5 years in with my Boxster 981S...
Discussion
...and I still love the thing. A quick glance at my garage shows I have plenty of motors to choose from, some exotic, some rare, some far more powerful, but my Boxster just stands out as being, well, all you really need. I'm not saying it's the best car I own, it's just so much car that can do so many things very well for a reasonable price that I can't help but smile whenever I look at it. In other words, pound for pound, it's superb.
It's been no trouble, I can pedal it near it's limit without hitting unbelievably rude numbers, it lets me heel toe as it's a manual, I never feel like I'm managing the car, always extracting the best I can from it. I can park it anywhere, go shopping with the Mrs in it, go on Euro road trips, nip to the takeaway, go for a blast. It's an every day car that just does everything well. It's comfy, the sound system is great, it has heated seats, it handles superbly, it's balanced and the dampening is just perfect for Yorkshire's country roads, even in sports suspension mode. It bangs and pops wonderfully.
I've been wandering round my garages with ze vino so forgive me for waxing lyrical but its the one car I own that I can't pick fault with. It isn't amazing but cost a fortune, it isn't exciting but keeps breaking, it isn't reliable but boring, it doesn't look great but I spend an hour letting people sit in it everywhere I go. Ok, I don't think "Bloody hell" like I might with some of my other stuff, but I also don't pay the price for that "bloody hell" with a "Oh FFS" like I do with much of my other stuff.
It's just, everything a great car needs to be.
I recently had the wheels powder coated bronze and a satin grey and bronze stripe added along with the wing mirrors wrapped in satin grey and bronze along with a bit of satin round the headlamps, just to brighten it up after 5 years. It's had full PPF from Paintshield from new so still looks brand spanking new.
Anyone else still loving a long term Porsche?
It's been no trouble, I can pedal it near it's limit without hitting unbelievably rude numbers, it lets me heel toe as it's a manual, I never feel like I'm managing the car, always extracting the best I can from it. I can park it anywhere, go shopping with the Mrs in it, go on Euro road trips, nip to the takeaway, go for a blast. It's an every day car that just does everything well. It's comfy, the sound system is great, it has heated seats, it handles superbly, it's balanced and the dampening is just perfect for Yorkshire's country roads, even in sports suspension mode. It bangs and pops wonderfully.
I've been wandering round my garages with ze vino so forgive me for waxing lyrical but its the one car I own that I can't pick fault with. It isn't amazing but cost a fortune, it isn't exciting but keeps breaking, it isn't reliable but boring, it doesn't look great but I spend an hour letting people sit in it everywhere I go. Ok, I don't think "Bloody hell" like I might with some of my other stuff, but I also don't pay the price for that "bloody hell" with a "Oh FFS" like I do with much of my other stuff.
It's just, everything a great car needs to be.
I recently had the wheels powder coated bronze and a satin grey and bronze stripe added along with the wing mirrors wrapped in satin grey and bronze along with a bit of satin round the headlamps, just to brighten it up after 5 years. It's had full PPF from Paintshield from new so still looks brand spanking new.
Anyone else still loving a long term Porsche?
Edited by _Leg_ on Friday 24th November 00:20
DJMC said:
I used to think "Bloody hell" when I looked at my DB7 15 years ago, and then a different "Bloody hell" when I went around a bend and it dumped two pints of rain water over my ankles (no, it wasn't a drop top!).
I still think my 981, after 2 years 18 days, is another "Bloody hell" car to look at but then it's a Cayman not a Boxster. And I too have had no mechanical issues, just a reliable, economical, fun daily driver.
Lol, I have 3 friends with Astons. Stunning cars, never boring when the stories come out about faults either.I still think my 981, after 2 years 18 days, is another "Bloody hell" car to look at but then it's a Cayman not a Boxster. And I too have had no mechanical issues, just a reliable, economical, fun daily driver.
With regards to the 'bloody hell' comment I made I was talking performance. All Caymans and Boxsters are easily managed cars and that's a good thing as you have to extract the best from them. My F12 is big and has 740bhp and I spend a lot of time thinking 'bloody hell' when it makes its best attempts to kill me.
It also refers to how the cars make me feel to drive. With the Boxster I think 'what a great car', I don't recall ever thinking it has a great specific thing whereas say, with my 458s I think 'bloody hell, the turn in is just epic'.
The Porsche is, as I said, simply a very good car all round. Not amazing at anything, not terrible at anything, just very, very good in every respect and for the price, perfection.
RacerMDR said:
_Leg_ said:
...
I've been wandering round my garages with ze vino so forgive me for waxing lyrical....................
[
Fabulous sir...........love that quote. Love the car. Keep up the great work and the ze vino!I've been wandering round my garages with ze vino so forgive me for waxing lyrical....................
