More than a week after driving the Porsche 718 Spyder RS, I’m still waiting for my hearing to work properly again. My ears have just about recovered, but I can’t seem to get through a day without hearing the Porsche’s engine screaming away in the back of my consciousness, where it’s taken up permanent residence.

The Spyder RS is that kind of thing: an irrepressible, irresistible and unforgettable bundle of thrills.

There are many ways to perceive this two-seat roadster, a car so hardcore that even Porsche people reckon it’s not something you buy for daily use. On one level, it’s the ultimate Boxster (Porsche doesn’t use the name, but that’s what it’s based on), pared to the bone to save weight and blessed with a 500-horsepower engine from heaven.

You could also think of the Spyder RS as the open-top counterpart to the Cayman GT4 RS, a winged car I’ve never driven but one lovingly tailored to people who wish they lived next door to a racing track.

The two share a tonne of parts, including the magical flat-six engine that also happens to propel Porsche’s 911 GT3 Cup racing cars.

As engines go, it embodies everything that mankind once loved about petrol. It doesn’t start up so much as burst into life, and then it simply throbs with power and makes the most riotous snarl. Brush the loud pedal, and the revs jump with vigour and spontaneity.

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The spine-tingling sounds aren’t merely down to a raspy exhaust and the mechanical clatter of six pistons throwing punches at each other. Porsche made it a point to craft gorgeous air scoops out of carbon fibre, then placed them just behind the headrests so an awesome whoosh is never far from your ear every time you wring the engine to its 9,000 rpm redline. Insiders call the air intakes the car’s “music boxes”.

Coupled to a seven-speed gearbox with short ratios, the engine serves up intense acceleration to go with its rousing soundtrack. Going for it in the Porsche is like surfing atop a wave of speed that swells to a tsunami, leaving you dizzy with excitement.

As you might expect, the handling is lovely and sweet. For all its ferocious speed, the Spyder RS is a delicate car on the move, one that dances down the road instead of stomping its way along. The steering and brakes are perfectly judged in their weight, and the car changes direction like it’s directly connected to your neurons.

Much of that is down to how light it is. The interior isn’t bare-bones, but it’s simple and uncluttered. The main buttons worth learning are the ones that sharpen the gearbox’s responses and make the exhaust sing louder. There’s one to firm up the suspension, but if anything, the supple ride quality is one of the car’s strengths.

Other weight-pruning measures include a bonnet, front wings and other body panels made of carbon fibre, and thinner glass. The inside door pulls are fabric, and even the Porsche badge on the nose is a decal, to save mere grams.

Then there’s the roof. It’s strictly a manual affair, which eliminates motors. Instead of a folding item, it’s a two-piece top that just stretches over the top of the car, like a boat’s bimini. A vertical rear section clips into place if you really want to keep the weather out (or the air-con in).

Amazingly, the roof weighs just 18.4 kg, and is one reason why the Spyder RS is 5 kg lighter than the Cayman GT4 RS, at just over 1.4 tonnes. When was the last time you saw an open-top car weigh less than its coupe counterpart?

That said, the roof is a make-or-break item. It’s so tricky to use that Porsche insisted on a half-hour lesson on how to deploy it and then stow it before giving me the keys to the car.

Yet, fiddling with the roof is part of the occasion. Remove it, and between the noise, speed and the immediacy of its reactions, driving the Porsche feels closer to riding a good, fast motorcycle than anything else I can name. Except it’s more comfy than any bike, with the added plus of not falling over if you come to a halt and forget to put a foot down.

If nothing else, consider this, Porsche will never do another mid-engined car with combustion power. Ever. This is officially your last chance.

I asked Frank Moser, the exec in charge of both the 718 and legendary 911 product lines, if he thinks the Spyder RS is destined to be a collectible piece. “Definitely it’s gonna be one, because it’s the last one with such an engine,” he said. “But we don’t want our customers only to collect the cars. These cars are made to be driven.” Something tells me he won’t have to worry too much about that one.

Porsche 718 Spyder RS

Engine 3,996 cc, 24-valve flat-six Power 500 hp at 8,400 rpm Torque 450 Nm at 6,750 rpm Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch 0-100 kmh 3.4 seconds Top speed 308 kmh Fuel efficiency 13 L/100 km Agent Porsche Singapore Price S$755,288 without COE Available Now