Wednesday 2nd February 2011

Porsche Boxster S Black Edition Unveiled

This time it's the Boxster's turn to be back in black

---

This is the Porsche Boxster Black Edition, a mildly tweaked limited-edition Boxster S.

They must have a lot of spare pots of black paint hanging around at Porsche's Stuttgart HQ, because the unveiling of the Boxster S Black Edition comes hot on the heels of the 911 Black Edition.

Unlike with the 911, however, there are performance gains to be had over a standard car if you tick the box marked 'Black Edition'. You get 316bhp as opposed to 306bhp, while torque jumps a whole 7lb ft to 273lb ft.

That translates, in standard six-speed manual guise, to a 0-62mph sprint of 5.2secs, a tenth of a second faster than the Boxster S. If you add the seven-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) double-clutch gearbox to the mix that drops to 5.1secs, while specifying the Sports Chrono Package Plus with launch control will drop that to 4.9secs.

The perk-up in performance is also mildly enhanced by the lightweight ten-spoke alloy wheels also fitted to the Boxster Spyder, which save a total of 5kg in unsprung weight. These are fitted with 235/35 ZR 19 tyres on the front and 265/35 ZR 19s on the rear.

Visual identifiers for the Boxster S Black edition include black paint (obviously), but also model lettering painted in black on the rear luggage compartment lid, an embossed 'Black Edition' badge on the side of the hood, black roll-over bars and black air intake s and twin tailpipes.

Inside, the stainless steel door entry guards feature the 'Black Edition' model lettering in black, the steering wheel has a black leather rim, the trim strips of the dashboard and of the gear shift lever are painted in black. The dials on the instrument cluster are black, as are the partial leather seats.... you get the point.

The Black Edition comes with a few extra goodies, too, including (amongst other things) cruise control, climate control sat-nav and standard Bi-Xenon headlamps with dynamic cornering lights and LED daytime running lights.

There is a bit extra to pay for the increased performance, however. The Boxster S 'Black Edition' goes on sale in March, priced from £47,426 - that's £1623 more than a basic Boxster S.

There's also a bit of a limit on how many are available as Porsche is building just 987 of them (987, as Porschephiles will know, is the internal codename for the current Boxster).

[chazwozza]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.

[chazwozza]

I am by no means a Porsche hater- currently looking into my first 911 purchase, but just wish they would do something a bit different. A new 914 would be a good start? Or a totally stripped out cayman with all the go-faster goodies etc. etc.

[chazwozza]

chickensoup said:

I love a black box - even on a blonde

So crude....I like it