[
Edited by _Leg_ on Friday 24th November 00:20
- this is mostly a joke
Maxym said:
Not planning on selling my Cayman GTS anytime soon...
OP, I'm liking the stripe. Did you have that applied over the PPF?
Yes. The PPF is full coverage by Paintshield and went on the car from new. The stripe, wing mirrors and headlamp area is vinyl done by Vinyl Image in Yorkshire over the top of it.OP, I'm liking the stripe. Did you have that applied over the PPF?
I've never had any vinyl done before but had my new Exige 350 Sport track car done as below (yellow is vinyl, everything green has PPF, some black is vinyl, some factory plastic) there as I thought as it's a track car I could have a bit of fun with the aesthetics (it's got various mechanical mods) and thought as the Boxster was 5 last month I would just do something subtle to give it a slightly new look.
Edited by _Leg_ on Sunday 26th November 18:08
LasseV said:
Nice car and great to see that there are owners who doesn't change their cars when lease deals ends etc. Besides, i think that when you own your car little bit longer then you really know how it handles/behaves and you can enjoy it even more.
Thread like this makes me wonder should i change my car to some sort of coxster....
I never lease or get finance. I'm old school, if I can't afford to just buy something outright, I can't have it.Thread like this makes me wonder should i change my car to some sort of coxster....
LasseV said:
_Leg_ said:
I never lease or get finance. I'm old school, if I can't afford to just buy something outright, I can't have it.
Yeah i knew that, little bit of same here... But I was saying in general. I like that you keep this beauty for long time, people quite often trades their car after one or two years. I have a bad feeling that Porsche doesn't make this kind of car anymore, that engine sound is so good.
Yeah I tend to get attached to things. Boxster 5 years, e92m3 10 years next April, wife 24 years. Can't seem to get shut of them.
SkinnyPete said:
While it's nice to hear the OP is happy, I would consider many of his plus points are actually negative attributes (in fact you could be describing any generic VAG appliance).
Driving a sports car shouldn't be easy, you should get out after each journey and be grateful you made it, and that probably is the biggest problem with the 981, it feels too much like a normal car.
To be honest you could legitimately argue a Panamera is more fun than a Boxster, hydraulic steering and proper gear ratios, especially in manual form
You've failed to read my post because I never said it was easy. However, it's easy to drive any modern car, the trick is being able to find the limit of the car's ability and drive it at that limit.Driving a sports car shouldn't be easy, you should get out after each journey and be grateful you made it, and that probably is the biggest problem with the 981, it feels too much like a normal car.
To be honest you could legitimately argue a Panamera is more fun than a Boxster, hydraulic steering and proper gear ratios, especially in manual form
I said:
"I can pedal it near it's limit" and "I never feel like I am managing the car, always extracting the best I can from it"
Cars come alive when they are at their limit. I can't really 'pedal' my F12 nor either of my 458s, nor my GT3RS near their limit on UK roads as to get to that point I have to push them beyond what I feel is acceptable on UK roads (Country roads as I live in the sticks in North Yorkshire). Imagine driving a paddle box, 740bhp Ferrari at it's limit anywhere in the UK, frankly a ludicrous idea.
But, I can drive the Boxster S on the road near it's limit without doing really epically daft numbers and the most fun you can have in any car is exploring the car's limits.
I should say I race and have had a great deal of driver instruction, so I'm more than capable of driving my cars quickly. On the road though, the limit I hit is what's fair to do on a road shared by Doris in her small hatchback, the cyclists and horses. In the big stuff, I reach that self imposed limit when the cars are still barely trying. That's why I take them into Europe, do trackdays and race. The Boxster though, being less capable and less powerful, I can enjoy more on the country roads.
Edited by _Leg_ on Sunday 26th November 22:43
SkinnyPete said:
rockin said:
SkinnyPete said:
To be honest you could legitimately argue a Panamera is more fun than a Boxster, hydraulic steering and proper gear ratios, especially in manual form
...said yet another bloke with no cars whatsoever listed on his profile.Buy yourself a sportscar - then come back and talk to us.
Even if 981 isn't the schoolboy's exotic it's nonetheless a ferociously competent mid-market sportscar. To date there's very little sign that "competitors" can get anywhere close. Lotus sell a handful of special edition trackday specials, Ginetta have sold no G60s at all, Artega is out of business and Alfa 4C appears to have fallen flat on its face. Renault Alpine? We shall see.
Personally I like being able to rev a car out, a Panamera is great car because you're into 4th gear before 80mph!
_Leg_ said:
You've failed to read my post because I never said it was easy. However, it's easy to drive any modern car, the trick is being able to find the limit of the car's ability and drive it at that limit.
