Observations after 2 months with my 986S - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Marc Gelefsky · 06-06-2006, 12:35 PM

OK, I have had my Boxster S about 2 months now, a few things I notice.

1) This car is so quiet at idle it drives me nuts, I need some sound!

2) The car feels slow, I know it is not.. but for some reason it does not feel quick off the line, anyone else think this?
My 86 Carrera seems way faster and it's not.. does the Boxster just have less of a sensation of speed?

Otherwise, I really like the car.

KRZTACO · 06-06-2006, 04:33 PM

Marc,

Your absolutely right.....it's way too quite. So I upgrade to a Magnaflow exhaust.

Do a search and you should find some videos with sound on my car.

KRZ

Wintermute · 06-06-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Gelefsky

OK, I have had my Boxster S about 2 months now, a few things I notice.

1) This car is so quiet at idle it drives me nuts, I need some sound!

2) The car feels slow, I know it is not.. but for some reason it does not feel quick off the line, anyone else think this?
My 86 Carrera seems way faster and it's not.. does the Boxster just have less of a sensation of speed?

Otherwise, I really like the car.

1. Agreed. My 02 S doesn't even sound like it's on when sitting at a light.

2. I have noticed this too, but I think that is mostly due to my own driving style. Plus I'm still new to the car (only had it a month). It's much, MUCH faster off the line than my old Honda Prelude.

rdynamix · 06-06-2006, 05:43 PM

1. I like it that way, I don't own this car to show off but to enjoy driving it. This typical of Porsche owners. Those that prefer the noisy in your face style can always mod the cars.

2. I think you need to start exploring the 4000RPM plus range and feel the variocam take you to Porsche heaven. The gearing on the car is very high, between 2800RPM and 3200RPM. You will get a very fast sensation if you take it up to the 45000 to 6500 range. You have a very fast car, enjoy it.

Marc Gelefsky · 06-06-2006, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdynamix

1. I like it that way, I don't own this car to show off but to enjoy driving it. This typical of Porsche owners. Those that prefer the noisy in your face style can always mod the cars.

2. I think you need to start exploring the 4000RPM plus range and feel the variocam take you to Porsche heaven. The gearing on the car is very high, between 2800RPM and 3200RPM. You will get a very fast sensation if you take it up to the 45000 to 6500 range. You have a very fast car, enjoy it.

1) It's not "in your face" I am looking for, I dont think Seal Grey would have been my color choice if I wanted to show off

I'm not a kid, I have nothing to prove. I just like a little engine noise, like my 911 that still has the stock exhaust, it has that nice aircooled rumble.
I sure dont want a loud ricey exhaust, I used to have an Audi S4 and went through 4 exhausts and ended back with stock since all of the aftermarket ones were too damn loud.
I know alot of Porsche owners, I have been involved with PCA for 12 years, "typical" is not a word I use to describe them

2) Dont get me wrong, I am really, really enjoying Boxster S ownership and have no regrets over this purchase (I never met a Porsche I didnt like) but it's not what I would call a "Very fast car" and trust me I spend most of the time in the 4500 to 6500 range, It not that the car IS slow, it just seems slow. It's the most refined Porsche I have owned thus far, perhaps I need to get used to it.

NickCats · 06-07-2006, 07:27 AM

KRZTACO, went on the MagnaFlow website and could not find an application for Porsche. What's the scoop ?

Thanks,

Nick

Perfectlap · 06-07-2006, 07:41 AM

that's funny that you think the car is slow. When I first took the car on a long stretch of open road I really opened it up and my passenger was just like

On the test drive when I heard the engine revv up to the upper limits in 2nd gear
I nearly pulled the car over so I could jump out screaming. My friend with a Corvette and My friend with a Viper all had the same reaction. Eventually you get used to everything and it feels ordinary

(IN A STRAIGHT LINE).

Few Porsches relative to the total they have produced have had a naturaly aspirated engine of this size displacement. Maybe 5%? Porsches in general have never been Powerful sports cars relative to their competition. Yet they've almost always been superior at LeMans.
I note the past because you have driven older P-cars. I on the other hand have driven only newer Porsches and the Boxster S doesn't feel a whole heck of allot slower than a standard 996 Carrera or the previous 993. The zero to 60 times of the Boxster is under 6 seconds. Much more expensive sports cars are barely a second (yes a blink of eye) faster.
the New 07 BoxsterS with the CaymanS engine will be creeping up on the sub 5 second mark. Still barely a second. Fast to me is that Bugatti with 1000 HP that does 0-6 in 3 seconds. I bet Beckham is probably already bored with his looking to mod it out

I'm not hot on the idea of making a car you don't feels is fast even louder.
Its like every time I see one of these front wheel drive hondas which you can hear a mile a way. My first thought is "why is a car that slow that loud?"

