Poor porsche, Rich porsche

[chrisdridley]

Rich man's car.....poor man's car.....hair dressers ride.....girls car........

I'm non of the above. I've been poor and without that winning Powerball number, I don't expect to be rich. My wife and I have worked very hard for many years for what we have. Neither of us is a hair dresser but she is a girl.
My wife has wanted a Boxster for years. Together, we have owned many sports cars, several with a greater power to weight ratio than the Boxster and all would turn heads when we drove by but none that we enjoyed as much as our RS-60.
We went to the Porsche dealer to look around and I first saw a beautiful black 911 Turbo Cab. Next I saw the RS-60 and read the specs. I was interested enough to take a test drive. I drove first, then my wife....we were sold.
We could have bought the 911 but there was not enough difference in the performance and handling of the two cars IMO to warrant the extra cost.
We love our little Boxster, we have driven it on a couple of long trips and many runs on the Tail of the Dragon and I don't think we would be having any more fun in that black 911.
As for a rich man/poor man's car...we paid cash for the RS-60.....this increases the fun factor for us.....would have had to finance the 911.

[nola911]

Originally Posted by chrisdridley

We went to the Porsche dealer to look around and I first saw a beautiful black 911 Turbo Cab. Next I saw the RS-60 and read the specs....
We could have bought the 911 but there was not enough difference in the performance and handling of the two cars IMO to warrant the extra cost.

A 911 Turbo is a different breed than the boxster.... not even in the same realm. Like I said above, I loved my boxster and had more fun in it than my (much much faster) 911... Performance wise, the cars are night and day, especially in the far superior turbo.

I think the 911 you drove was broken, or missing an engine. 3.7 0-60 warrants that price tag.

[Blue-S]

My 2000 Boxster S is an evening/weekend car. I bought it after deciding that club racing (I had an SCCA Showroom Stock C car) is not the right hobby for my family at this time. I was able to convince my wife that selling the racecar and buying another sports car would be a good move. I have been a Porsche fan since I was a boy, and I have admired the Boxster since it was introduced. Thanks to the downtrodden economy, Boxsters are now surprisingly affordable. With some money in the bank and the sales proceeds from the racecar, I pulled the trigger on a nice (but not perfect) local Boxster. Once I get it set up the way it needs to be, I will probably take it to a few autocrosses and track days. Because that's what it's for.

Am i rich or poor? I'll put it this way: doing my own maintenence and repair is the only way the Boxster can fit my leisure budget. That's OK, because I enjoy working on the car. Would I buy a 911 if I could? Probably not. I have driven my step-father's 2003 Targa Tiptronic, and I like my Boxster S better. For one thing, the 911 engine is in the wrong place! There's a reason why the RS racecar, the 911 GT1 and Carrera GT are mid-engined. It's a shame that Porsche insists on limiting the Boxster and racing only the 911. With equal prep, the Boxster would be faster than a 911 with the same powertrain.

[sd_boxster]

I bought a Hyundai Tiburon "sport compact" for about $20K and dumped about $10K in parts (supercharger, exhaust, intake, fuel tuner, larger injectors, strut bars, clutch mods, intercooler, brake upgrades, etc.), and wound up with a car that (a) still didn't perform as well as an "entry-level" Porsche, and (b) I was afraid to drive the hell out of because my warranty was voided many times over and I didn't want to buy a new motor.

I sold my Tib to another Hyundai enthusiast, and for $5K less than I spent on my Tib plus parts bought a CPO '03 Boxster which out-of-the-box does far more than my Tiburon could, even with 50% more horsepower than Hyundai shipped it with.

I still get crap from some of the Tib guys who like to point out that I own a "poor man's" Porsche. Having driven both a poor man's Porsche and a rich man's Tiburon, I can tell you with absolute certainty which one is better.

The Boxster may not be the most expensive car on the road, but I seldom see a car I'd rather own.

[chrisdridley]

Originally Posted by maxferran

A 911 Turbo is a different breed than the boxster.... not even in the same realm. Like I said above, I loved my boxster and had more fun in it than my (much much faster) 911... Performance wise, the cars are night and day, especially in the far superior turbo.

I think the 911 you drove was broken, or missing an engine. 3.7 0-60 warrants that price tag.

You are correct...the 911 is in a different class.
The point is that while the 911 is faster and a beautiful car, IMO being 1.3 seconds 0-60 faster and 23 mph top end difference is not enough for an additional $70,000.00 for me. My boxster does 0-60 in 5.0 and 170 top end. I rarely get to drive the Boxster to it's limit so I don't think I would be any happier with a car that cost twice as much.....and I know my pocket is happier.