Matt Farah loves the 718 Boxster!

[flaps10]

Car makers that already sell a decent number of sports cars have the basic know how to build a great mid-engine car. Like for instance Chevy, they could have been selling a Boxster/Cayman mid engine car ages ago.

Not Chevy but GM anyway, it was called a Fiero, and considering it was off the shelf doggy components that car could rail a corner pretty well.

For all the four cylinder hate going on, keep in mind this first version will be the slowest one they put out. You can keep your chrono, PDK and air conditioned seats. Give me an RS version with none of that and "bits of rag to open the doors" and I'm down.

Jeremy Clarkson probably hates the Boxster because it can be thrown through corners and outrun cars with far more horsepower without even being a skilled driver. I find it telling that the personal cars of both of the other two hosts on the show are a Boxster S.

[JRide]

I'm not overly excited about the sound of the new 4-cylinder turbo but I bet its a kickass engine if you can get over it sounding like a Subaru...

I'll try and keep it short but my comment above comes from owning a 2012 GTI and we now have a 2016 GTI. What VW has been able to do with their turbo I-4 engines is impressive. What's more impressive is what a simple ECU tune can do for these engines. I had a 2012 GTI with a stage 1 tune which transformed that car from being an ordinary 200hp 210tq hatchback to a really fun, quick car. The stage 1 tune required no supporting mods and gave that car a bump of 71hp and 101tq at the flywheel! The 2016 will gain 87hp and 114tq from the same tune which puts the new GTI at 291whp and 367wtq. I think thats really impressive! Not to mention my 2012 was still able to average over 30mpg. I'm sure VW is taking all they've learned over the years with these 4-cylinder turbo engines and applying it to the new Porsche engines. A great example is the adjustable veins in the new Porsche engines. Torque was pretty minimal on my tuned GTI so I'm sure it is or can be tuned to be pretty non existent.

With all that said I'd rather listen to my flat 6... I sure wouldn't mind having a new Cayman or 911 to go along with my Boxster though!

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by JRide

I'm not overly excited about the sound of the new 4-cylinder turbo but I bet its a kickass engine if you can get over it sounding like a Subaru...

I'll try and keep it short but my comment above comes from owning a 2012 GTI and we now have a 2016 GTI. What VW has been able to do with their turbo I-4 engines is impressive. What's more impressive is what a simple ECU tune can do for these engines. I had a 2012 GTI with a stage 1 tune which transformed that car from being an ordinary 200hp 210tq hatchback to a really fun, quick car. The stage 1 tune required no supporting mods and gave that car a bump of 71hp and 101tq at the flywheel! The 2016 will gain 87hp and 114tq from the same tune which puts the new GTI at 291whp and 367wtq. I think thats really impressive! Not to mention my 2012 was still able to average over 30mpg. I'm sure VW is taking all they've learned over the years with these 4-cylinder turbo engines and applying it to the new Porsche engines. A great example is the adjustable veins in the new Porsche engines. Torque was pretty minimal on my tuned GTI so I'm sure it is or can be tuned to be pretty non existent.

With all that said I'd rather listen to my flat 6... I sure wouldn't mind having a new Cayman or 911 to go along with my Boxster though!

Having had a 2011 GTI with Stage II tune I would agree the transformation wa impressive for such little money. Not a great sounding motor but the DSG upshift burps could be fun, especially in a tunnel.

We are definitely going to see some monster Boxsters in the next year or so. I can see a tuned Boxster S tearing up a Carrera S, at least until the Carrera also has a tune.

[Finnegan]

Turbo 4's can be so much fun! I had an '04 sti making around 430 hp and tq. It was ugly, loud, obnoxious, not very comfortable, and had cheap interior. But it pulled like crazy.

[njbray]

This review by Probefart? is pretty good - even better if you can understand German!
The more I see and hear the car, the more I like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqt1j9vERZk#t=16.33525

I like the sound of STI's - At least it doesn't sound like a Prius (yet!)

[stephen wilson]

I don't care if it's faster or not, it's a sell-out and sounds like crap ! It looks like my last Boxster will be a 981 ! (when the price comes down a bit). If I get tired of the power, I'd prefer a 3.8 swap to the turbo car.

[stelan]

I know the direction Porsche is taking with the boosted 4 bangers will make our NA cars a more desirable classic breed

[paulofto]

Originally Posted by stelan

I know the direction Porsche is taking with the boosted 4 bangers will make our NA cars a more desirable classic breed

I remember when the 914 came out. POS everyone said, worthless crap. Well, 914's today are commanding nice prices. Same applies to the 924, 944 and 968.

