LexFather

Wow great review again. The Boxster is an amazing car in that it is very costly but it dominates its class. Very interesting what you say about the panache and image of it. Very good point.
Glad to see you fit in it pretty well since I'm a larger guy myself (never sat in a new Boxster). Shame about the 5 speed.
As for brakes
black= standard steel Brembos but stock size
Red= "big reds" steel Brembos but bigger than stock
Yellow= Ceramic brakes and even bigger

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Very enjoyable read, mmarshall, thanks. Some comments:

- I'm glad you tested a base model - that's what I drove not too long ago. I'm sure the S is even more fun, but as you say, a serious 'price enhancement'

- You mention a lack of powered adjustments (seats, steering wheel) but I think that's entirely appropriate in a sports car. It saves weight, cost, and honestly, in a car that small typically driven by ONE DRIVER, the car can be adjusted manually once, and left.

- You mention the shifter linkage is a little notchy - I noticed this too, and 'feeling' my way into the right gear wasn't always obvious. The Miata on the other hand, was PERFECT.

- The 5 speed on the base is kind of weak on a car costing this much and a 6 speed would actually help the car not drop so many revs (and torque) when shifting. The Miata grand touring at 25K has a 6 speed.

- Not sure what you mean when you say it would be better with BMW steering - I think Porsche steering is excellent.

- One additional factor to consider in any car is cost of maintenance. A Boxster as you say, should be a reliable car, but even an oil change on a car with that type of lubrication system is probably $100 and probably should be done at a Porsche dealer.

Anyway, great review!

mmarshall

Yes, the S is serious money...55K to start and 60K and up out the door, for basically about 50 more HP and a little more equipment inside.

The Boxster S does have all-power seat adjustments and 3-position memory for different drivers.....that is part of the upgrade that you get for the extra money. The extra weight of the electric motors, larger engine/transmission and more equipment is apparantly handled by more engine HP and larger wheels and tires.



The Miata's linkage was indeed slicker-feeling and easier to shift, but the hardware and transmission itself didn't feel as stout as he Boxster's.


Agreed....however, as usually is the case with a new car, I limited the revs on the test-drive to start with.

Porsche steering, as you say, IS excellent, but doesn't quite have the BMW road-feel telepathy. Nothing else does......even Chris Bangle-designed BMW's, IMO, are some of the best vehicles in the world when it comes to power-steering design. ( to an extent, it helps make up for the I-Drive )

And Porsche, on this car, not only socks you with clean-out-the-wallet service prices, but, on mid-engine cars like the Boxster, doesn't even allow access to the engine from above the car, except for a couple of quick fluid checks through a little trapdoor inside the trunk....a feature that I noted in the write-up. However, some of this lack-of-a-proper-hood design may be justified when you consider the design difficulties of having to put both the engine AND the fold-up space for the power top behind the drivers' seat. The Boxster, being mid-engined, has the engine taking up much of the space that the drop-top would be occupying in other convertibles. The rear-engine 911 and Carrera Cabriolet convertibles DO have a proper hood AND a fold-up space for the top, but those are true rear-engine models, with the engine farther back than in the Boxster, allowing a hinged hood all the way in the back.

Toyota DID manage to put a small engine hood on its mid-engined MR2 Spyder, but that car has a smaller and different in-line engine than the Boxster, VERY small trunks ( almost nonexistant ) , and a manual-folding top without the extra space requirements of the motors and linkages.

TripleL

mmarshall,

Great review, really enjoyed the read (as always!)

This is one car that has always caught my eye even though I prefer a hardtop. Now with the Cayman out, I really have something to dream about!

Please keep sharing your thoughts with these reviews!

TripleL

mmarshall

Thanks.

The Cayman is only marginally more expensive than the Boxster...so basically, if you have Boxster money in the bank, you've got Cayman cash as well. The main difference, of course, is the Cayman's hard top, which, of course, while not providing as much fun in the sun, gives a more rigid structure. The Boxster's body structure, though, in the German-car tradition, was quite well-done for a convertible, with virtually no body shake or cowl flex on decent roads and any kind of sane cornering.

cpone

Talk about having the coolest job.
Getting to drive new cars for a living!

mmarshall

No, I'm not part of the regular auto press, and I don't do this for a living.
I simply write freelance, and as a volunteer. Occasionally I get asked to write for local auto columns but it is not a regular thing with me. AUTOWEEK magazine, in the past, has also published some of my comments.

I don't NEED to get paid for this...I make good money from from my tax-free investments and my job with the FAA.

