Drove a @#$%^& Boxster S Today

[LightngSVT]

I could kick myself in the butt for test driving a Boxster S today. But not just any car a brand new '11 S with PDK. I went to the dealer to check out an 07 Cayman base (nice car, not to many options, 50k miles but only $28k) and after I returned from the test drive we got talking about the Boxster S in the showroom, they then insisted I take it for a drive. I cannot believe the difference between these cars! The S makes the base car seem like, well ummmmm, a base car. So I think I have to find an S car now and may have to change my rules of only an 08+ car because I dont really want to spend $58k ($10k off sticker of $68) on a car but holy freakin crap was that car amazing! Anyone wanna make donations? LOL!

One thing I found weird is that my 06 BMW 330i manual feels faster than the base 07 Cayman did. My car has around 255hp compared to the Cayman / Boxster's 245hp. Im sure the BMW has more torque but Im also sure it has to weigh a lot more than the Porsche's.

So would I expect there to be much difference between the 11 S and say an 06 or 07 S (I realize there is a 15hp difference)? I NEED an S!!! Maybe I should consider the 08 RS60.

[recycledsixtie]

I bought my 2001 base 2.7 l a year ago and did not even try an S model. I could have tried one but had too many miles on it(100K miles)and did not even consider it. So instead I bought the base with 31k miles. What I don't know about I don't care about. I think the salesman in your case knew what he was doing! Whether u want to spring for the extra $$$$ is up to you. I was looking for a low mileage, low priced(for Canada anyway) Porsche with heated seats and air cond., not big horsepower. What is important to u?

[grubinski]

Originally Posted by LightngSVT

I cannot believe the difference between these cars! The S makes the base car seem like, well ummmmm, a base car.

That was my experience. I drove an '02 base car, then an '03 S. After that, I only looked at S cars.

[LightngSVT]

Originally Posted by recycledsixtie

I was looking for a low mileage, low priced(for Canada anyway) Porsche with heated seats and air cond., not big horsepower. What is important to u?

Honestly Im a performance junkie, I love power and the feeling of that push back in your seat from acceleration. I want a balanced car too. But for reference I have a customized vehicle with close to 450hp, but at the same time I really enjoy my BMW with only 255hp. So the nutshell is I want the power of the S!

[jb92563]

A car model with more power is the car that the designers have strived for it to be.

Sometimes the first incarnations can be made better and thos seems to be the case for the Boxster S

You will not have "S" envy if you have an S, the only safeguard from it is to never drive an S.

Its too late for you lightning you must have an S now., welcome to the club!

[j.fro]

Bad news...the '11 has a DFI motor, and with the PDK. I bet it has sport chrono, which helps with the "kick in the pants" feeling. Anything before 2010 will feel (and be) slower.

[jotoole]

thinking out loud

[recycledsixtie]

LSVT. Interesting that u looked at a Cayman first which is not a convertible and then looked at a Boxster S. With PDK I believe it is not manual per se.
Would u rather drive a manual trans. or does the PDK tech. do it for u? If I were u I would feel like a kid in a candy store especially if I had the $$$$ to buy something new. Take your time looking because if you are willing to spend big $$$$ you will have many options. My concern is if I were u I would make the wrong decision and regret it later! Enjoy!

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Drove a 991 Carrera S with PDK. 400hp. Unbelieveable acceleration and slam shifts in Sport Plus mode. Up to 96 before I knew it.

Will be driving a new Boxster S with PDK at Monticello track this coming Fri. morning. I know it will spoil me but I will try to get over it... Wife will have camera so I will post some pics.

Any others on this list partaking in the PCNA experience?

AKL

[LightngSVT]

Originally Posted by jb92563

A car model with more power is the car that the designers have strived for it to be.

Its too late for you lightning you must have an S now., welcome to the club!

Truer words have never been spoken!

Originally Posted by j.fro

Bad news...the '11 has a DFI motor, and with the PDK. I bet it has sport chrono, which helps with the "kick in the pants" feeling. Anything before 2010 will feel (and be) slower.

That car did NOT have Sport Chrono.

