Thoughts on 03/04 BS vs 00-02 BS for autocross

[Rotmilky]

I'm hoping you guys can provide some useful insight into my next autocross car. For the last 4 years, I've been racing my 997 for autocross. It wasn't all that competitive in the class it was in (it goes up against the 997 GT3 and Corvette Z06). With some class changes this year, it looks like the 986 boxster S would certainly be a better choice. And it'd be cheaper to run as well. Sweet. So, I'm in the market for a Boxster S at the moment.

I originally thought I'd grab an 03/04 Boxster S. Reportedly the variocam gives a few more torque over the 00-02 Boxster (225 ft-lb increased to 229 ft-lb.). That's at least what I could find according to Porsche literature, but I found a number of other reports suggesting the torque is 228-229 ft-lbs regardless of the years. Checking out posted 0-60 times do not seem to indicate the 03/04 cars are faster than the earlier models. Yea, I do realize that the 0-60 times aren't great indicators, but I was hoping that all things being equal, a car with higher torque would have faster 0-60 times. So far, those times don't actually show one year 986S is quicker than another.

The real issue for me is that there aren't a whole lot of the 03/04 Boxster S available near me. I can find a few 00-02 available, but the nearest 03/04 is something like 500 miles away. Do the 03/04 models offer advantages over the older models? Do they actually have more torque or something that would be useful?