Boxster S

[Ekona]

So the 911 is in the Porsche garage this week having some goodies fitted, and they've kindly furnished me with a spanking new Boxster S with which to play around with in the mean time. I've only driven about 45 mins in it so far, and mostly on boring roads, but I still thought it might be nice to do a little write up on it. Given the first ever Porsche I drove was a 987 S (albeit a Gen1), it was interesting to go back to the start as it were.

 

 

 

Spec? Well it's a manual S, which means a 3.4L lump pushing 310bhp and 230lb/ft in a car weighing 1450kg, so as you can imagine it's not exactly slow. More on that later though...

 

It's a pretty well-specced car truth be told: GT Silver metallic paint, Turbo II 19" wheels, sports seats (manual ones, natch), Bose stereo, sat-nav, Sports Chrono and the highlight, the switchable exhaust. It's still a nice place to be which really it should be, seeing as how it's 95% identical to the 911, and I felt right at home slumping myself down into the comfortably tight seats for the first time. In a way it's almost irritating that it's the same as the 911 as suddenly it makes my car feel a bit unspecial, a bit normal, but on the other hand why change something that is very good in the first place? The font used on the dials is different though, and only a proper Porker nerd like yours truly would notice something like that I guess.

 

First thing I did before even starting her up was to drop the roof. Well, on a nice sunny day it would be rude not to really, and I never drove anywhere in my Zed with the roof up if I could help it. Almost identical to the Zed in terms of function, except you don't need to hold the brake whilst doing it (I still did though, out of habit!) and it's a far quicker and quieter process. Once down there's an incredible amount of vision all round, and bizarrely enough the cabin itself seems to shrink around you, almost feeling S2000-like in claustrophobia. It's unnerving at first, and then you start the engine. And blip the throttle. And blip it again. And again...

 

Oh my! Remember the exhaust I mentioned, the Porsche Sports Exhaust (or PSE for short)? If you ever buy a Porker, make this the first option you tick. The noise at idle is throaty and rumbly and bangy and poppy, and all those other childish things that a good exhaust should be. A simple button on the centre console swaps between raucous and smooth in a second, although why anyone would ever have it in anything other than shouty mode is beyond me. It's a little irritating once moving as between 2.5K and 4.5K revs it quietens itself down again (due to EU noise restrictions) but once you get past that dead spot it simply screams to the top end with a gusto I'd almost forgotten. The manual 'box eggs you on to so, as it's as sweet a shifter as I've ever used, and certainly more MX-5 rifle bolt than 350Z lumbering clunk. The clutch seems a little weirdly weighted, as if the pressure plates aren't quite right, but it's a sensation that soon passes and since every manual Porker I've driven feels exactly the same I suspect it's engineered that way. Bearing in mind that my car's a PDK car and so has no clutch pedal, and I clicked with this three-pedal setup very quickly, I suspect this is almost as good as it gets.

 

It's a horrible motoring journo cliche of a term to describe a roadster as having go-kart handling, and it's a cliche I've tried desperately hard to avoid using myself, and yet it somehow feels more apt here than anywhere else. An Elise may have it licked on the super light weight that a kart has, and certainly the rattly noise of one, but the smooth delicacy of the steering in the Boxster is a joy. When switching the Sport Chrono mode on you get a sharper throttle (think D1 throttle controller on SP3) but more importantly the slip angle of the TCS (or, in Porsche speak, the PSM) is increased to 12% and you can certainly make full use of that when floating into a 90 deg opening corner. The front end points, the rear end goes heavy and starts flicking round, yet the pivot point remains the driver rather than the engine and you can guide the nose in using the lightest of feathery touches on the go pedal, and then bang your way up the box again. Delightful. Being able to lean on the under-servoed brakes whilst driving into a tighter slower corner is a real treat, although I think I would personally prefer slightly more stopping power at the top of the pedal travel though. That said, the brakes are very progressive and that's possibly more important in a sports car.

 

As a comparison to the 911, it's closer than I'd hoped really. The 911 has that ballistic balls-to-the-wall pace that the smaller car simply can't ever hope to match, but then the balance of the Boxster is so immediately exploitable that, for a driver, you could probably save yourself £30K and live with the two seater. That is, and here's the catch, you remind yourself that no matter how good it is, it's not a 911, and the history and character of the bigger brother has a lot going for it. Certainly I don't regret my decision to get the bigger car in any way, and that's my heart talking more than my wallet. Compared with the Zed the Boxster simply walks all over it. There isn't a part of the 350 that I prefer to the Boxster, exterior looks aside. Okay, maybe the Zed is the more honest, brawny car which appeals to people (hell, I picked it over a Boxster don't forget), but as a driving tool there is no contest. Sorry folks.

 

 

 

 

So what is the 911 in the garage for? Well, the PSE and the Sports Chrono button of course, which also brings with it the joy of launch control...

