1 year in Boxster GTS thoughts
Discussion
It was this time last year that we collected our BGTS from Stuttgart, so I thought I'd put a few thoughts down 12 months and 7,000 miles later, most of which were done on factory collection and a couple of Eurohoons 
Overall impression: a very, very impressive car, and worth every penny of the £67K or so I dropped on it (well almost as you'll see). Having also spent time in a boggo 981 2.7, I've come to the conclusion that Porsche has this weird thing of being able to make 981 GTSs look very good VFM, but the base model 2.7 look very expensive IMO. Anyway, I digress....
I appreciate a few others have written similar posts so I'll try and keep it relatively word light but picture heavy
I'll also try and not refer to optional extras wherever I can.
The car was bought as a bit of a jack of all trades but with a heavy slant to touring/hooning in Europe so had to be able to cope with that plus everything between and more extreme such as commuting in London and also track days.
Positives:
- the design, first genuinely good looking Cayster IMO at the point it was released (987 Box Spyder and standard 981s were both close but no cigar)
- the red/carbon GTS interior option, makes it feel much more expensive than it is
- the PSE noise
- the engine, enough power to make it interesting, not too much to make it too easy
- the PDK 'box, not as interactive as the manual, but the shorter ratios make a big difference and the breadth of usability it gives the car it great
- PASM, diff and PTV: very impressed by these, would say they're worth the money (obv PASM is "free"). Ref suspension specifically, you could happily drive an X73 equipped GTS all day, but I like the dual character the PASM gives
Negatives:
To poach a phrase from Steve Sutcliffe, we're deep into fine detail here, but here goes and I'm being as brutal as I can....
- it would be nice to be able to switch PSE OFF off. The valve still opens under hard load at about 4.5k rpm even when off, would be nice if you could stop that when you genuinely needed it quiet or wanted to hear only mechanical/induction noise
- brakes (mine are steel) are fine for the road with PDK, but if you have a manual, you might find them a bit too soft to heel/toe, and on track while they don't fade easily they do go even softer
- steering feel, personally I find this okay as everything feels like a numb barge compared to my current Caterham and old GT3. I have a feeling it may be more of an issue in the 991 given its weight distribution and that with 911s you generally have to manage the front more so really need to know what's going on.
- engine top end: while it is genuinely great on the BGTS, you can't help looking at a 991.1 3.4 power curve and feeling a bit envious, not in outright power terms or even due to the mid range torque "hole" in the 981, but just for the few percent extra zing at the top to have it developmax power a bit later to truly give you the best excuse to redline it at every opportunity.
- gearing....even with the shorter PDK ratios (75mph with PDK plays 84mph with manual at the top of second gear), I still think they could all stand to be 10% shorter still, but others are prob fine with it
- lack of extra dials on the dash that the 911 has....I miss having a separate temp pressure gauges much more than I should!
Now for piccies
Factory collection 1
Factory collection 2
Black Forest
Bloody hotel car parks!
Track day!
Overall impression: a very, very impressive car, and worth every penny of the £67K or so I dropped on it (well almost as you'll see). Having also spent time in a boggo 981 2.7, I've come to the conclusion that Porsche has this weird thing of being able to make 981 GTSs look very good VFM, but the base model 2.7 look very expensive IMO. Anyway, I digress....I appreciate a few others have written similar posts so I'll try and keep it relatively word light but picture heavy
I'll also try and not refer to optional extras wherever I can.The car was bought as a bit of a jack of all trades but with a heavy slant to touring/hooning in Europe so had to be able to cope with that plus everything between and more extreme such as commuting in London and also track days.
Positives:
- the design, first genuinely good looking Cayster IMO at the point it was released (987 Box Spyder and standard 981s were both close but no cigar)
- the red/carbon GTS interior option, makes it feel much more expensive than it is
- the PSE noise
- the engine, enough power to make it interesting, not too much to make it too easy
- the PDK 'box, not as interactive as the manual, but the shorter ratios make a big difference and the breadth of usability it gives the car it great
- PASM, diff and PTV: very impressed by these, would say they're worth the money (obv PASM is "free"). Ref suspension specifically, you could happily drive an X73 equipped GTS all day, but I like the dual character the PASM gives
Negatives:
To poach a phrase from Steve Sutcliffe, we're deep into fine detail here, but here goes and I'm being as brutal as I can....
- it would be nice to be able to switch PSE OFF off. The valve still opens under hard load at about 4.5k rpm even when off, would be nice if you could stop that when you genuinely needed it quiet or wanted to hear only mechanical/induction noise
- brakes (mine are steel) are fine for the road with PDK, but if you have a manual, you might find them a bit too soft to heel/toe, and on track while they don't fade easily they do go even softer
- steering feel, personally I find this okay as everything feels like a numb barge compared to my current Caterham and old GT3. I have a feeling it may be more of an issue in the 991 given its weight distribution and that with 911s you generally have to manage the front more so really need to know what's going on.
- engine top end: while it is genuinely great on the BGTS, you can't help looking at a 991.1 3.4 power curve and feeling a bit envious, not in outright power terms or even due to the mid range torque "hole" in the 981, but just for the few percent extra zing at the top to have it developmax power a bit later to truly give you the best excuse to redline it at every opportunity.
- gearing....even with the shorter PDK ratios (75mph with PDK plays 84mph with manual at the top of second gear), I still think they could all stand to be 10% shorter still, but others are prob fine with it
- lack of extra dials on the dash that the 911 has....I miss having a separate temp pressure gauges much more than I should!
Now for piccies
Factory collection 1
Factory collection 2
Black Forest
Bloody hotel car parks!
Track day!
Stunning car and I bet it was nicely run in by the time you got it home
I echo your thoughts on the PSE in that it would be nice to switch it off, I wonder if this is something that is mapped into the ECU, or the exhaust gas velocity pushes the bypass open at 4.5K rpm. When the car is out of warranty I am seriously thinking of having the PDK box remapped to eliminate the kick-down function in manual mode, and I wonder if you can alter the map to keep the PSE closed when it isn't switched on at all revs.
I echo your thoughts on the PSE in that it would be nice to switch it off, I wonder if this is something that is mapped into the ECU, or the exhaust gas velocity pushes the bypass open at 4.5K rpm. When the car is out of warranty I am seriously thinking of having the PDK box remapped to eliminate the kick-down function in manual mode, and I wonder if you can alter the map to keep the PSE closed when it isn't switched on at all revs.
Gassing Station | Boxster/Cayman | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff