ceramics to my uh steel brakes, they really didn't notice that much difference in the performance on track. Porsches have phenomenal steel brakes, and there's some difference of opinion about between how comfortable those uh race bucket seats are, but again, that's a kind of a special car, and these seats would have really amplified that experience.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

My hesitation with these seats initially was I've heard horror stories of people with back problems and not being comfortable. A lot of guys do it all the way back just to get in and out, but I'm like, gotta do that, I'm giving it. And uh, so when I bought it, this was in Quebec, I had to drive it seven hours to get it home. And I was thinking I'm gonna have to stop every hour and take a break and stretch my back out. And then I drove seven hours straight and I was like, I can actually drive back to Montreal. These seats are so damn comfortable, I want them in every car I ever owned going forward.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Getting it in and out of these carbon fiber seats, uh it's not the easiest thing. The seats uh on the track are a must. Uh as a daily driver, they can be a bit of a pain.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

And yes, you can make those uh seats more comfortable by going with P1 designs. Um they have some extra padding in there. You can get a lumbar support, and that'll definitely uh help those seats. And those the side bolsters on those seats are very high very highly susceptible to wear, so you can get uh some covers uh for the to protect those bolsters um to minimize the wear going forward. Yeah, you could have made this car more comfortable right from the beginning by getting the 18-way seats. That was a no-cost option. Um, but almost no one did it because the again, the uh the buckets are like a a bargain because if you were to sell them on the on the used market, uh, you know, you're probably $25,000 or $30,000 just to sell those uh buckets. Whereas uh the 18 ways uh you know uh it definitely isn't the same case. I prefer the 18 ways. Um, like I say, I have a problem with my back, and uh I find that you can uh you can make them tighter um on your thighs and and on the bolsters, and that holds me in on track uh just fine. And of course, there's that whole loudness thing, and everyone seems to mention that. Um, you know, that uh, you know, having to wear earplugs in a car that uh you drive on the street. I don't know. Is that something I'm really gonna want to do? Uh I know it's not something my wife's gonna want to do. I know that for sure. And those titanium exhaust tips that come with the YSOC package, they definitely improve the sound of that exhaust, but it just makes it even louder. And you know, one of the most interesting comments I kept seeing coming up over and over about owners that have owned Spider RSs for a number of years is that they feel they can't even use 50 to 60 percent of its uh capacity, even when being driven uh aggressively on canyon roads and that kind of thing on the street. You know, I mean I can't use definitely can't use 100% of the performance capacity of my 718 spider. So uh for street use, do I really should I bother trading up? Uh I'm not gonna get more performance capacity that way. And we've already established that I won't even be able to get the same performance because of the the roof uh situation on track. So it's really starting to make me wonder. And as you've probably figured out by now, yes, I'm definitely keeping my 718 Spider and not trading up to Spider RS. You know, I I worked really hard to get the exact spec that I wanted. I waited years to be able to get it. And you know, when you finally got something that's truly special, that's truly unique, something that's optioned almost exactly how you want it, the perfect spec. It's great on the track, it's great on the street. Is that something you want to give up and take a chance on something else that when you've gone through all the facts and all the things, uh all the things that other owners have said about the car, how does that relate to me? I don't think it does. I don't think it's the right decision for me. One thing I know for certain is I've had an extraordinary five years and 22,000 miles with my 718 spider. Now, whether I keep that for another 10,000, 20, or 100,000 miles or trade up to a spider RS, I will definitely be documenting that here on YouTube and on my podcast. All right, after me sharing all of my research on the spider RS, tell me what would you do? Would you stick with your 718 spider like I have, like I've decided to do, or would you trade it in on that spider RS? And tell me why. Please add that in the comments down below. I read everyone and I'd really like to hear what you have to say. Click here if you haven't already seen my 10 things I wish I knew before purchasing my 718 Spider video podcast. That was the foundation for this video, and I'll see you there.