Instead of a Boxster I wish I would have bought....

[RandallNeighbour]

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

I'm getting just good enough to pass cars in the course only to see every one of them pass me in the long straightaway so we can do the whole passing thing again in the turns. The only way to fix this is to get a faster car or putz along the straightaway to let the 3.8's and turbos get by me and waaaay down the track.

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line. Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Reminds me of a mechanic who told me years ago not to buy a Firebird but get a Camaro instead. He said they sold twice as many Camaros each year and they were a far more dependable version of the car.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

I'm getting just good enough to pass cars in the course only to see every one of them pass me in the long straightaway so we can do the whole passing thing again in the turns. The only way to fix this is to get a faster car or putz along the straightaway to let the 3.8's and turbos get by me and waaaay down the track.

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line. Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Reminds me of a mechanic who told me years ago not to buy a Firebird but get a Camaro instead. He said they sold twice as many Camaros each year and they were a far more dependable version of the car.

You'd be getting passed on straightaways by 3.8s and turbos with any Boxster that did't have an engine swap. I did get a ride in a 3.4 swapped '98 once, and that car pulled impressively harder than my 3.2.

Boutique is definitely a good term for Porsches.

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

The 550i is an exceptional vehicle that few people are lucky enough to own, of course the Boxster feels slow, as would a new V6 Camaro or Mustang.

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line.

Now you have. Hello, nice to meet you

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

Eh... I don't know. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Exotic Cars 101: What is an 'Exotic Car' (by definition)? - National Exotic Car | Examiner.com

They have 10 criteria for a car to be considered "exotic":
1. limited production
2. personaliztion, ie hand built, etc
3. new or unusual materials or engine design
4. not intended to appeal to general population or market audience except to improve prestige
5. may require special dealer to procure or resell unless traded on private market
6. scarcity: Any car sold in a boutique automobile sales environment; if less than 8,000 - 10,000 cars per year, may be considered exotic
7. specialty tools or equipment to repair or service
8. may or may not have competed in races
9. design elements influenced by predecessor models considered exotic
10. appears strange or unusual in concept or design, may or may no include unusual functions (speed, task or newly defined multipurpose transportation, aesthetic value).

That list is pretty reasonable IMHO, the exotics I can think of would match most of the requirements on that list.

Boxster meets most of them:
1) Limited? Not really, they were hard to find when introduced but Porsche made as many as possible. No
2) Personaliztion? Not that I know of. No
3) Unusual materials or engine design? it's mid-engine and boxer, that's unusual. Yes
4) Not for general population except for prestige? two seat convertible that looks amazing. Yes
5) Special dealer? they're hard to find in most of the world. Yes
6) Scarcity? Porsche sold more than 30,000 vehicles in 1997 thanks to swift Boxster sales. While that's over their 8-10k/yr mark, that's still very few cars for a manufacture, especially when you consider in 1999 1.5 million new vehicles were sold in Canada alone, making Porsche's 30,000 seem like a drop in the bucket. Yes
7) Special tools to repair? Yes
8) May have competed in races? I can rattle of a long list of exotics that never raced, so I'm not sure this is a good measure of being an exotic, but it's still a No
9) Exotic design influenced by past exotics? Based on 911s and inspired by classic exotic Porsche 550 Spyder. Yes
10) Unusual concept or design, including special functions? Spoiler raises at 75mph and lowers under 50mph, that's pretty unusual and special, along with functional side vents which is rarely found on normal cars. Yes

So of the 10 criteria (9 if you remove the racing requirement) for a car to be exotic, the Boxster has 6.

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

Boxster meets most of them:
1) Limited? No.
2) Personaliztion? No
3) Unusual materials or engine design? No. Boxer engines are not unusual, and the car does not use unusual materials.
4) Not for general population except for prestige? No. A Lambo is a prestige vehicle, a car that is priced new to be an "accessible version" of a brand is not a prestige car.
5) Special dealer? No harder to find that Merc or Audi. No.
6) Scarcity? Not really. Compared to "Last year, Ferrari sold 6,250 cars worldwide" That's 5x.
7) Special tools to repair? Yes. So does a Chevy. So that question is pretty foolish
8) May have competed in races? No
9) Exotic design influenced by past exotics? Really? No.
10) Unusual concept or design, including special functions? C'mon. You're really stretching on these.

You can call your car an exotic car if you want. I suggest you do it on most automobile forums and see how people respond.

[Ghostrider 310]

Originally Posted by Mike_Yi

You can call your car an exotic car if you want. I suggest you do it on most automobile forums and see how people respond.

Since many people out there persist in the thought to this day they can spank a Porsche in the twisties with a New Stang or Challenger, who really cares what they say?