How different are 2002 vs 2003 Boxster S?

[tawheed]

First post..

Having come from a total of 30 or so vehicles including cars and motorcycles I think I'm ready to purchase my first Porsche. I had never even considered a Boxster up until about a month ago when I took one for a drive. It was a miled out, engine replaced, beat up 2003 Boxster S; yet the joy it brought me and the smile I left with had me convinced I had to get one.

I finally got a chance to test drive another one today and it was an '01 Boxster S with 78k miles or so with a leaky RMS and in need of a few other things. I'm not sure if it was the car or if it was me but I didn't feel nearly as impressed.

For people that have driven both 2000-2002s and 2003-2004s (Boxster S) is there really that much of a difference or did I just drive a poorly maintained car that wasn't performing like it should? The 03, to me, felt a bit more rev happy and sounded better with the regular exhaust even though the '01 I drove tonight had PSE.

Any comments/feedback will be appreciated

thanks

ps here's the list of the vehicles I'm coming from

1983 Honda Prelude
1983 Suzuki GS750E
1995 Honda Civic LX
1988 Mazda RX-7 GXL
1996 Kawasaki ZX-6R
1996 Mazda MX-3 RS
2001 Honda RC-51
2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R SPEC-V
2003 Honda CBR600RR
2002 Suzuki SV650S
1990 Honda CRX Si
1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo
1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo
1996 Honda del sol V-TEC
2005 Suzuki DR-Z400SM
2000 Acura Integra Type-R
2005 Honda CRF450R
1988 Mazda B2200
2002 Honda S2000
1998 Ford Ranger XLT
1989 Toyota MR2 Supercharger
1992 Subaru Impreza WRX
2007 Husaberg FS550E
2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII GSR
2004 Honda S2000
1992 Honda Civic SiR II
2008 Yamaha WR250X
2006 Subaru Impreza WRX
2004 Volkswagen R32
2006 Yamaha YZF-R6

[eightsandaces]

IMO, the biggest difference is going to be the glass window top which began in 2003.

[ChrisZang]

The 2003 has Variocam Plus, which improves the overall sound of the car a little, it also gave the car around 10 hp more (I doubt that the "butt dyno" can actually feel them).
If I had the choice I would go for a 2003 as it gives you the glass rear window and a glove department, both were introduced in 2003, that's about the major difference between these model years.
As for the sound: There are many ways (and all of them have been covered in this forum several times, so search is your friend) to "improve" the intake and exhaust sound,

[mikefocke]

and driven several others and for normal driving there isn't that much difference in a fairly fresh and well maintained car.

But put some old tires on that weren't appropriate, many miles on the suspension and needing maintenance (and if those are the things that are known wrong, what are the unknown things that have been ignored?) and you aren't going to get impressed.

There are a fair number of Boxsters out there that have been bought by people who can't afford to maintain them or don't know how to.

http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/modelyeardifferences has a list of model year to model year differences.

Would I prefer an '03? Yes, because of the improvements to the practical things, not for any performance or HP increases. (Where am I gonna use 60 extra HP?) Pay a lot extra...not me but then I drive an '01S when I could afford the newest. Your choice.

Find some samples of well maintained cars and compare. There are thousands for sale right now. (Cars.com had 960 last I looked so there gotta be lots more even than that out there).

[ekam]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

The 2003 has Variocam Plus, which improves the overall sound of the car a little,

It just has Variocam, Variocam Plus did not come until I think 2006 or 2007 onwards...

I personally would never buy any beat up car... let alone a Porsche... god knows what else the owner did or didn't do to it.

[jacabean]

03 cars are better they did many improvements . interior is much better also.

[tawheed]

Originally Posted by ekam

It just has Variocam, Variocam Plus did not come until I think 2006 or 2007 onwards...

I personally would never buy any beat up car... let alone a Porsche... god knows what else the owner did or didn't do to it.

I thought I'd take a look at it, plus it gave me what I thought would be the opportunity to see if an 01 feels substantially worse than an 03, I didn't expect it to - but it kind of did. I'm hoping it was a maintenance thing as I've got a good lead on an 02 S right now.

[fatmike]

My '02 S has an aftermarket glass rear window.

I don't have a glove box, but my car has a nice storage bin behind the driver's ear. So, plenty of storage in the car for papers, etc.

My car also has the Litronic (Xenon) headlights. Porsche added them somewhere in the middle of the '02 model year on the S model. The earlier 02's and prior do not have litronics, and that is a big deal (it's a $1000 modification).

My car also has PSM -- which I strongly recommend.

So the only real difference between my car and an '03S is the "variocam" worth about 10 HP -- and certainly not a few thousand in value.