Porsche Boxster And Boxster S

A great sports car in the best tradition, powerful, good handling, practical and great fun. Porsche's Boxster gets the new look of the super new 911 oval headlamps laid back into more sloping fenders. Also, the air intakes are more pronounced than before. More important, the engines have been uprated to:

• Boxster S, 3.2 liter unit from 260 to 280 bhp at 6,200 rpm
• Boxster, 2.7 liter unit from 228 to 240 bhp at 6,300 rpm

Top speed is up slightly to 159 mph for the Boxster and 167 mph for the Boxster S. More important, the Boxster now gets to 60 mph in just over 6 seconds, and the Boxster S sprints up in 5.5 seconds.

Mmm, that's getting quick. The road test is of the prevous model, as the differences are small the cars just got quicker! So how does the Boxster perform?

To feel the full glory of the Porsche Boxster you need to drive it on a journey over ordinary country roads that twist and turn, curve, climb and dive with some nice straights in between. Don't worry if there's a bit of traffic, because a quick shift down to third or possibly second will see you past it in no time. On the other hand, the Boxster isn't so powerful that a dab on the throttle takes you to 100-120 mph, and into seriously illegal land.

Before you jump in, just take a look at the smooth, well-balanced lines of this sports two-seater. At the front, there are those distinctive Porsche headlamps and two neat air intakes below. The low nose and wide, curved fenders set the style, and there are a pair of tiny winglets at the sides of the front bumper which you hardly notice. They provide a little down force at speed.

Classic sports car lines

In the Porsche tradition, the tail is curved without the bluff end that is so common on sports cars. To reduce lift there is a small rear spoiler which is normally concealed, but comes up automatically at speed. The car is a classic shape, and seems as fresh as when it was introduced.

Compact engine just behind the seats

To match the sporty lines is a sporty flat-six engine, with twin overhead camshafts per bank and four valves per cylinder. It has an integrated dry sump lubrication system, which is quite unusual, but helps ensure the oil gets to the bearings when you keep cornering fast. The engine is very short, and tucks in down low just behind the seats.

In 2.7 liter form, the engine develops 240 bhp at 6,300 rpm, and 192 lb ft of torque at 4,700 rpm The figures for the 3.2 liter Boxster S engine are 280 bhp at 6,200 rpm, and 228 lb ft also at 4,700 rpm.

More than a match for its rivals

Although the Boxster has been around for quite a time now, it behaves so well that it is still one of the best in its class. The 3.2 liter engine of the Boxster S pushes the top speed up from 159 to 167 mph not significant and reduces the 0-60 time from 6.2 to 5.5 seconds, which does make a difference, especially since the improved acceleration is there all the way up.

When you slip into the driver's seat, the first thing that impresses in the quiet quality of the interior, trimmed in hand-stitched black Alcantara. There are just a few small splashes of aluminum to relieve the black part of the gear lever, the door handles, and the locks.

Clear instruments right in front of you

The clear instruments are right there in front of you, with the large rev counter in the middle, the quite small speedo to the left, and the minor gauges to the right. There's also a trip computer below the rev counter, and a digital readout for the speedo very useful when you're driving to a certain speed, whether one you've chosen or to meet a legal limit. Again, unlike on some cars, the instruments are easy to read quickly.

The engine bursts into life with a busy sound, but settles down to become very quiet and smooth when you take off. Up to about 3,500 rpm, it is quiet and demure; floor the throttle at higher speeds, and suddenly you've a roaring lion of an engine hurtling the rev counter round. When it gets to about 6,000 rpm, the noise becomes a raucous howl until 7,000 rpm, where the speed limiter cuts in. You get the quality of the noise without it being excessive; just an encouragement to use those revs.

The combination of good mid-speed torque and high power at the top end is ideal for real driving conditions. It results from Porsche's VarioCam variable valve timing. At high speeds, the inlet opening is advanced to give maximum overlap, and at lower speeds the opening is retarded. The result is super-smooth power increasing all the way up the range. VarioCam also helps reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Five or six well chosen gears

The Boxster comes as standard with a five-speed box six speeds on the S which has the right spacing for road use, although first is a trifle high in some situations. She'll do 45 in first, 75 in second and over 100 mph in third, which is why you've always got plenty of power for overtaking.

Benefits of mid-engine layout

One of the reasons the Boxster is such a joy to drive is that it is a light car with a low frontal area, so the car accelerates faster than you might expect. The center of gravity is very low, thanks to the combination of the boxer engine and mid-engine layout. Also, you get a great view over a low, sloping hood. The mid-engine layout puts the mass of the car near the middle of the wheelbase but biased to the rear, which helps give good handling, braking and traction.

With Porsche's racing experience, it is no surprise that the car does everything well. Once on song, the engine races up to top speed, and in the tradition of sports cars, if you want to move really fast you keep the engine in the 3,500-6,500 rpm range. On twisty roads, the slick gearshift make shifting to get the right engine speed fun, and the car handles superbly whether you know the roads or not. A dab on the brakes, shift down and power round the curve, a smooth shift up and off you go again.

On main road curves, the seats give plenty of support. I'm pretty slim, and these seats are designed for quite wide people, so on really twisty roads, I found I needed to lean outward just before the corner so I didn't move across the seat in the corner.

As you'd expect from a sports car, the ride is firm, if not hard. Because the seats are comfortable, you soon get used to the ride, which is not tiring on a long journey. When you accelerate hard on poor road surfaces overtaking for example the car bounces about quite a bit, but is easy to hold on line, absolutely straight.

Tested in the rain and in the dry

I spent one day driving in pouring rain, and the car behaved impeccably throughout, taking the conditions in its stride with ease. It inspired confidence the way it just went round each bend, and laid the power onto the road.

There was just one thing it didn't like: long puddles, and there are plenty on these country roads. When you hit a long puddle, you need to hold the wheel firmly to stop the car turning towards the edge of the road.

Light steering, and the car tells you what's happening

In other respects, the steering is excellent; it is not too light, and tells you what is going on. The car doesn't just go round corners on rails without any feedback. It goes where you point and steer it, swinging through the bends and curves delightfully, and you can feel when the rear wheels are about to break away and you have to try hard to get them to do so.

You can induce some under steer by entering a tight curve on the overrun, but in practice the handling is neutral, with the move toward over steer at the limit. To help make the handling neutral, the rear tires are wider than the fronts 255/40 ZR 17s against 205/50 ZR 17s. There is an option of 225/40 ZR 18 front and 265/35 ZR 18 rear tires on wider rims.

One of the Achilles heels of mid-engine coupes is luggage space; on the Boxster, they've done well to provide a surprisingly deep space in the front, as well as fairly large but shallow trunk above the gearbox. That's one more area where a lot of thought went into the design.

Porsche offers a hardtop, and the new soft top is raised and lowered by motors. It's a quick and efficient system. In most open cars, the buffeting of the wind is tiring, but in the Boxster there's a transparent shield behind you to reduce buffeting. It works pretty well.

If you're looking for a compact sports car, this thoroughbred is highly recommended. The Boxster isn't even heavy on fuel; you can get up around 30 mpg cruising on motorways, and it does get drastically worse when you step on the gas, as on many high-performance cars.