Originally Posted by recycledsixtie

LSVT. Interesting that u looked at a Cayman first which is not a convertible and then looked at a Boxster S. With PDK I believe it is not manual per se.
Would u rather drive a manual trans. or does the PDK tech. do it for u? If I were u I would feel like a kid in a candy store especially if I had the $$$$ to buy something new. Take your time looking because if you are willing to spend big $$$$ you will have many options. My concern is if I were u I would make the wrong decision and regret it later! Enjoy!

Ive been really looking for Boxsters but the price ($28k) on the Cayman was to good to not check out. I have had true manual trans cars since I started owning and racing Fox-body Mustang's in my teens and thats my preference. BUT, I was really surprised by how good the PDK is, I expected to hate it going in but now think I'd be willing to consider owning a PDK car. Though I think long term potential repair costs would be substantially lower with a true manual.

HAving the money depends on your perspective, I dont have the money to pay cash for a $60k car. But I can (with trade) easily put $20k down and I could afford to pay $500-600/mo, but is that a smart choice? Im not so sure. If I stick to the $30-40k range I can buy a car and have it paid off in less than a year which seems like the smarter move. But ohhhhhhhh how sweet it was to drive a brand new Porsche, I cant imagine what it's be like in a Carrera S Cabriolet! I sent my wife pics of the car since she's out of town and her reply was "so is there a white Porsche at home now?". Not sure how to take that exactly but Im trying to be strong and responsible (well as responsible as one can be considering purchasing a Porsche).

Originally Posted by Allen K. Littlefield

Drove a 991 Carrera S with PDK. 400hp. Unbelieveable acceleration and slam shifts in Sport Plus mode. Up to 96 before I knew it.

Lucky man! I dont dare because I know for a fact that a $115k car is beyond my rational means.

[welles]

$40k will likely buy you a clean, low mileage '08 S. The more practical problem may be finding one. In my shopping, I'm finding that only 15-20 percent of used 987 cars are S models.

[sgt brad]

See jwade a pm. He had an 02s and traded it in on a new box. He can compare apples to apples for you. Good luck.

[Topless]

Originally Posted by LightngSVT

I could kick myself in the butt for test driving a Boxster S today. But not just any car a brand new '11 S with PDK. I went to the dealer to check out an 07 Cayman base (nice car, not to many options, 50k miles but only $28k) and after I returned from the test drive we got talking about the Boxster S in the showroom, they then insisted I take it for a drive. I cannot believe the difference between these cars! The S makes the base car seem like, well ummmmm, a base car. So I think I have to find an S car now and may have to change my rules of only an 08+ car because I dont really want to spend $58k ($10k off sticker of $68) on a car but holy freakin crap was that car amazing! Anyone wanna make donations? LOL!

So would I expect there to be much difference between the 11 S and say an 06 or 07 S (I realize there is a 15hp difference)? I NEED an S!!! Maybe I should consider the 08 RS60.

Well, if you liked the '11 Box S a lot but don't want to part with the dough, never never test drive a GT3 RS at a racetrack Freaking amazing!!

I made my peace with the Porsche wants a while ago. A GT3 RS would be great but unless Penske calls and says he has one for me on his dime it ain't gonna happen. My current car is a 2.5L, the slowest Boxster made... and it is still a bucket of giggles every time I drive it. When the motor finally gives I may put a 3.6 in there or find another car. For now it's plenty fast enough.

[johnsimion]

Originally Posted by LightngSVT

I could kick myself in the butt for test driving a Boxster S today. But not just any car a brand new '11 S with PDK. I went to the dealer to check out an 07 Cayman base (nice car, not to many options, 50k miles but only $28k) and after I returned from the test drive we got talking about the Boxster S in the showroom, they then insisted I take it for a drive. I cannot believe the difference between these cars! The S makes the base car seem like, well ummmmm, a base car. So I think I have to find an S car now and may have to change my rules of only an 08+ car because I dont really want to spend $58k ($10k off sticker of $68) on a car but holy freakin crap was that car amazing! Anyone wanna make donations? LOL!

