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2007 Porsche Boxster
2007 Porsche Boxster Test Drive
Still the Gold Standard
The newest Boxster S gets the 295-hp Cayman S engine for $3,400 less -- plus the bonus of a drop-top. What's not to like?
On the Road
The first thing anybody familiar with Boxsters will notice is that the engine sound is similar … yet powerfully different: This 295-hp flat six is not an up-rated Boxster engine but a transplanted 911 engine, complete with a variable intake-valve mechanism, which Porsche calls VarioCam Plus. (It is, in fact, the very same engine that was in the 2000 Porsche 911.)
Earlier Boxster S engines really only bellowed when the tachometer passed 4,900 rpm, at which point a flap in the intake ducting opened to admit extra induction air — still true of the new engine. The current model snorts and growls anytime you punch it, as the hydraulically operated VarioCams adjust the valve timing and lift for greater power. Acceleration, not surprisingly, is Porsche 911-like — a strong, smooth crescendo of thrust.
What hasn’t changed, however, is the impeccable handling. At one point, I drove the S on a remote North Carolina two-lane, Highway 129, famous for having a claimed 318 curves in only 11 miles. What could have been a grueling affair — front tires scrubbing on the hairpins, rear end wagging on the faster bends — was instead a totally controlled trundle.
In fact, the Boxster S begged me to go faster. The Porsche’s steering is precise, sharp and perfectly weighted, asking just enough effort to let you know you’re wielding a fine tool.
Sampling both the five-speed automatic (Tiptronic, in Porsche-speak) and the six-speed manual left me wondering which I’d choose. The Tiptronic is perhaps the world’s best fully automatic transmission and shifts rapidly and precisely, but it costs an extra $3,210, is nearly 90 pounds heavier and is lumbered by clumsy actuators on the steering wheel that can’t make up their mind whether they are pushbuttons or toggle switches. I’d much prefer flip-flip paddles behind the steering wheel. Earlier Tiptronics could be manually shifted by “tipping” the shift lever forward or back, but the new Boxster S doesn’t offer this capability.
You want a Porsche convertible with 911-like looks and performance at $26,000 less than the cost of a 911 Cabriolet.
All you need is a weekend two-seater and you’ll be happy to save $20,000 by buying a Mazda MX-5, Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky.
With lots of head/leg/hip room and a tilt-and-telescope steering wheel, just about anybody under 6 feet, 5 inches. The Boxster was originally designed to accommodate women in the smallest 5 percent of body sizes to men in the largest 5 percent.
BMW M Roadster, Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, Lotus Exige, Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG
• Though the Porsche 550 Spyder to which the Boxster body pays homage is linked forever with James Dean, the diminutive racer is far more famous in motor sports for trouncing many bigger cars in the Carrera Panamericana, a road race that ran much of the length of Mexico in the early 1950s. Many Porsches have ever since been named “Carreras” (“race” in Spanish).
• All Porsches have model numbers, 911 being the best-known. To Porsche fans, the Boxster is the 986.
• The original Boxster was styled by an American — designer Grant Larson.
• Though Porsche will barely admit it, since the car initially had a VW engine and ultimately was a failure, the early-1970s Porsche 914 was in fact the company’s first mid-engine car.
• Most Boxsters are assembled not in Germany, but in Finland.
• The steel body panels for the Boxster are manufactured not by Porsche, but by BMW.
• Had it not been for the Boxster’s instant sales success — nearly 90,000 have been sold in the U. S. alone — a struggling, independent Porsche could have been taken over by a large automaker, most likely VW-Audi. Porsche’s popular Cayenne SUV is also credited with bringing the company's balance sheet back into the black.
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