max. speed
 

Has anyone got anywhere near the maximum speed for the 986 Boxster S
(on derestricted roads of course) as I cannot imagine it would be very pleasant
given the noise with the hood up at relatively modest speeds.

Do the S versions in the UK come with the liner in the "hood" ("top" for us Yanks)? Maybe you need a window track adjustment or your tires are worn.

My Boxster S, dispite being a convertible, is the quietest sports car I've ever owned. It's got too much sound deadening if you ask me. I've had it up to 120-130 mph and it's no Lexus, but it's quiet and stable enough that the sense of speed is somewhat reduced.

Thats wierd, my 00 with 40k sounds like a tornado is right behind me at speeds over 70mph. The windows seem sealed and the sound seems to come from the rear.

To the subject in question, I cannot help.

Is this tire noise? I do know that tire noise on some tires can be extreme?

Road surfaces also make a difference, macadam vs concrete etc.

256km/hr 986 non s (who knows if that was actuall as I've heard there are discrepencies on the speedo) but the noise wasn't too bad as far as I recall mind you at that speed I wasnt paying much attention to the noise. At 180kms there is not much noise at all for a convertable.
you more or less hear the engine over the wind. :cheers:

my 2.5 on the dyno hit the limiter in 5th 168mph. I know it is not a S, but I thought I would share. and no dyno numbers.. way too embaressing. :(

I've got an 01 S, and have nowhere near maxed it out speed-wise. That's only because I can't afford a confrontation with the boys in blue. On those fairly rare occasions I've approached 110, I'll echo blue2000s: It feels wonderfully stable and is not particularly noisy. Feels like I'm doing 75.

The fastest I've had mine up to was an indicated 151mph with the top up. The ride and noise level was surprisingly civilized I thought. It still had some left but that was fast enough for me. My owners manual says the 03 S is good for 164 mph, but I don't think I'll ever see if it's true.

I don't take mine to track nor about to race anyone out on the streets. Great looking convertible with Porsche badge that can do about 150mph is good enough for me. Only time I really speed through is at on ramps to expressways. Love that cornering!!!

To get back to the topic, fastest I've had my 99 none S was 105mph.

Why am I in quotes? Just Curiouse.. I've been up to 143 on the street. Took way too long to get it up there though.

I took my 02 non S up to 145mph with the top down. Lots of turbulence and the front end felt very unstable. I was able to get my 02 Carrera coupe up to 175mph. That car felt much more stable and confident. All this done on public roads late at night. I would not recommend these speeds to anyone who does not have excellent driving skills.

I've hit 136 in my non-S boxster with the top down.

150 in BMW Z3, car felt stable, glued to the road even, felt like the car weighed 10 tons. 146 in 99 boxster, quiet, very stable. I guess it helps ive got the GT3 bumper and side skirts on it. Ran out of road basically for the box, the Z3 was cooling down fast so I had to stop, didnt want it to cool the oil too much. Ummm, I think I went 90 in my 02 jeep liberty renegade... don't do that.

Huh? The Z3 was cooling down fast so you had to stop? That seems very odd to me. Driving a car that fast puts a LOT of stress on the engine, creating a lot of heat. Regardless of ambient air speed, I can't imagine a car coolling off the faster you drive it. Hell, it seems to me it would get hotter at an accellerating rate, much like air resistance would increase at an accellerating rate.

How accurate was your dyno test? The unmodified 99' should only be able to do 150ish.

I've hit an indicated 125 at the track. Why "indicated".. well.. Porsche speedos are not as accurate as they used to be. I have read (online) many reports that on the newer cars they can read as much as 10% too high. More often 5-8% high. So.. 125.. maybe that was only actually 112.. maybe it was dead on though.. Doubt it was reading "low" though ;)

As accurate as my speedo says. 168mph. Your right an unmodified boxster should only hit about 150... On the track/street. There is no wind resistance on a dyno. :)

Hmm,that makes sense. How much of that do you think is due to modifying your Boxster?

I've noticed this on my boxster. If the engine is not 100% warmed up...say 180 degrees instead of 185 and I drive fast the coolant temp actually drops 10-20 degrees sometimes.

none of it.. lol I did not change the gearing so it is stock in that sense. I wish I had the video of it on the dyno still. You would be surprised how fast our car is if it had to pull no weight and had no drag. It got there real quick.

ditto!
i've been to 120 mph top down with that same silence. but the quiet that you hear is what ppl talk about when the say the porsche begs for more. :D :D :D :D

Interesting replies ! I was however talking about 150 plus and like the rest ofyou i have not approached that.

Only been up to 110, felt great, want to do more, last car('90 maxda B2200 p/u )topped out at 85.