A bigger intake and exhaust will help the car breath better but I wouldn't do it just for the sound. All though it is nice.

Marc Gelefsky · 06-07-2006, 07:50 AM

Perhaps my problem is I drive allot of different cars all the time, I had an 06 Corvette Z06 for 2 weeks, that was FAST! oh boy! But I still prefer the feel of a Porsche.
I think my 3.2 Carrera feels faster because it has much more low end ooomf

My Audi S4TT was a rocket... but it was a sedan..feh

My intention with this post was not to start a debate but just see if others noticed the same things.

All that said, I find the Boxster to be an incredibly satisfying car to drive, I like the roadster aspect and that's why I did not get a 996.
And Perfect lap, I agree. The Boxster S does not feel much slower than a base 996, I drove a ton of both in my search.

Perfectlap · 06-07-2006, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Gelefsky

Perhaps my problem is I drive allot of different cars all the time, I had an 06 Corvette Z06 ......

Say no more.

p.s.
the meaning of FAST is a bit of a perception. I used to drive a teeny 1.8 miata.
And I never thought the car was slow. Acutally on 'seat of the pants' acceleration from a red light I didn't think it was much slower than my friends standard 911.
I would be up to 60mph in 5 seconds and while the other cars were still rolling off the start.
What changed my perception of FAST was ending my belief that fast meant only going FAST in a straight line. When I see sports car now I think how fast is it on the slalom? skidpad? FAST is not one dimensional. I rented a Mustang recently off the line pretty fast but at the Autocross I'm regularly 2 seconds faster than some very fast drivers in that car. And I'm not even really trying

Beating/Matching 993/996 911's is a regular occurence. To me that makes the Boxster FAST.

BoxsterSbob · 06-07-2006, 09:01 AM

I recently dropped in a BMC air filter and installed a Borla muffler. The car seems much faster as a result. probably isn't, but my senses think so

Exhausts can be tricky. Just read some of the posts here.

good luck

bob

'04S
BMC
Borla

drburton · 06-07-2006, 09:11 AM

I have a 987S and I agree it doesn't feel particularly fast. I think this has everything to do with the lack of low end torque. Torque is what makes a car 'feel' fast. Jump in the Corvette, Viper, 911 turbo etc.. and you feel the torque at low rpms and you feel like your flying.

Just my thoughts. The car IS fast but doesn't really feel that way, until you look in your rearview mirror after the light turns green and everyone is a little dot in the distance.

Jacques79 · 03-15-2008, 09:59 AM

I think gearing change would help tremendously.

Has anyone fitted different gears to help low-end pull?

edevlin · 03-15-2008, 11:16 AM

"A bigger intake and exhaust will help the car breath better but I wouldn't do it just for the sound. All though it is nice."

I added the intake and exhaust to try to squeek out a few more hp out of my base boxster. The result was a few more hp, but also great sound, not loud, but great, especially at higher rpms. I was not really expecting the change in the sound over the stock system. My mechanic then explained that most of the folks he did intake and exhaust mods for were doing it for the sound, and not performance.

BTW, I just got back from watching a track day at Richmond International Raceway today (1.5 hrs away from my front door). Looked like hundreds of great Porsches were swarming around. Seemed like most were running highly modded exhaust systems. When the occasional GT3 or Turbo went down the track with stock exhaust, it sounded sorta like a loud wispher in comparison.

Ed

cvhs18472 · 03-15-2008, 02:46 PM

When I went looking for a new sports car I test drove Z, a Z3, an S2000 , A vette, a Miata, an Audi and the Boxster. There were points that the other cars had which were better than the Boxster, but as an overall package it wasn't even close. I've had my Boxster for 1 1/2 years now and have test driven a couple of other cars including the "faster" Solstice and still think that I have made an unbelievable choice. My brother purchased a Vette at app. the same time and kept telling me how fast his car was. I asked him if he wanted to race over a section of road near where we live but we couldn't use any brakes. He thought that I was crazy , but he has not mentioned how fast his car is in a long time. Stock Boxsters rule.