[Neilp]

Good write up

[JetSet]

Okay, maybe the Zed is the more honest, brawny car which appeals to people (hell, I picked it over a Boxster don't forget), but as a driving tool there is no contest. Sorry folks.

 

 

Nothing to be sorry about, they cost 47k so I'd expect them to be a whole lot better

 

 

Pete

[waltzinblack]

Great write up man! So happy you enjoyed the Boxster - I absolutely love them. It's a shame you didn't get to try the Spyder, might have been even more fun! (albeit a little less comfortable!) There's a lady with a white Spyder who lives near me, they look awesome

 

I too bought the Z over a Boxster, but in my price range the Z was more powerful, newer, has less miles and looked a bit better. The 2009+ Boxsters are absolutely beautiful, it's my dream to have one. Hell I'd even have one over a 911. They are just so pretty!

[richt]

So you get a new Boxter and we get a Micra as a courtesy car... Why did you get a Porsche?

 

Great write up, keep us posted.

[Pimm]

So you get a new Boxter and we get a Micra as a courtesy car... Why did you get a Porsche?

 

Great write up, keep us posted.

 

Ekona used to have a zed and has now moved on a pace or two

 

Really good comparison on the porsche's

[Husky]

how many launches do you get on the launch control?

[Ekona]

As many as you want, the only limit is one launch every 10 minutes or so to give the gearbox oil a chance to cool down I believe.

[tez162003]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

[rabbitstew]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

 

You might be right there.

 

But then again, thats one of the reasons I went for the Z. Simply because they are a lot rarer and I like to be different. On my daily drive into work I must see at least 6 boxsters every day. I also see loads of mx5`s, Audi TT`s, BMW z4`s, a couple of RX8`s, the odd s2000 etc... but I very rarely see any 350z`s (or even 370z`s for that matter). I may just see one zed a week at the most and ive yet to see another zed roadster on the road since I bought mine!

 

Very good write up on the boxster tho, enjoyed reading that.

[JetSet]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

 

 

Partly, but I'd put the lack of 350Z's down to competition from The Audi TT and The BMW Z4, buyers see them as a "safer" buy than the 350Z. The huge waiting list for Zed's from 2003 to 2007 didn't help Nissan either.

 

 

Pete

[Dblock]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

 

It's hardy cheap it touching m3 prices. Have you ever driven a boxster if you have you would understand. I personally perfer my zed but only because it's modded. I'm

Not sure if ekona will agree with me but the boxster is actually better chassis wise. If you put the 3.8 block in there which people have done on most roads it would take your 911. Mid engine is just so balanced.

[Ekona]

I totally agree with you, the chassis is much better balanced on the Boxster platform than the 911. No matter how much engineering they do, having the weight over the rear wheels isn't as balanced as mid-engined. Whilst I've no doubt that the 911 would be quicker (power aside), it takes more commitment to get those extra tenths whereas I was able to be pretty much flat out in the Boxster within a few minutes. It's very confidence inspiring.

 

If it stops raining I'll be taking it out for a blast tonight. If it ever stops raining.

[tez162003]

Boxster S isnt cheap coming in at around mid to high 40's, but the 2.9 Boxster is a little closer being IIRC £35-36k. Compare that to the 350z back in the day or today the 370z GT Pack model at around £32-33k, people would rather buy a poverty spec Porsche (granted still no doubt a good car) over a spec'd up "Nissan"

 

Yes, TT's and Z4's were always seen as the safe bet, shame really, as in my opinion the only things better were the interior finish. Who in there right mind would want a golf engined 2 door half arsed 4 seat coupe. But all this is good in the fact it has made the 350z have a slight rare factor to them today.

 

I myself have driven a Boxster S (granted an old model, 2007/8 i think) but never drove it in anger so I could not comment on how good they are. But i'm sure they are without a shadow of a doubt an awesome car.

[rtbiscuit]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

 

It's hardy cheap it touching m3 prices. Have you ever driven a boxster if you have you would understand. I personally perfer my zed but only because it's modded. I'm

Not sure if ekona will agree with me but the boxster is actually better chassis wise. If you put the 3.8 block in there which people have done on most roads it would take your 911. Mid engine is just so balanced.

 

yes but you read the other threads on here, like, why is my 350Z so heavy, how can i improve the interior of my car, how can i get more power in my zed as its not as fast as i thought it would be etc, its all down to the fact that the Zed was built to a budget, and if more had been invested in it it could have been a better car, but cost even more, and who would pay top dollar for a nissan, when they could have a porshe for the same money?

 

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

 

You might be right there.

 

But then again, thats one of the reasons I went for the Z. Simply because they are a lot rarer and I like to be different. On my daily drive into work I must see at least 6 boxsters every day. I also see loads of mx5`s, Audi TT`s, BMW z4`s, a couple of RX8`s, the odd s2000 etc... but I very rarely see any 350z`s (or even 370z`s for that matter). I may just see one zed a week at the most and ive yet to see another zed roadster on the road since I bought mine!