That's because the 00 base didn't have the additional interior liner for the soft top. Porsche added it as standard starting in 01 for the base boxsters. They were standard in 00 for the S models only. The additional liner for the top makes a nice difference in interior noise levels and helps to further insulate the cabin in cold temps.

rockbox your sig is kewl

Hahahaha I've spent some time in a B2200. Those things are BEAST, 0-60 in 16 seconds(no joke I timed it) and they look like micro machines. My friends Dad has one and we took it joy riding,Dukes of Hazard style one night,man that was unforgettable. I give it mad props though,we abused it,got air in it and who know what else and it still drives with 250k on it this day.

I recently did a road trip and had my '02 BoxS up to 108mph. Like someone said before, it felt like I was doing 75. It was quiet and very stable.

Thanks, was on a late night run to 7/11, but it had been replaced with a kwik-e-mart.
they only lasted about a month though, everything I got was strange tasting and they had all these weird brands. And some real cheezy characters hanging out. So I'm glad it's back to a 7/11.

I have had my base 2000 Boxster up to about 125 mph very briefly with the top down. Quite noisy, but stable. I found it interesting that the car seemed in a hurry to get to 120-125 range with the top down, but then it did not want to increase speed much beyond that. Again, this was a brief speed run, I suspect, given the time it would have gone faster with the top down. I have not tried to run at higher speeds with the top up, as I rarely drive the car that way.

As an aside, for me, these cars are fast, anything that gets up to triple digits as quickly as my base boxster does is fast. It used to be that 200 hp was a lot in a sports car like this, now, it seems it is just a starting point. I have often wondered if my engine dies, if I would go to a 3.2 or 3.4L replacement, as I really like the 2.7L powerplant, and I can get into plenty of trouble with it if I wanted to.

BTW, my son informs me that Virginia now has a manditory $1,000.00 minimum fine for any reckless driving offence, yikes. I am going to have to curtail my brief runs up to triple digits that I do from time to time. I must say they are hard to resist, in my imagination, the car seems to want to stretch its legs as much as I wnat it to.

We live in a rural area in Central Virginaia and there is a very nice onramp onto a well divided 4-lane highway (460). Normally when entering the road from the onramp there is nobody on the road in either direction within sight (several miles). The road is straight, pretty flat for a couple of miles following the onramp, oh, the temptaton for just a quick run through the gears.....


Ed

:cheers:

On the track last week I saw 100mph in 3rd and 125mph in 4th before running out of road.

150 mph, ran out of road. Not a soul around. Need a longer stretch, barriers on both sides, and no wild life signs :chicken: It felt fairly stable. I'd like to see 161 like the factory claims... someday.


Anyone know of a good road in WA, please post :dance:


Can't believe I've put on 10k fun miles in 5.5 months.

If only Montana had not changed thier unlimited areas. I heard of a couple high speed runs late at night under full moon out there.


never enough candlewatts on a dark and twisty night...

I live in Houston Texas and I`ve got up to around 145 mph on belt 8 at around 4 a.m. however the freeways empty and elevated with barriers on both sides no chance of wildlife so its relatively safe. BTW I knew it could go faster I just ran out of road I was closing on my exit I drive an 02 Boxter S

difference ?
 

Can anyone explain to me the difference in talking about road racing at 70-80 miles per hour and going 125+ on public highways? Why is one only for a****les and completely inappropiate and the other badges of honor. The people make this a great forum, but the Dorm Mothers should figure it out before they try and do whatever their job is. ED

The way I see it, Its about time and place! A quick sprint late at night on a well lit highway with no one else on the road is not a problem in my opinion... the only one going to get hurt (or arrested) is you. When you involve other motorist and/or innocent by-standers then its not acceptible and thats what gives street racing a bad name and rightly so (too many times you hear of kids racing their parents cars and crashing them) some street racing is safe but its the dumbasses or just the unlucky sometimes that give it a bad name. To each his own tho! Im not trying to condone excess speeding but if you choose to do so, do it where no one else will be affected by it! :cheers:

speed deamon
 

The day i bought my 02 box I was driving home from Texas and found a strip of road, If you have never been to west Texas there is nothing there for hundreds of miles, Any way i had a gps and it logged my top speed at 141mph I had pleanty of room left but flat out had never gone that fast before and got the jitters so I slowed down. There have been MANY days since then I wished I could go back now that i really know the car.
One thing is for sure it still had more to give no doubt about it although i have no idea how much, if I had to guess 10 or 15 more mph. :cheers:

Why are you assuming that all road racers do it in the daylight on crowded public roads and all people exceeding 100MPH are doing it at night on safe roads. This forum embraces people from all states and many foreign countries. Please do not assume that your mores and morals are the only correct ones and all other attitudes are inappropiate.

Hey I was not making any assumptions of that sort, If you reread my post I was just stating that as long as no innocent ppl are going to be hurt I'm all for it. I also said that street racing in itself is not always dangerous, I'm not against it but I am against people who carelessly risk others lives. And yes this is just my opinion (and im sure where I live does affect my opinion!) but in no ways do I find what im saying innapropriate :cheers: