Porsche Boxster
Most one-hit wonders don’t last long. But Porsche, which had its first (and only) hit as a carmaker back in 1964, is not only still here, but prospering. And it’s all due to the 911, which is 33 years old and still going strong.
On numerous occasions, the German company has tried to replace it, fearing its time had finally come. But each time most notably when it launched the 928 in 1978 buyers have spurned the newcomer, preferring the more characterful if less conventional charms of the old-timer.
The new Porsche Boxster is an obvious follow-up to the 911. It comes at a time when sales of affordable convertible sports cars are booming. The marvelous Mazda Miata, known as the MX-5 in Europe, proved the market existed. Now the German sporty big three (BMW, Mercedes and Porsche) are all in there, exchanging punches. Even the British maker MG, which virtually invented the affordable roadster market, is back.
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The Old and the New
The Porsche Boxster carries over many 911 styling cues its buglike roundness, its curvaceous fenders and its lowness. But mechanically it’s all new. The engine may be a flat-six, but this motor is different. It’s smaller and less powerful than the 911’s engine, true to the Porsche Boxster’s lower price and more mass-market aspirations. In keeping with its clean-sheet approach, the engine is sited in the middle of the car between the cabin and the rear wheels rather than out the back, keeping the rear bumper company. A mid-engine configuration is much better for handling.
It is a fabulous car to drive, the Porsche Boxster, the best in the class. It’s brisker and sharper than the rival Mercedes SLK, prettier and faster than the BMW Z3. The engine has that same marvelous bellow that characterizes the 911: Hit the accelerator pedal and the motor trumpets like a bull elephant. The handling is almost hyperactively sensitive the car wends its way down winding roads like a snake speeding through long grass and the fabulous brakes and steering just add to the dynamic ensemble. The drop-down roof, fully electric apart from some manual work to tether it to the windshield, just adds to the thrills and to the raw sensations that are part of the character of the best sports cars.
The cabin design is the biggest disappointment. The plastics are not of especially good quality and the switches are sited across the dash with all the ergonomic planning of shot fired from a blunderbuss. As with the 911, you buy a Porsche Boxster for the way the outside looks and for the way it drives, not for any particular enjoyment to be had from the cabin ambience.
Porsche’s recent creative rush, incidentally, isn’t over yet. The one-hit wonders from Stuttgart are set to revamp the 911 at the end of the year, further upgrading the old-timer. After all, if the unexpected happens and the market turns against the new Porsche Boxster, then at least there’s the 911 to fall back on.
Porsche Boxster. About $50,000. Flat-six engine, 2,480cc, 204 BHP at 6,000 rpm. Five-speed manual gearbox, five-speed automatic ”Tiptronic” transmission optional. Top speed: 240 kph (149 mph). Acceleration: 0-100 kph in 6.9 seconds. Average fuel consumption: 10.2 liters/100 km.
