Porsche Boxster Spyder

This is the new Porsche Boxster Spyder and, as the arrival of any new Porsche tends to be a polarising event, you’ll either be sighing in disgust or yelping in delight. The bare facts? This Boxster Spyder is Porsche’s lightest and quickest current-gen roadster yet thanks to the folding roof being junked.

The Spyder will be unveiled at the LA Auto Show in December 2009, and it’s not a run-out limited edition like previous Spyder-tagged Boxsters, but the third (and most expensive) permanent addition to the roadster range.

So the new Porsche Boxster Spyder doesn’t have a convertible roof?

Well it does. Sort of. To create the Spyder Porsche has binned the folding roof and all its associated mechanics, and in its place comes a bit of cloth that attaches to the windscreen and hooks onto the new rear deck. Even with the side windows up and the glass wind deflector in place, there’ll still be a few gaps letting the wind in. It’s only meant for low-speed driving – Porsche quotes the 166mph top speed without the roof. Shouting to be heard, we presume.

And that new rear deck?

It’s the most noticeable difference between the Spyder and a standard Boxster – there’s now a big pair of power domes behind the rear seats and a larger rear spoiler. Other tweaks include revised side intakes, a new front bumper and those retro stickers.

What about inside, or under the (mid-engined) bonnet?

The interior gets some fancy door pulls from the GT3 RS and weight-saving carbon buckets. Sports suspension, a lower centre of gravity and – at a relatively trim 1275kg – an 80kg weight advantage over a Boxster S should make the Spyder the sharpest Boxster yet.

And with an extra 10bhp from the engine – taking the total from the 3.4-litre flat-six to 316bhp – and the Spyder is also two-tenths quicker to 62mph than a regular S, knocking the benchmark sprint out in 4.8 seconds.

Normal Porsche options like PDK, sat-nav and ceramic brakes will be available, the stickers will be a delete option, and customers should also be able to swap the hardcore seats for more comfort-oriented items. UK sales start in February 2010 with prices set at £44,643, just a few grand more than a Boxster S. Want one?

Mercedes-Benz SL550

Of all the Mercedes-Benz models that could be accused of being born with a silver spoon in its mouth, the SL arguably tops the list. Unlike many grand-touring cars, the Mercedes SL has never been forced to compromise its blue-blood personal-luxury/sport ideals with feigned attempts at practicality to please executives or attract buyers. It has, more or less, remained an unapologetic take-it-or-leave-it proposition since it debuted nearly six decades ago, and the 2013 SL550 does nothing to alter its course. Cool, Quiet Confidence Every move the 2013 SL550 makes is steeped in a competent, laid-back confidence; pin the throttle, and the car takes a moment to gather itself, as if saying to the driver, “Okay, dude, you ready? This is gonna be pretty awesome.” And with that, the seven-speed automatic downshifts, the twin turbos gorge themselves on air, and the whole shebang takes off, pulling hard to an observed 159-mph top speed (Mercedes claims an electronically limited 155). Life in th...

McLaren 650S Sprint

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Bentley Continental GT

Driving the new 205mph Bentley Continental GT Speed around Thruxton, Britain’s fastest racetrack: now that’s a day out you look forward to. After all, this fastest-ever (roadgoing) twin turbocharged, W12 Bentley has 616bhp, up from 567bhp the standard W12. It does the 0-62mph sprint in four seconds, and the lap record around the gentle rolling straights of Thruxton was set by Damon Hill, in a Williams in 1993 at an average speed of 147mph. I, however, maxed out in this particular prodigiously fast British flyer around Britain’s fastest circuit at 37mph, and even that was a bit hairy. Bloody, sodding, naffing snow. So every time somebody walks in your office and moans about struggling to get their Mondeo off their snowy drive and crashing through their neighbour’s porch, or how icy the work car park is and how they fell over and broke both ankles, send them this link and say: ‘Yeah, but you didn’t have a Conti GT Speed, a race track to yourself, and...

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