One thing I found weird is that my 06 BMW 330i manual feels faster than the base 07 Cayman did. My car has around 255hp compared to the Cayman / Boxster's 245hp. Im sure the BMW has more torque but Im also sure it has to weigh a lot more than the Porsche's.

So would I expect there to be much difference between the 11 S and say an 06 or 07 S (I realize there is a 15hp difference)? I NEED an S!!! Maybe I should consider the 08 RS60.

What I want to know is where you drive where you felt you could take advantage of all that power. My regular commuter car has been in the shop and so I've driven the (base) Cayman several hundred miles in the last 5 days and this is what I've noticed: My Cayman makes everyone else drive faster. Every car at every light seems determined to race me, and everybody on the four lane feels the urge to pass me no matter how extra-legal my own speed is. Are they beating me? Heck yes, I am not 16 years old and I am not about to risk my license and my insurance in a silly race. I also worked too hard to earn my $50K car to risk driving it with no insurance on a track. The "twisties" around here are largely a mythical creation populated, where they do exist, by Uncle Joe's old pickup doing 45 mph and speed traps elsewhere. I got the car for the on-ramps and the good looks and I don't need an "S" model for that. I see no benefit whatsoever to buying any super-performance model. If I want to go really fast, I'll ride a roller coaster or ride with a buddy at the track.

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by Topless

Well, if you liked the '11 Box S a lot but don't want to part with the dough, never never test drive a GT3 RS at a racetrack Freaking amazing!!

I made my peace with the Porsche wants a while ago. A GT3 RS would be great but unless Penske calls and says he has one for me on his dime it ain't gonna happen. My current car is a 2.5L, the slowest Boxster made... and it is still a bucket of giggles every time I drive it. When the motor finally gives I may put a 3.6 in there or find another car. For now it's plenty fast enough.

I am with you on this one. Mine is a 2.7 TIP and it delivers miles of smiles everytime I drive it. I also like the classic look of the first 986 style cars. The new 981 is growing on me and I am sure I would love to have one but I sure am glad I have my '02 and, like you, if the engine goes I would consider a Raby rebuild or replacement 3.4 or 3.6. Still going to be fun to drive the new S at speed on a track. Let you know how I make out.


AKL

[jcb986]

Drove 3 base Boxsters then an S...never looked at a base again. Found my 2000S with TIP and have never regretted buying it.:dance:

[TerryT]

Drove a Panamera for 2 weeks while my car was in the shop... was not impressed at all. I could have been driving any car, BMW, Audi... same same.

[vitaminC]

It's pretty simple: buy the best/newest you can. The main downside to the newer cars is that they will soon be priced just like the older cars, so it's a question of whether you want to eat that depreciation or let someone else do it for you.

[Overdrive]

RS60. Just get it already!

[LightngSVT]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

RS60. Just get it already!

The only one in my price range has close to 50k miles (I cant see paying $45k+ for an 08), Im having trouble getting past that. Even if I put the car away for the winter I'd imagine youd have to peel me out of it and Id put 8-10k miles/yr. So in 4 years I have an 85k+ mile car. The repairs/maintenance/depreciation is scary.

I guess I come from a different background of V8's and "pony cars". Its hard for me to imagine that ~300hp could be considered to much power, heck you can get a Ford Taurus with 365hp these days. There are plenty of stop light, on ramps and back roads that can easily take short blasts of what an S can dish out. A base car doesnt put you back in your seat but in an S you can actually feel it when you press the pedal down! For giggles I went and test drove a '13 Mustang GT tonight, 420-ish HP stock, now that car is fast (in a straight line).

I'm NOT in ANY WAY saying the base cars bad cars. They are beautiful, amazing handling, balanced driving machines and anyone who owns is fortunate. However the S is everything the base car is times 150%.

While I could swing $50k+, Im very comfortable in the $30-35k range. I think an 09 S would be the sweet spot in terms of depreciation, warranty, features, updates, electronics, power, etc but Im not having much luck finding one under $40k. I just really want to have the car paid off in 8-12 months.

I think its getting to the point of "shut the heck up and buy a dang car already!" Im starting to get tired of listening to myself, LOL!