Will the 986 ever be pulling prices like the 993 or the last true 911's? Not likely, but I do think as the numbers out there decline we will see a bottom and a slow but gentle rise in values. Address the obvious issues like IMS bearing, AOS, water pumps, etc, and these cars can run a long long time.

My car still gets ooohs and aahhs and to a person they can't believe it is 13 years old and how little I paid.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by njbray

Just published - fresh from testing in Portugal - he seems to like it! Nice colour too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71dPKCqVegs

Another road test, this guy has some harsh words about the engine. Seems like an honest review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJbgw29Y20

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by njbray

This review by Probefart? is pretty good - even better if you can understand German!
The more I see and hear the car, the more I like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqt1j9vERZk#t=16.33525

I like the sound of STI's - At least it doesn't sound like a Prius (yet!)

Pretty informative video which gets into alot of details about the car that these types of video's usually don't do. Understanding German helps otherwise this is pretty useless.

[Retroman1969]

I guess the reviews are really piling up now.
http://youtu.be/CT1JNv3Pk_M
This one is also German, but presented in English.

[BIGJake111]

I guess the box is still king. But it's the 4 cylinder king instead of 6.

Also some say that this is in part making way for the Porsche 988 or some sort of mid engine Ferrari competitor with the 911 going a little soft. McLaren is pushing to compete with the sports series the r8 and 458-now 488 just got updated so it would make sense for Porsche to come out with something around now.

Maybe a downmarket hybrid sports car sold around 150k to 200k, but there has been talk of a mid flat engine Porsche with possibly a flat 8 for a while.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

I guess the box is still king. But it's the 4 cylinder king instead of 6.

Also some say that this is in part making way for the Porsche 988 or some sort of mid engine Ferrari competitor with the 911 going a little soft. McLaren is pushing to compete with the sports series the r8 and 458-now 488 just got updated so it would make sense for Porsche to come out with something around now.

Maybe a downmarket hybrid sports car sold around 150k to 200k, but there has been talk of a mid flat engine Porsche with possibly a flat 8 for a while.

Interesting. The Boxster/Cayman is the best drivers car that Porsche make, and the 911 would be better off as a GT in the line up. A high end mid engine car permanently in the line up, makes sense and I'd love to see it not that I'm likely ever to own one. I called in at my local Porsche dealer yesterday, and there are a few 981 Boxster's left but no manual ones in Australia, so I'm out of luck

I'm hoping that Porsche will come to their senses with the engine in Boxster and the next one will sound more like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkP5Svl16Qg

The best sound ever!

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by Pominoz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkP5Svl16Qg

The best sound ever!

Yes, brings me back to Rennsport Reunion last summer. It even better in person when there's three on the track doing battle.

[BIGJake111]

Stopped by the dealer today. The 718 sounds great and looks perfect! The technician spoke very well of the turbo system and claims that the S sounds very mean.

[Paul]

From the Parade:

[Paul]

[Roger1965]

I think the VW Vanagon just found it's ultimate motor conversion.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by thstone

Every reviewer/writer/journalist loves every Porsche. If they don't, they aren't invited back to drive the next model.

With that being said, Porsche isn't likely to build a truly crap car so its easy to find good things to write about, but very, very rarely (never say never, but its almost never) will an automotive writer publish a negative appraisal of a new car when their ability to earn a living depends on manufacturer's giving them access to their new cars. Burn those bridges and a writer is effectively out of a job - which is simply not going to happen.

Almost everything that he says in the video was written by Porsche and provided in the press kit. All he does is recite it.

And I had to laugh when he said that he "ordered up the loaded model for testing"!! Hah. As if. He tested the same model as all of the other journalists who were invited to the event.

Sorry to sound so negative, but if you saw how these "test events" are conducted you'd walk away dismayed and never watch another one.

An automotive journalist's vulnerability to being "cutoff" is mostly tied to his readership exposure & accuracy of content. Jeremy Clarkson was virtually immune, now not so much.
I picked up a Aston Martin from Matt Farah friday, he had some criticism for it. He had just bought a Focus RS.

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

An automotive journalist's vulnerability to being "cutoff" is mostly tied to his readership exposure & accuracy of content. Jeremy Clarkson was virtually immune, now not so much.

I picked up a Aston Martin from Matt Farah friday, he had some criticism for it. He had just bought a Focus RS.

That one is a manual swap isn't it?