I said:
"I can pedal it near it's limit" and "I never feel like I am managing the car, always extracting the best I can from it"
Cars come alive when they are at their limit. I can't really 'pedal' my F12 nor either of my 458s, nor my GT3RS near their limit on UK roads as to get to that point I have to push them beyond what I feel is acceptable on UK roads (Country roads as I live in the sticks in North Yorkshire). Imagine driving a paddle box, 740bhp Ferrari at it's limit anywhere in the UK, frankly a ludicrous idea.
But, I can drive the Boxster S on the road near it's limit without doing really epically daft numbers and the most fun you can have in any car is exploring the car's limits.
I should say I race and have had a great deal of driver instruction, so I'm more than capable of driving my cars quickly. On the road though, the limit I hit is what's fair to do on a road shared by Doris in her small hatchback, the cyclists and horses. In the big stuff, I reach that self imposed limit when the cars are still barely trying. That's why I take them into Europe, do trackdays and race. The Boxster though, being less capable and less powerful, I can enjoy more on the country roads.
I think there has been a slight misunderstanding, but anyway I am surprised you think you can get anywhere near the limit of a Boxster on public road before hitting your self imposed limit. I said:
"I can pedal it near it's limit" and "I never feel like I am managing the car, always extracting the best I can from it"
Cars come alive when they are at their limit. I can't really 'pedal' my F12 nor either of my 458s, nor my GT3RS near their limit on UK roads as to get to that point I have to push them beyond what I feel is acceptable on UK roads (Country roads as I live in the sticks in North Yorkshire). Imagine driving a paddle box, 740bhp Ferrari at it's limit anywhere in the UK, frankly a ludicrous idea.
But, I can drive the Boxster S on the road near it's limit without doing really epically daft numbers and the most fun you can have in any car is exploring the car's limits.
I should say I race and have had a great deal of driver instruction, so I'm more than capable of driving my cars quickly. On the road though, the limit I hit is what's fair to do on a road shared by Doris in her small hatchback, the cyclists and horses. In the big stuff, I reach that self imposed limit when the cars are still barely trying. That's why I take them into Europe, do trackdays and race. The Boxster though, being less capable and less powerful, I can enjoy more on the country roads.
I would say your logic could apply to something like an MX5, but drive a Boxster at even 6/10 (tenths) and you're way past most peoples comfort zones.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Never had a problem with it. Never noticed any of that. Ok, 3rd gear is long but on the B roads, that works a treat. Just adapt.I'm moving from car to car and across such a wide range of cars that I don't even notice any details. That's just "that car" so I adapt and get on with it. In fact that's half the fun, learning each car's little idiosyncrasies and getting the best from it because or despite of them.
It all pales into comparison once you've owned and driven a 1930 Ford Model A. Everything is wrong, nothing is where it should be, nothing works like a modern car. Scares the s
t out of me at 40mph but it's good fun trying to hustle the thing down the back lanes without dying in a slow but spectacularly fiery crash.Brake on the right, throttle in the middle, no synchro, 1 inch or more of play in the steering (factory standard), rod operated drum brakes, no indicators, 6v electrics, fuel tank right in front of the windscreen, gravity fed fuel, 3.3 litre 4 cylinder, 27 bhp but a ton of torque, 100mm 19 inch tyres. Terrifying.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I've never driven a 2.7 so can't comment on it. But you're right, if doing something that a car doesn't do is what you enjoy, you're buggered.What I meant with regards to 3rd, which is a little long, is that on the twisty B roads where I live in North Yorkshire the 3rd gear works quite well on the 3.4. In the 2.7 maybe it doesn't work as well? Maybe Porsche should have changed the gearing between the two models. Dunno.
You doubt wrong and right at the same time regarding the diesel Boxster thing. I wouldn't want Porsche to build a diesel Boxster but I enjoy getting the best out of any car, sometimes the crapper they are the more entertaining it is. My youngest son just got a new Aygo Xpress and I've been out in it today. 68bhp, skinny tyres. Hilarious.
I wouldn't buy a diesel Boxster though. Leave that to the TT brigade eh.
Stunters said:
Hehe - we have similar tastes at least in part - although sadly I don't have similar means!
Loving the M3 as well (saloon, Le Mans Blue, manual, EDC), it will be 9 in April and I've had it from new. It's really grown on me over the years and it's an excellent contrast to the Caymans.
Tip top combo there. Nice.Loving the M3 as well (saloon, Le Mans Blue, manual, EDC), it will be 9 in April and I've had it from new. It's really grown on me over the years and it's an excellent contrast to the Caymans.
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