Entry-level Porsche (identical to Boxster but cheaper) put on hold

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider 310

944 is getting a little old, the maintenance on that engine blows, the long throw shift linkage is vague and gets worse as it ages. Air conditioning = useless, huge rear window acts like greenhouse and finally the engine counter balancers are eh OK, motor sound sucks, all in all I'd take an older 986 for the same coin.

AND unless you have your foot through the injectors all the time and the engine screaming, Cobalt SS and worse are going to blow by you anywhere but at highway speed on a highway. 0-60= a small coffee.

I LOVE 944s. As I have said before, I like them more than the 986 from a man-connected-to-machine experience. More road feel, more steering feel, you actually sit low in the car, and it's built like a tank.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

I LOVE 944s... you actually sit low in the car...

I happen to think I sit quite low in the Boxster...the steering wheel top is just below my eye level, and I'm well within the confines of the roll hoops...but I'm also 5'7". Just had to say something there to give you a hard time, blue. :dance:

Looking at it overall and where I'm (disappointedly) seeing Porsche go under the rule of VAG, the "entry-level" car doesn't need to exist. Porsche was built on racing heritage and prided itself on exclusivity and building a premium driving machine (I respect the M1 (NOT the 1M) and the M3, but BMW can stuff it), not just trying to get everyone within shouting distance to have a car with the Stuttgart crest on the hood. Sure, get them thinking about it, wishing for it, saving for it, and drooling over it outside the showroom glass, but don't start tossing out the equivalent of a VW Cabrio like hotcakes. This isn't a Scion tC we're talking about.

I happen to think the Boxster is quite entry-level, and always has been...it's your gateway vehicle into what is anticipated, by both the owner and the company, to become a long-time relationship and an eventual upgrade to one of the many variants of the flagship car. Yes, it's grown in girth/mass/weight as much as in sophistication, as do all cars that start out as raw, fun machines (RX-7, Celica Supra, etc.), but the base model is now putting out what the Boxster S was for horsepower 12 years ago...all with only a starting price increase of about $10k over a period of 15 years...if you ask me that's not bad for what's supposed to be a premium sports car (and yes, the Boxster started at $40k back in 1997) meant to get your feet wet in the world of Porsche and let you see what a performance oriented car can do. Yeah, it's no GT3, but it's still excellent fun to toss around and rewarding when you get it right...and you can comfortably drive it right back home when you're done.

As I've said before in a few different ways, when I think sports car, you can keep the radio, power everything, faux wood grain, and shiny accents and blah-blah-blah...all I want is a steering wheel, pedals, a manual shifter, the important gauges, plenty of horsepower to move a lightweight and well-sprung setup, and a place to plant my behind where all those things are within reach...you make me that, I'll buy it and thoroughly enjoy it and get my money's worth.

And it doesn't need to cost less than $40k...on the contrary, $40k plus keeps everyone else from having the same one, too.

[fivepointnine]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

I happen to think I sit quite low in the Boxster...the steering wheel top is just below my eye level, and I'm well within the confines of the roll hoops...but I'm also 5'7". Just had to say something there to give you a hard time, blue. :dance:

Looking at it overall and where I'm (disappointedly) seeing Porsche go under the rule of VAG, the "entry-level" car doesn't need to exist. Porsche was built on racing heritage and prided itself on exclusivity and building a premium driving machine (I respect the M1 (NOT the 1M) and the M3, but BMW can stuff it), not just trying to get everyone within shouting distance to have a car with the Stuttgart crest on the hood. Sure, get them thinking about it, wishing for it, saving for it, and drooling over it outside the showroom glass, but don't start tossing out the equivalent of a VW Cabrio like hotcakes. This isn't a Scion tC we're talking about.

I happen to think the Boxster is quite entry-level, and always has been...it's your gateway vehicle into what is anticipated, by both the owner and the company, to become a long-time relationship and an eventual upgrade to one of the many variants of the flagship car. Yes, it's grown in girth/mass/weight as much as in sophistication, as do all cars that start out as raw, fun machines (RX-7, Celica Supra, etc.), but the base model is now putting out what the Boxster S was for horsepower 12 years ago...all with only a starting price increase of about $10k over a period of 15 years...if you ask me that's not bad for what's supposed to be a premium sports car (and yes, the Boxster started at $40k back in 1997) meant to get your feet wet in the world of Porsche and let you see what a performance oriented car can do. Yeah, it's no GT3, but it's still excellent fun to toss around and rewarding when you get it right...and you can comfortably drive it right back home when you're done.

As I've said before in a few different ways, when I think sports car, you can keep the radio, power everything, faux wood grain, and shiny accents and blah-blah-blah...all I want is a steering wheel, pedals, a manual shifter, the important gauges, plenty of horsepower to move a lightweight and well-sprung setup, and a place to plant my behind where all those things are within reach...you make me that, I'll buy it and thoroughly enjoy it and get my money's worth.

And it doesn't need to cost less than $40k...on the contrary, $40k plus keeps everyone else from having the same one, too.

you basically just described a Lotus Elise........

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by fivepointnine

you basically just described a Lotus Elise........

Indeed, or the 1st gen Esprit.

Neither of which is easily had stateside anymore unless you get a used Elise. But if I were to buy an Elise, I'd be doing so with the intention of having a fairly streetable track car, as opposed to a trackable streetcar in the Boxster. Either way, if I'm going to buy a car like that, it's with that intent of having a straight up sports car, and not because I want them to add leather, a subwoofer, and a cupholder every six inches of interior space.

Porsche kind of stopped making cars resembling that sports car image a while ago, I'm realizing, but the introduction of the 986 really seems to be the end of that period. Anything after that has started to lose the whole pure sports car thing and catered to people looking for a status symbol to flaunt at the workplace and garage otherwise, unless it's a 911/Carrera with a "GT", and possibly a number following, in its name.

And even then, who really drives the piss out of their Carerra GT besides that guy with the Gemballa one that cracked it up?