Box - 911 Has anyone done it and wanted the Boxster back?

[all2ofme]

I drove two loaners from Reading over a long weekend and I thought one of them was excellent.

Excellent: Boxster S (gen 2, manual)
Yawn: Carrera S Cab (gen 2, manual)

I would have bought the Boxster if they were the same price, let alone at a massive step up. That was over several hundred miles, too, so it wasn't a quick blat with no real time to form an opinion.

(Was a great weekend, actually. Five different flavours of pork in four days:

Boxster S (gen 2)
997 C2S cab (gen 2)
997 C2S gen 1 (mine)
964 C4 (mate's)
996 GT3 (mk1, and now mine - thanks Marcus!)

I loved all of them for different reasons. Except the C2S cab.)

[rosino]

I drove the 981s pdk after hearing so many good things about it and falling in love with the shape. Was short test drive and probably not on the best type of roads for the car (twisty, hilly.. Fun).

But I felt it could do with more power. Income from a v8 m3 and that has serious pulling power at high revs. Almost scare fast on country roads I think.

So I couldn't pull trigger on 981s.

I then drove the 991s coupe and you could feel the extra 100bhp. I liked that. I bought it. I could just not give up on the sheer power thing. But agree on the righ road, roof off probably the boxster will be a touch more engaging and the nimbler proposition.

Image wise though, a 911 is still a 911. I had a poster of one of my bedroom wall. I did not have one of a boxster ;-)

[BalhamLotus]

I moved to a 997.2 C2S from a 987.1 Cayman 2.7 in February.

Obviously the hike in power between the two is huge, and for me it justifies the change, but I can't deny there are aspects of the Cayman I miss and one day I think I'll have another. If I get an S or an R, I suspect I won't really notice the power difference so much.

Although the 997.2 is 6 months newer than the Cayman was, the underlying architecture feels like an older car. It's definitely not as stiff and it makes bumps and creaks at 12,000 miles that the Cayman at 33,000 never did.

When I first got the Cayman I took it to the Evo triangle for a proper try out, but I have no desire to take the 997 up there, it's just too big for those types of roads (or maybe I'm not a good enough driver and I recognise that - Maybe I need to do my PEC day).

The 997 was absolutely awesome on the blast down to Le Mans this year, but it's more of a GT than a chuckable sports car.

[SalesManager]

rosino said:

Image wise though, a 911 is still a 911. I had a poster of one of my bedroom wall. I did not have one of a boxster ;-)

..... and that is the sadness of it all, it's marketing. I test drove a 996 and 997 and couldn't work out why they were so much more. The Boxster 3.4S I owned was a country mile better than the 997S for chuckability and nimbleness. The 997S just felt fat by comparison. The Cayman 3.4S I test drove was one of the best cars I have ever driven, I will buy one one day.

I would take the Boxster / Cayman route every time. I couldn't care less about being called a hairdresser or the "its not a 911" from the Corsa owning fraternity. Its nice to see the 981 getting so much recognition.

I appreciate that the GT3 and TBO variants are different cars.

[alfa phil]

So the conclusion being ,that despite costing little more than half as much, the Cayman and the Boxster are a better car than the 997.

[BnB]

alfa phil said:

So MY conclusion being ,that despite costing little more than half as much, the Cayman and the Boxster are a better car than the 997.

Fixed that for you.

[Solarized]

Comparing 911s and Boxsters of the same vintage, the Boxster is a better all round package and much better value for money 'IF' you want a soft top IMHO.

Also,part of the 911's beauty lies in its unique, gorgeous sloping ( fast back )roof line which was lost on earlier 911 convertible models as their fat arse stuck out in side profile, albeit this has been addressed in the new models.

I've went air cooled 911 then 987 Boxster S, then back to air cooled 911.

Loved the Boxster but IMO the air cooled 911s just have 'something' that's missing in newer, more refined models.

Both cars are great though - just depends what you want from them.

[Slobberchops]

Been out in the 996 again tonight. My £4k 986 2.5 was more fun than my £15k 996. No question. It's nice having the extra power but you had to work the Boxster and there is no denying it was a better overall package.

I love the 996 but it has only benefitted me by having space for the kids otherwise I would go back to a Boxster S tomorrow.

[Klippie]

How does Porsche's latest cars compare to each other i.e. the 981 Boxster and 991...anyone driven them back to back as the 911 is roughly twice the cost of the Boxster is it twice as good a drive.

[Porkupine]

Klippie said:

How does Porsche's latest cars compare to each other i.e. the 981 Boxster and 991...anyone driven them back to back as the 911 is roughly twice the cost of the Boxster is it twice as good a drive.

