Porsche Boxster Video Reviews

Sometimes it's more about what is going on outside than inside the car. For example it seems everyone loves a Porsche and they're not backward in coming forward.Take the middle-aged European man trying desperately to attract my attention on the way back from picking up our bright red Porsche Boxster. Finally, reluctantly, I acknowledged his presence and wound down the window to find out what he wanted."Beautiful car," he said. "I dream of one day owning a car like that one. "How much is it worth?" Duh. "I don't know," I had to admit. "It's not mine, it belongs to a friend (a white lie but it saves long explanations).Tick, tick, tick..."About $140,000!" I guessed (I thought it was in the S. I hadn't checked). "It's a beauty," he confirmed once more before the lights went green and we parted.VALUELater, I was surprised to find the Boxster was in fact $20,000 less than I had anticipated, even with a swag of accessories fitted. Priced from $107,000 the two-seat sportster is arguably the most desirable of the Porsches, a fun drop top that sits on rock solid engineering idiot proof almost.The price of our test car was almost $120,000, by the time you added the matching red seatbelts and a set of fearsome, black 20 inch rims. The belts are $600 alone while the 20 inch Carrera rims finished in black bump the figure up another 10 grand a lot but they look hot.Even at this price, it's still well short the $133K Boxster S. If price is no object, you'd be silly not to pick the more powerful S let's face it. But remember those wheels are still going to be another 10 grand on top of that again.For my mind, the smart money is on the standard model with the big wheels and maybe a Bose sound system thrown in another $1500. At the end of the day, it's still $15,000 less than the S and you'll be grinning from ear to ear, because either way the Boxster is not going to disappoint.TECHNOLOGYThe big difference between the two models is in the size of the engines. The Boxster is powered by a 2.7-litre 195kW six while the S gets a larger, 3.4-litre version that develops 232kW. It's quicker off the line, but uses more premium at the same time. Both engines are naturally aspirated. Our car was fitted with a six-speed manual or the option of the 7-speed PDK auto.DRIVINGYou can cruise the beaches with the top down or cut loose on some challenging mountain switchbacks, either way the Boxster is happy to oblige. Back at the office word spread quickly that we had a Porsche in the carpark. The girls all gushed and the guys became silent and envious, but they all wanted a ride.Closer to home my mate Johnno who lives down the road was just as quick off the mark, wanting to know if he could get a test drive. Not likely I drove. "What's so special about these cars?" he wanted to know. "What does a Porsche have that other cars don't?" "Where do I begin my friend?" I replied.Last but not least in our sudden fan club was the bogan in the Falcon, who tracked us as we tried to slip quietly down the motorway. Ogling both the car and my wife he mouthed the words "noice, noice" through the window. "Looks like you've got an admirer," I said. "Hardly. It's the car he's interested in." Thanks all for the vote of confidence.VERDICTIt looks fantastic, goes hard, makes all the right noises and simply refuses to become unsettled no matter how hard you push and how bad the bitumen is under wheel. What's not to like?

The third generation Porsche Boxster, tagged the 981, takes the same styling route as its predecessors, which is no bad thing.Porsche owners over the years have shown strong resentment to any major changes in direction, so features like the air intakes in front of the rear wheels and the shape of the bonnet and headlights follow a familiar theme. You can choose between a standard Boxster at a modest starting price for this class of just $107,500, or the high-performance Boxster S with a recommended retail price of $133,800. The new-generation Porsche Boxster provides a pure-bred machine for what is a very modest price for the class in which it operates. It’s little wonder that dealers are reporting very satisfactory sales in the first few months of this German machine.The standard variant uses a new-design 2.7-litre flat-six powerplant with direct fuel injection in place of the manifold injection 2.9-litre of the previous model.Despite its smaller capacity the new unit has 15 per cent more power (now 195 kW), yet uses 13 to 15 per cent less petrol. That’s impressive. Choosing the Porsche Boxster S puts a revised version of the well-established 3.4-litre flat-six just behind your back.With 232 kW of power and 360 Nm of torque it has higher outputs, but uses less fuel than in the old model. Transmission options are six-speed manual and seven-speed double-clutch PDK automatic.At the tail there’s more change in the design, with a strong style line that runs the full width, with the taillights following the horizontal shape of the metal.New Boxster is bigger than before and would have weighed substantially more, but more aluminium has been used than ever before with the bonnet, rear deck and door skins all benefitting from the lightweight material.Combined with other weight saving measures the mass of the Boxster has trimmed by 25 to 35 kg depending on model. It all helps in improving straight-line performance, providing nimbleness and in reducing emissions and fuel use.On a slightly more mundane note, there is reasonable stowage space within the Boxster and the fact that it has two boots (one in front the other in the rear) makes it a more than practical long term touring car.If you’re going to be spending hours each week the PDK makes sense, but if you want to be part of the action it simply doesn’t provide the same sensation of driving as does the ‘proper’ manual gearbox.On the road the latest Porsche Boxster is close to perfect in its balance and nimble handling. The use of a mid-rear engine, rather than the full-rear unit as in the 911, gives it virtually neutral weight distribution.The Boxster hangs on to the road at speeds well in excess of those achievable by anything other than an ultra-expensive supercar. And the fact that it’s lighter than the typical supercar makes it more nimble in its feel.The electrically assisted power steering, which is used to trim fuel use and exhaust emissions, provides better feedback than any similar units we have tested in other cars and really does feel as though your hands are in direct touch with the road.Depending on the model and options chosen there are various adjustments for the suspension, steering, engine and transmission settings. So Boxster can be tuned to provide a comfortable ride, a firm one or a full on racetrack hardness.Some sharp potholes and bumps did send a shudder through our test Boxster S on some occasions when we selected the firm Sport setting. Try for yourself during your own pre-purchase test drive to see if the car’s characteristics suit your needs.The way the Porsche engines sound during gearchanges and on throttle liftoff is simply superb. Even in speed-regulated Australia you can get a lot of pleasure from dropping the roof (it only takes nine seconds and is fully automatic) and just listening to your progress as the powertrain does its sporting best.The engine has switchable stop-start in the interests of emission reduction. The engine starts almost imperceptibly and we were more than happy to leave it switched on in anything other than very slow traffic crawls.We have just stepped out of a Boxster S automatic after a most enjoyable week of smile-inducing driving. While we are well aware that the auto is both faster and more economical than the manual our preference is still for the extra driving involvement that’s provided by the manual.