Yes there are problems with the 'S' tranny. The problem is due to the car having the same tranny/gear ratios as the 996. The 996 has at least 50 more HP with different power characteristics. It is pure Porsche marketing, advertise the 'S' as having the same tranny as the Carrera and fool newbies into thinking this is a good thing. Enthusiasts and anyone with a basic understanding of car mechanics know this can only be a bad thing: bolting on a tranny designed for a very different car.
The regular base ("2.7L") Boxster on the other hand has a 5 speed that was designed and tuned specifically for the model.
Chris From Germany (CFG), one of the most respected Porsche enthusiasts on Porsche message boards said it best recently on his 996 board (
http://www.funcarsonline.com/frames/996board/996board.htm):
"Drove 6000 miles in 2 years [Boxster 'S'] and the gearing was horrible in my opinion....I was unhappy with the Boxster 'S'...
The Boxster S should have gotten the 5 speed gearbox of the 2.7..."
-Chris from Germany (CFG)
What was the reason for these comments? He said the 'S' was lacking 50HP, that is, the tranny was designed for the 996 NOT the 'S'.
I have been banned from PPBB for posting quotes about the 'S' tranny problems and saying the 2.7L is a better buy (Excellence magazine agrees with me). I will post the quotes here below. The admin on this board has assured me I will not be banned as long as I do not do anything illegal which I will not.
The admins at PPBB are trying to suppress this information and anything else negative about Boxsters. A sincere TT owner there (I believe his handle was BillK) was questioning the reliability of the Boxster with all its rear main seal and engine failures. He was promptly labelled a troll and I have not seen him posting recently.
Let us hope the people on this board is more open minded and not so quick to label sincere people trolls. Let us hope the admin does not censor "hard to swallow", but true, information. We are all adults after all.
Here are the quotes:
"And with the base car's slightly longer gear spacing, you're less likely to shift up to third while driving from light to light - which makes it a bit easier to drive around town. So in an urban environment, the base car may be a better pick than the Boxster S, ..."
-Excellence magazine from around 6 months ago.
"Have to make a comment about the 2.7L, after owning one for 2 years and an S for 8 months I have to say I wouldn't mine going back to the 2.7. Driving in the city you couldn't tell the difference, as a matter of fact the 2.7 feels better in the city than the S."
-Shaeetoon(DFW)
"I've own/owned 3 Porsches (01 996, 02 996 and 01 Boxster S). Strangely, the shifter in my Boxster S is one of its weak points. It feels sloppy, plastic, and it's hard to get into 3rd gear. The dealer service tech tested my car and told me it is typical, and within
normal. "
-Ray Gram
"The gearbox on the S seems mushy, as well as the clutch. The base seemed a lot more precise. "
-robb in socal
"I still maintain that the 5-spd feels better than the 6-spd. "
-Brian Harrington, 'S' owner
"When I drove the 5-speed it seemed to shifter easier (less balking) than the 6-speed in the "S"."
-John S
"that was my experience as well."
-al greenborg
"On a test drive of the S 6-speed vs 2.7 5-speed , I loved the S power, could not tell the difference in brakes but much prefered the 5-speed. It seemed to match the engine better."
-Iwas There (Toronto)
"but its gear ratios are not particularly well suited to the S' 3.2 liter engine. "
-John Brown of Northern Virginia
Andrew P's observations ('S' owner)
1) Torque delivery in 3rd is lackluster. This isn't a complaint, but I'm used to cars pulling a lot harder in 3rd. There's plenty of pull in 2nd, but 3rd seems a little anemic. Having said that, I am faithfully following the break-in guidelines and not taking the
engine past 4200... I have a feeling that the 3rd gear "fun" doesn't start until the 5000
range...
2) The shifter is a little sloppy. I find the throws to be a tad long, but not too long. It's not spongy (is that a word) like my BMW... it's just... ahh... the best way to describe it is that the spring that brings the shifer in between the 3rd and 4th gates
while in neutral isn't strong enough. I've missed a number of shifts (fortunately I've cuaght myself).... It seems that I've been conditioned to work with that spring-load and
I'm just not getting that feedback.
3) The synchros don't always seem to work. I've never "ground" anything, but sometimes I just can't get it to go into gear (on upshifts). A little bit of double-clutching solves the problem. I'm not sure what's going on here... hopefully I was just having a bad day...