I'm sure it isn't twice as good. It never will be as the Boxster is so good in its own right. Also a lot of the premium will be just as it is a 911 and a lot of people when buying a Porsche rightly or wrongly believe it just must be a 911. i.e a proper Porsche. And I'm afraid to say I'm one of those.

[bigee]

If i'm honest i still think that,even though i currently have a Boxster S that i know drives/feels better than my previous 996.It just comes down to this, you say Porsche...you think 911.Probably always will be.

[SimonRS]

Acf69 said:

I had a 2.7 tip Boxster and now have a 996TT. Would I go back, not a chance . That said I really liked the Boxster and only sold it because my other half said me having three cars was just silly

There are some good divorce lawyers out there you know

[hugedouche]

I wouldn't, as good as the box is, and it really is good, It just never got under my skin like the 911 has, which once you get use to it is a more rewarding drive and just feels special...plus the extra interior space is a big plus. It also looks much better..but horses for courses and all that!

[ukgatecrasher]

I had a 2.7 986 boxster for 3 years and swapped it for a 996tt two years ago. IMO the boxster was a much nicer and more fun drive. The turbo is obviously in a different league in terms of speed and acceleration, I think it looks better too. But by the time your having fun in it your doing silly speeds for the road. For me the boxster also feels much better balanced. The 911 rear seats are useable but getting in and out is such a pain that we never use them.

If It were me, I would now choose the boxster over the 911 any day of the week, whichever generation I could afford at he time. I may well be looking at a 981 in a couple of years time!

[Carl_Docklands]

Just on the topic of the performance of the 981 against the Spyder/991.

This is from Edmunds:

"Here are two things you also might want to know about the new 2013 Porsche Boxster S. First, its lateral acceleration, at a nice even 1.0g, is better than the lightweight, wholly uncompromised, utterly focused, bikini-top-wearing 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder.

Second, its 72.8-mph slalom speed happens to be better than the last all-new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S we tested. Clearly, this car is far from entry-level.

It also stops in 103 feet from 60 mph — within 1 foot of both the above-mentioned cars. That's not only a short stop, but the standard steel brakes hold up well even after repeated runs. Hard to imagine that the optional carbon brakes would be much better.

Potent Performer
It might be down 35 hp to the base 911 Carrera, but the Boxster is also marginally lighter than the 911. At 3,066 pounds, this test car was also 34 pounds lighter than the last Boxster S we tested — a sure sign of progress in the right direction.

Another positive sign is this car's 4.9-second 0-60-mph time (4.7 seconds with 1 foot of rollout as on a drag strip). The quarter-mile passes in 13.0 seconds at 108.7 mph — 0.4 second quicker than the last Boxster S we tested and only 0.3 second slower than the all-new seven-speed 2012 911 Carrera S, which has 400 hp.

In other words, there's not only dynamic progress in the Boxster line, there's also 911-threatening performance. "

http://www.edmunds.com/porsche/boxster/2013/road-t...

[jakesmith]

Interesting reading. I have had a 986 2.5, a 987.1 2.7 and currently have 50k to spend. Tested this week: r8, vantage, slk55 Amg, 997.1 c4s and 987.2s. The only one I am considering is the 987s 3.4 and even that doesn't feel like much of a step up from the 2.7 for £20k more

[SonnyM]

jakesmith said:

Interesting reading. I have had a 986 2.5, a 987.1 2.7 and currently have 50k to spend. Tested this week: r8, vantage, slk55 Amg, 997.1 c4s and 987.2s. The only one I am considering is the 987s 3.4 and even that doesn't feel like much of a step up from the 2.7 for £20k more

If you have that much to spend why not buy a decent specced 981S?

Full leather, 20" wheels, PASM, PSE, Sports steering wheel, Manual gearbox, Sports seats, plus a few other bobs will take you to around £52k - and if you go to a good OPC you can get a discount too.

[jakesmith]

SonnyM said:

If you have that much to spend why not buy a decent specced 981S?

Full leather, 20" wheels, PASM, PSE, Sports steering wheel, Manual gearbox, Sports seats, plus a few other bobs will take you to around £52k - and if you go to a good OPC you can get a discount too.

Good suggestion but I don't like the spoiler/lights at the back. You've got to be in love with a car to spend 60k on it.

[London GT3]

SonnyM said:

and if you go to a good OPC you can get a discount too.

Has anyone secured a discount on a 981S?

[wizard263789]

Yes, in my case the dealer offered an 'over value' on trade-in or a similar discount for no-trade. I sold the car privately and took the discount.