The more I read, the more confused I get! LOL
I was going to skip test driving an S altogether figuring that if I never feel the power, I'll never miss/want it. Not sure if that's a foolish idea, but it does make sense on some level. And to be honest, I'm not really a engine modding kinda guy as long as there's sufficient power. I don't need gobs of brutal hp to entertain me, especially since I enjoy corners, and there's really almost nowhere around me that I'd be able to use the power. The thing that's making me laugh though are the reviews I've been reading. Read any 97/98/99 Boxster review and they rave about everything, including the engine. Read any Boxster S review and they talk about the Base like it's using a 100hp 4 cylinder. How in the heck did the base engine go from being so nice to completely underpowered garbage in 12 months? What I think I'm going to do is test at least one 2.5 and one 2.7 tiptronic, then hop in a S just to see what it's all about, even if it's a 6 speed. As long as there's decent midrange power in the smaller engines I think I'll be fine. Right now I'm driving a 3250lb car with 189hp that does 0-60 in 7.8 seconds (According to Edmunds). I can't imagine that either Base model wouldn't feel considerably faster to me. And yes, price is a factor here. As much as I want to push my range a little bit and get the more expensive car, I really want to make sure that I can afford the inevitable repairs that will sneak up on me. So that's one more reason to avoid the S. Ideally I can find myself a nice Base model and enjoy it for a few years until I save a little more and the prices on the Cayman S comes down. :drool
