Thursday 12th January 2012

New Porsche Boxster unwrapped

It's evolution not revolution for the third iteration of Porsche's roadster

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Porsche just can't seem to stop releasing new models, and latest to land in the PH 'new car' inbox is this, the third-generation Porsche Boxster.

The new Boxster has a new lightweight body, new direct-injection flat-six engines and what Porsche calls a 'completely revised' chassis. This involves a 'considerably lower weight' (though Porsche isn't yet saying by how much), a wider track, a longer wheelbase and electric power steering.

Other firsts for the new Boxster include the option of Porsche's torque vectoring system and a mechanical limited-slip differential.

The styling is determinedly evolutionary, but to the collective eyes of PHHQ the Porsche 918-esque nose and more curvaceous sides and rump offer more than a couple of echoes of the original Boxster concept from 1993. Which surely can't be a bad thing.

Inside there's the now-familiar Panamera-style centre console treatment and the hood (only now fully electric) gets rid of its separate compartment lid for when it's stowed.

Under the bonnet (boot?) are a pair of new flat-six engines with direct-injection and start-stop tech. The new power unit fitted in the Boxster delivers 265hp from a 2.7-litre displacement - 10hp more than its larger-capacity predecessor. It is also now based on the 3.4-litre engine of the Boxster S. Said 3.4-litre S also now delivers 315hp, 5hp more than before. Both models feature a manual six-speed gearbox as standard (rather than the seven-speeder of the 991), with the seven-speed dual-clutch (PDK) available as an option.

Fuel consumption for the Porsche Boxster with PDK is 36.7mpg, and 35.3mpg for the Boxster S, while the new car can hit 62mph from rest in 5.7 seconds in non-S form and 5.0 seconds in S guise (both figures are for PDK versions).

The new Porsche Boxster will go on sale in the UK from April 28. And is priced from £37,589, (£45,384 for the S).

[Beefmeister]

I think it looks absolutely fantastic. Not a carbon copy of the old model or the 991. Seems as if it's getting its own personality a bit.








V.nice interior too. Modest power increases (10bhp on the 2.7, 5bhp on the 3.4), but it weighs less than the outgoing model.

Do want.

[parapaul]

Really like that. Why make the promo shots of a car painted st brown though?

Is brown the new white? fking horrible.

[Beefmeister]

parapaul said:

Is brown the new white? fking horrible.

Apparently so.

I still think in that first image it looks f**king epic. Such drama in those lines, it looks like it's about to devour the road...

[Hairspray]

Love it. Always been a Boxster fan, would love one of these! Even in that brown, which although dodgy, I do rather like.

[B16JUS]

i agree deff looks nice

[Dave Hedgehog]

So 600 million spent and the only difference I can see are

Audi rear lights
MR2 roadster side vent
and the same colour as my toilet after a night on the lash and a curry

[soad]

Looks good to me too.

[Beefmeister]

Dave Hedgehog said:

So 600 million spent and the only difference I can see are

Audi rear lights
MR2 roadster side vent
and the same colour as my toilet after a night on the lash and a curry

Oh come off it, really?!

You might want to visit these people:

[jimxms]

Dave Hedgehog said:

So 600 million spent and the only difference I can see are

Audi rear lights
MR2 roadster side vent
and the same colour as my toilet after a night on the lash and a curry

Headlights look a bit MR2 Roadster to me as well.

Overall, still looks like a Porsche.

[Beefmeister]

I think there's a bit of clouded memory of the MR2 going on here...

[Captain Muppet]

Dave Hedgehog said:

MR2 roadster side vent

It's much closer to an S2 Elise facelift side vent.

At this stage of the development of automobiles the chances of any new design not having small features that look a bit like features of another car if you squint a bit is zero.

[Chicane-UK]

That's pretty nice. Looks to be taking on a bit of styling from that 918 Spyder Hybrid?

[LordHaveMurci]

Everybody moans about 'resale silver', somebody comes up with something different & you moan about that too!

[kambites]

It's definitely an improvement over the old one and nice to see it diverging from the 911 a bit, but it's still a decidedly ugly car to my eye. The rear looks too bulbous compared to the front and I've never liked the way that Porsche make the back of their cars just fall away. Oh, and that little lip looks like an afterthought - like the one they glued onto the mk1 TT to aid stability.

I like the colour though. Vastly better than silver, grey or white.


ETA: I think it would work a lot better if the top of the rear wings was the highest point up to the cabin, rather than having a bulge in the centre just behind the seats where the roof cover is. Surely with a flat engine, there's no need for the engine compartment to be so deep? Or are they preparing the chassis to take an in-line four?

Edited by kambites on Thursday 12th January 09:09

[GroundEffect]

Cracking.

[SWoll]

A much more resolved design than the new 911 Cab and a definite improvement on the rather bland lines of the previous Boxter. Me likey.

Dave Hedgehog said:

So 600 million spent and the only difference I can see are

Audi rear lights
MR2 roadster side vent
and the same colour as my toilet after a night on the lash and a curry

Strange that as they obviously spent all of the money on a new exterior....

BTW, am i the only one seeing a bit of this going on in the styling



Can't be a bad thing, mt favourite Porsche looks wise.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 12th January 09:25

[georgetuk]

Front is much nicer, much nicer.

Can't tell the back but I like it!

[kambites]

Not overly impressed with the looks, although it's a great improvement over the old one. Very happy that they're still sticking with a manual gearbox though, and it's almost certain to drive well.

[harryowl]

kambites said:

It's definitely an improvement over the old one and nice to see it diverging from the 911 a bit, but it's still a decidedly ugly car to my eye. The rear looks too bulbous compared to the front and I've never liked the way that Porsche make the back of their cars just fall away. Oh, and that little lip looks like an afterthought - like the one they glued onto the mk1 TT to aid stability.

+1

[giltranator]

Beefmeister said:

That looks stunning! Although i'm not too keen on those interior air vents. Can't wait to see what it will look like in speed yellow or racing yellow as it's now called. Hoping they won't increase in price too much either as I feel that although with the 991 the standard equipment levels have rised considerbly, so has the price. IMO they've put the price of the 991 up so that they can charge a smidge under 50k for a Boxster and Cayman S.

Edit. Boxster S £45,384 That's not bad!!

Edited by giltranator on Thursday 12th January 09:34