One of the reasons I do this is that I am not impressed with the way that the newspaper auto writers write up new cars.....some of those newspaper write-ups are awful, so I at least try to do a better job. But, unlike the tests you will find in the enthusiast auto mags, I usually don't drive a car at its extreme limits. I typically drive new cars in regular suburban driving conditions.....the average auto buyer does not drive like Michael Shumacher or Tony Stewart and is much more concerned about how well the car is built, what kind of daily driver it will make, and how much a value it is for the money. THAT is the primary reason I do these reviews...to help the average auto buyer make better decisions about his or her auto dollars. People who want long-term tests or the car's track limits need to look elsewhere....not my reviews.

DriftNsc3

I think thats a damn good reason to do it!

mmarshall

Thanks.

There are some great automotive publications out there....and some I highly recommend. Consumer Reports does a great job on automotive reliability and general objective testing. Car and Driver, Road and Track, while a little more sport and high-performance oriented than me, do good general road tests and vehicle comparisons.....and Car and Driver has excellent editorials, particularly Patrick Bedard. AUTOMOBILE and AUTOWEEK, overall, are almost as good. Motorweek is a good TV automotive show, and Pat Goss does a good job describing auto repairs and maintenance.

But......many ( not all ) of the newspaper auto writers are just awful....despite the salaries thay make, they have little or no idea how to write up or describe a vehicle. They talk about their emotions, what their family thinks of the car, what the car to them represents, its stereotypes, what they think, dream about, and imagine while driving it......like a psychiatrist with ink blots. Many of them ( not all ) also tend to write up the vehicles through rose-colored glasses and NEVER mention or talk about the vehicle's faults...it is misleading and one-sided.

I simply don't buy that style of auto writing....and I will be blunt. IMO, it is a waste of time and printing space.......most people don't want to hear that nonsense. They are spending their hard-earned money on a VEHICLE......sometimes LOTS of money...........and are often making other financial sacrifices to GET that new vehicle. Among other things, they have a right to know how well that vehicle is made, what kind of value for the money it represents for them, what its comfort level is, how it is going to perform as a daily driver....and most importantly, how well it will fit their needs. Consumer Reports and the better auto magazines generally do a good job answering these questions.....the newspaper write-ups and auto weeklies generally don't. There's an old saying.......people shouldn't criticize unless they can come up with something better themselves....so I don't just sit back and criticize auto news weeklies.......I try to do better myself. And you all, at CL, are the judges of that, not me.
And I am not the only person on CL that does reviews. Mike (1SICKLEX) does the 1SICKReviews, that are, in some ways, better than mine, and bitkahuna occasionally does some good ones as well.

Incendiary

What is in its class?

mmarshall

I'm not sure if you are asking me or 1SICK, but I'll address it.

Probably the closest sports cars, price-wise, are the BMW Z4 and M coupe, the newer Mercedes SLK ( the old one wasn't quite sporty enough ), the Corvette C6, and some models the Audi TT. There is no other real mid-engine American-market sports-car alternative to the Boxster in that price range except its own brother fixed-roof Cayman...........the 'Vette, BMW, and Mercedes are front engine / RWD, and the TT is front engine / FWD or AWD. The TT, unlike the others, also has a small rear " seat " for toddlers.

The Mazda RX-8 and Nissan 350Z, while nice sports cars in their own right, sell in a somewhat lower price class than the Boxster.

Incendiary

Just curious if Sick (and others) place the Miata, Solstice, Sky, S2000, etc. in the same class or not.

mmarshall

They, of course, can give you their own opinions. Mine is that these cars are NOT in the Boxster's class....but generally offer much more for the money. All of them, even turbo models, sell for far less than the Boxster......in some cases half as much. The S2000 has 240 HP...close to the Boxster's, but very little torque except at huge RPM's. The Turbo Solstice ansd Sky offer roughly comparable HP and torque at a much lower price but don't offer anywhere near the Boxster's build quality.

For the money, value, and build quality combined, IMO, the Miata is clearly the best overall car of the bunch, even with only 166 HP. The Boxster, of course, beats the Miata in some areas, especially paint, body sheet metal, brakes, the power top, and engine power, but clearly, IMO, not worth twice the price.

Incendiary

Personally, I'm enamored with the Miata, S2000, Elise, and Boxster S. I hope to own all four of them someday (not all at once).

mmarshall

I wouldn't drive an Elise on a public road....one of the reasons why I have not, to date, done a formal review of one. Though it has incredible agility, pure Ko-Gart handling, and extremely fast acceleration for its small engine ( a modified Toyota 1.8 L four ), and, of course, can avoid some accidents just from aglility alone, the midget, featherweight chassis that makes this kind of performance possible not only gives it a buckboard ride but but would make the car a rolling coffin in any significant accident, despite modern belts and air bags. By modern standards, a car like this is seriously lacking in any kind of real crash protection.