986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - 10 early observations about my first Boxster.

lkchris · 02-23-2015, 09:30 AM

I've had my 2001 Base for a year now and really like it.

Don't take the following too negatively ...

My previous experience has been mostly with Mercedes with a little BMW thrown in and my first impression of my Boxster was how chintzy and cheap the interior appears.

Especially the steering column and dash switch gear. An outside temperature gauge is an option?

I got over that a bit when I realized the OE jack for this car is aluminum--meaning there is an attempt at keeping things light, so I guess this applies to the interior as well. Are 987 and 981 Boxsters similar?

I now feel pretty foolish but at the same time happy that after a year's ownership I've finally discovered my seats can be set lower than I had them. I need them full back and mine were into the roll bars and there was lots of squeeking as the two upholsterys rubbed each other. But since my upholstery had had it I just installed some salvage seats that are in much better condition (full instead of partial leather, too.) Again, Mercedes was first with seat control switches that look like a seat back and bottom and (yes didn't RTFM) I assumed the controls on the side provided electric lowering/raising and I was just at bottom. It is a bit silly compared to other cars to only have electric control of seatback tilt, but it's not a deal breaker and I'm now really happy to have a lower driving position and headrests no longer contacting roll bars. (This also puts 996 instrument cluster swap back on list of possibilities as in lower seat position I could actually see the outboard gauges and I'm less worried about my knee clearing the OBC stalk.)

I love the steering and it's a nice engine. I now have three cars and three motorcycles and now 5 of 6 have boxer engines. (Type IV in VW Van)

One impressive thing is the brakes. It's pretty cool to have pad wear sensors on all four front pads rather than just one as is the case with Merc and BMW.

2-1/2 Men is nuts that these are "chick cars," as aluminum jacks and pad sensor overkill is boy racer stuff for sure.

02-23-2015, 09:30 AM	#20
lkchris Registered User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA Posts: 730	I've had my 2001 Base for a year now and really like it. Don't take the following too negatively ... My previous experience has been mostly with Mercedes with a little BMW thrown in and my first impression of my Boxster was how chintzy and cheap the interior appears. Especially the steering column and dash switch gear. An outside temperature gauge is an option? I got over that a bit when I realized the OE jack for this car is aluminum--meaning there is an attempt at keeping things light, so I guess this applies to the interior as well. Are 987 and 981 Boxsters similar? I now feel pretty foolish but at the same time happy that after a year's ownership I've finally discovered my seats can be set lower than I had them. I need them full back and mine were into the roll bars and there was lots of squeeking as the two upholsterys rubbed each other. But since my upholstery had had it I just installed some salvage seats that are in much better condition (full instead of partial leather, too.) Again, Mercedes was first with seat control switches that look like a seat back and bottom and (yes didn't RTFM) I assumed the controls on the side provided electric lowering/raising and I was just at bottom. It is a bit silly compared to other cars to only have electric control of seatback tilt, but it's not a deal breaker and I'm now really happy to have a lower driving position and headrests no longer contacting roll bars. (This also puts 996 instrument cluster swap back on list of possibilities as in lower seat position I could actually see the outboard gauges and I'm less worried about my knee clearing the OBC stalk.) I love the steering and it's a nice engine. I now have three cars and three motorcycles and now 5 of 6 have boxer engines. (Type IV in VW Van) One impressive thing is the brakes. It's pretty cool to have pad wear sensors on all four front pads rather than just one as is the case with Merc and BMW. 2-1/2 Men is nuts that these are "chick cars," as aluminum jacks and pad sensor overkill is boy racer stuff for sure. __________________ Kent Christensen Albuquerque 2001 Boxster 2007 GL320 CDI, 2010 CL550 2 BMW motorcycles Last edited by lkchris; 02-23-2015 at 09:43 AM.