Boxster 981 for a couple of days
Discussion
I had a new Boxster 2.7 PDK for a couple of days whilst my 997 was in for service.
Having had a 987 before I was interested in how the new car would compare.
So the conclusions from a middle aged middle ability driver.........
New shap looks fab.
Super sharp handling, boy it is good.
Steering to heavy at low speeds but ok with speed
19" wheels give poorer ride than I am used to on all but the best road surfaces, it borders being uncomfortable.
PDK works very well but did not like the way in auto it wanted to get into the highest possible gear at the earliest opportunely
Thought that 7 gears is 1 to many
Couldn't get on with flappy paddles due to having to change how I had to hold the steering wheel and drive the thing so reverted to the stick shift which for me worked much better.
Gear changes supper slick both up and down under full power or full braking, fantastic technology at work here, but give me a manual any day.
PDK for me would only be spec'ed id I had to do a lot of stop/start driving in traffic ques.
Fuel economy was 27-28 over a tank full so all the 'econo' measures didn't produce anything spectacular.
New dash whilst having great showroom appeal did not impress so much in use (other than touch screen sat-nav). Did not like new window switches as much as 7 series ones and felt they were much more fiddly to find/use. I felt I was forever reaching over or round the gear selector to use buttons (no full climate with auto function!).
Had an issue with the throttle peddle being near the side of the footwell somehow so my size 11 foot rubbed/caught on the carpet which combined with over heavy spring made car seem more lethargic than it should!
Headlights lacked reach on full beam.
Stop start feature needs to be able to be switched off by default.
Exhaust sounded great
So conclusion, a very accomplished car but lacked character for me, to clinical. It did not make me smile once or want to just go for a drive for the fun of it.
All this was put right when I drove the 997 home, it's a car that with speed comes alive in your hands and has a heart beat, what great cars they are.
dw
Having had a 987 before I was interested in how the new car would compare.
So the conclusions from a middle aged middle ability driver.........
New shap looks fab.
Super sharp handling, boy it is good.
Steering to heavy at low speeds but ok with speed
19" wheels give poorer ride than I am used to on all but the best road surfaces, it borders being uncomfortable.
PDK works very well but did not like the way in auto it wanted to get into the highest possible gear at the earliest opportunely
Thought that 7 gears is 1 to many
Couldn't get on with flappy paddles due to having to change how I had to hold the steering wheel and drive the thing so reverted to the stick shift which for me worked much better.
Gear changes supper slick both up and down under full power or full braking, fantastic technology at work here, but give me a manual any day.
PDK for me would only be spec'ed id I had to do a lot of stop/start driving in traffic ques.
Fuel economy was 27-28 over a tank full so all the 'econo' measures didn't produce anything spectacular.
New dash whilst having great showroom appeal did not impress so much in use (other than touch screen sat-nav). Did not like new window switches as much as 7 series ones and felt they were much more fiddly to find/use. I felt I was forever reaching over or round the gear selector to use buttons (no full climate with auto function!).
Had an issue with the throttle peddle being near the side of the footwell somehow so my size 11 foot rubbed/caught on the carpet which combined with over heavy spring made car seem more lethargic than it should!
Headlights lacked reach on full beam.
Stop start feature needs to be able to be switched off by default.
Exhaust sounded great
So conclusion, a very accomplished car but lacked character for me, to clinical. It did not make me smile once or want to just go for a drive for the fun of it.
All this was put right when I drove the 997 home, it's a car that with speed comes alive in your hands and has a heart beat, what great cars they are.
dw
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