To 'S' or not to 'S'

[Jacques79]

Originally Posted by racer_d

Jacque my points were

1) Do you really notice the 2-3ft stoppng advantage of the S on the street?
2) Do you notice the cooling advantage of a 3rd radiator when driving on the street?
3) Do you notice any benefit to a 5 vs 6spd on the street?
4) Perhaps the Ss TQ and HP can be noticed, and is noticiable on the track when you get to about 100mph, but does the average driver discern between a 5.2 vs a 5.9 second 0-60 run? I doubt it.

I didn't say it wasn't worth getting an S. I simply said to get the "newest and best" version one could afford.

If the original poster has no intention of driving the car on the racetrack, where in my experience the base boxster has way more potential than people give it credit for, then why buy an "S"? In the 1960s, Porsche sold 30,000 912s (essentially a 911 with a 4cyl) vs the approx 10,000 911s. In the 1970s, Porsche sold 120,000 914s vs about 50,000 911s... Porsche sold another 150,000 or so 944s compared to a much smaller 911 production. For some people, even if money is not an object, having the "fastest" or "best" Porsche out there is not a requirement.

And yes, even the Boxster S is a chick car

I'm sorry but you do notice a difference between the S and the non-S on the streets. .5 liters of extra displacement and more torque-horsepower accross the powerband make it noticeable.

And someone who buys a Porsche generally can tell the difference between a car that take 5.1 secs to 60 and the one that take 6.0 seconds.

We're not talking about an 80 year old grandma who's hesitating between an automatic 1994 Tercel or a Mazda 323...