Quote Originally Posted by MrMagicFingers View Post
<snipped> I have not heard good things about the 990's... I think. I have to let all this new info settle down and re-evaluate it in a few weeks. Starting to hit that information over load.
Did you hear those things from people that have owned or currently own one with a 990 V-Twin in it, though? I think not. I've had my 2012 RS with the 998 SE5 since 2013 (it had 880 miles on it used when I bought it off CraigsList from the 1st owner in Baton Rouge LA who was a Harley dude and just couldn't get into the way of the Spyder), put over 17K miles on it so far and the engine has been bullet-proof to date. It accelerates like a rocket ship, passing other vehicles is a little scary because from being behind a slow-poke car doing 45 in a 55 zone my Spyder can easily exceed 80 mph by the time I clear their front bumper! It's like "Oh Chit!" :-O

You do know they have organized drag races with the Spyder RS(S) with 998 V-Twin engines right? Check YouTube for videos of it, it's wild stuff!

I've checked my fuel mileage, and on the average I get between 34 and 36 mpg on a full tank (it's next to impossible to fill the tank up to the exact same level each fill-up, so I attribute the slight variation to that). My pickup truck only gets like 12 mpg max (It's a dually, what can you say? But it's fully paid for so, and handy for towing my boat and stuff). So I consider my Spyder to be the economy vehicle under my car port! LOL!

Now IMHO the RT Spyders probably do benefit from the increased torque of the ACE Engine package, they were a little under-powered with the 998 for their weight. If I wanted a touring Spyder for long cruising road trips pulling a trailer, that would probably be the way to go. But I stay local and like the pep and reliability of the Spyder RS with the V-twin engine it's what works for me. Just don't hate on the V-twin, there's absolutely nothing wrong with or about this engine, Tim.

Regards!

- Michael