986 S vs boxster spyder
 

I am curious to know how are 986 cars would do handling wise , compared to the boxster syder. take the h.p. difference out of the equation. what would it take to make the 986 cars handling comparable or surpass the syders ?
I was talking with a spyder owner who was claiming that the 986 could not even come close in that department. i really had nothing to say because i never drove one but i highly doubted him.

Depends on the driver's skill level. A 986 in the right hands could drive circles around a Spyder, and a lot of other cars.

Please bear in mind that the 986(S) is 10 years older than the Spyder

So what do you need to do to have your 986S match the Spyder? Basically two things (if we disregard weight reduction and making the whole body stiffer)
a) Suspension: Install Tarret front and rear sway bars and PSS9 plus rear adjustable toe arms, that should match the Spyder's suspension then.
Total cost: $3.5k for the hardware and maybe $1.5k for the labor
b) Horsepower: You need to find 50 extra horses, and they will cost you. My rule of thumb is $100 / for each additional hp, so you're looking at at least $5k extra here
Probably the best approach would be either a TPC or Turbo Kraft turbo charger

I did all of a) and did as much of b) that I can afford (no turbo) and I passed several Spyders so far on the track. However when I meet a competent Spyder driver it looks pretty much like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQFSaAndK20

The guy is kind of an idiot. You can make a Mustang out handle a stock Boxster Spyder. The 986 and 987 are essentially the same car. For what the Spyder cost this guy, you can build a 986 that'll out handle it and have enough left over to get an engine that will out-power it too..

You just would have a real top and won't have the ugly unhooded instruments and the gimmicky door pull straps.

...........

a good driver of course will shine in any car but the same driver in both cars is what i am looking at.

This would be very interesting to feel what 10 years of oem Porsche development can do from my S...

Personally, I really like the spyder and would buy one if the economy was better, but the new boxster will be out soon and that may bring on a whole new chapter to the p-car saga, including new levels of performance that may trump the existing models completely....we shall see soon.

Another thing it will do is drive the resale value down enough to stomach the price of admission of owning a '10 or '11 Spyder...

Seems like everytime I get on the configuration guide, my Spyder costs over 85k for what I want on it...go figure..am I terrible for wanting the full leather, PSE, sport chrono, PCCB and other features?

No, jwade, I'd say you're doing exactly what Porsche expects Spyder hopefuls to do...buy the goodies. ;)

Add M030 ROW suspension, competition alignment and remove 300 lbs = Spyder killer.

986 with 3.6L conversion will be just as quick if not quicker than the spyder.