 

Very good write up on the boxster tho, enjoyed reading that.

 

i see a fair few zeds round my way, see about 3 or 4 a week, and as the prices have come down so much, all the zeds that used to be garage queens have now been sold and replaced with new garage queens and the new buyers use them more frequently.

 

they aren't as rare as they used to be, still not as common as Z4's and TT and porsches etc. but not as niche market or rare as say something like a maserati.

[lrh]

The boxster in my opinion is the reason there isnt many 350z on the roads.

 

People prefer a cheap Porsche over an expensive Nissan. Its all about the badge to 99% of people.

The 350Z was a global hit and the UK only got 1,000 per year.

 

The 370Z is still relatively cheap to buy (when a RenaultSport Megane is £25k) but all the German rivals are more refined and cheaper to run/lease... Hence they only sold about 700 last year.

[JetSet]

The 350Z was a global hit and the UK only got 1,000 per year.

 

 

Not sure if that figure of 1,000 is correct but yeah, numbers were limited, one of the reasons why so many were imported from Japan.

 

 

Pete

[Ekona]

The Boxster's gone back now, but I did manage one last extended hoon in it yesterday before dropping it back: Well, it would be rude not to really!

 

 

In equal measures, I'm both more impressed and more disappointed with it at the same time after having driven it further, and certainly after having my own car back and being able to do a back-to-back comparison. I'll start with the negatives first, as they're slightly harder to quantify in a way.

 

It simply doesn't feel that special, and it should: This is a £50K car, and one by a premium manufacturer who knows sports cars better than almost any other company in the world, and yet it still felt slightly dull. Maybe it didn't help that it was a silver car with a black interior which is about as boring as you can get, but whilst there's certainly nothing wrong with the inside as such (indeed, 90% of manufacturers out there could learn a lot about the use of quality materials in a cabin from Porsche) it never gave me that little shiver you should get when sitting in a roadster. The more I think about it the more I suspect the lack of colour really doesn't help it, and I would hope that a buyer would add a row of red stitching here or a yellow seatbelt there to liven it up, but seeing as how this is only a courtesy car I guess there wasn't much sense in the dealer speccing it to daft levels.

 

The only other downside were the brakes, which I never grew to love. Yes they're progressive, but they fade far too easily for my taste and I never felt truly comfortable in their outright stopping ability. That said, being able to dab them lightly to shift the weight forward on a section of fast flowing corners was a joy.

 

 

Honestly though, that's me being picky: The brakes are still better than the stock Zed ones, although (and whisper this) I think I found the post-facelift Zed to be a more characterful place. All those Zs everywhere make it look like someone really took their time over it, whereas the Boxster just looks like it was lifted from the 911.

 

 

So the positives then. Ahh yes, the positives. Sod the boring interior as it's instantly forgotten the second you open the exhaust valves and blip the throttle, especially with the roof down, as you get this gorgeously throaty bark that feels like a rather sizeable dog is just itching to get out from the rear of the car and go chase some particularly pesky tomcats. This is how to do an exhaust without adding drone or volume for the sake of it, and whilst I personally could've lived with a little more noise I appreciate that there's a limit as to how much a normal person would put up with. Porsche went for tone over volume and that's fine by me, especially as every light toe tap of the right foot gives you that aural orgasm of a flat-6 lump. Wind it right up in 2nd and 3rd and it's heaven, it really is. The engine is very similar to the revup and HR Zeds, in so far as it wants to be rung right out rather than ride the torque. It never feels especially quick until you glance down at the digital speedo and realise that you probably should back off a fraction...

 

It pulls right through from 3K to the 7.5K redline with an ease and a smoothness that only the very best engines do, and it makes you want to do it again and again just to savour it. The car always feels like it's very much at ease regardless of whatever roads you throw at it, although much like my 911 the stiffer suspension setting is just too stiff on UK B-roads, and it can get a bit crashy. When that's the case you just push the PASM button and return to normal mode which allows the chassis to ebb and flow regardless of surface, and allows you to pick the pace back up. It's not so much Jekyll and Hyde, more bacon sandwich and 21oz T-bone: There's a time and a place for both, but you wouldn't want to live without either.

 

As far as the drive goes, it's practically flawless. The steering wheel is chunky and well-weighted, the gear shift positive and smooth, the seating position supportive and comfortable, and the drivetrain engaging and urging. This is by some margin the best roadster I've ever driven, and it makes me remember just why I was so excited after that initial test drive in an almost identical car those few years ago, and just how I started my infatuation with Porsche and why I ended up with one on my drive. Given that there's a plethora of decent Boxsters out there for prices that compete against a new Zed, this is the benchmark that needs to be beaten and I would say that whilst there's definitely reasons to get the Nissan instead, if you don't at least drive one of these as a comparison then you're really missing out.

 

 

Besides, you don't need both kidneys...