Seen the latest Car and Driver comparison?
 

Boxster S vs Audi TTS vs Corvette vs newZ4

http://www.caranddriver.com/blog/2009/05/2009-porsche-boxster-s-vs-bmw-z4.html

Number one=Boxster

Boxster (PDK) tied Vette for 0-60 in 4.3 seconds

I was actually impressed with Audi skidpad performance. when the TTRS gets here, it's gonna be quite a machine.

They had it pegged about the outrageous price tag of add ons. Ed

Eighty Grand????????????????????????

Ouch.

I would have to go with a Corvette coupe with a six speed manual. I think you can get those in the high forties around here.

I LOVE the box but holy cow. How much does the Cayman S sell for.

I agree with Rich. I love my Boxster but if my driveway wasn't so steep to enter I would have a vette with the 6 speed manual.

Really? You'd want to drive a car with seats as mushy as your grandmother's couch and a steering wheel that looks like it came out of a cavalier?

I drove one last year---just oozes cheap. the only thing it has going for it is power and you might say handling, but debatable because it becomes a handful at the limit. I think I'll go for an $80k Boxster S and enjoy every second of it 'til the day they put me 6 feet underground with no regrets.

Porsche is brilliant at making money from options. That's why they're the most profitable car company in the world.

If you want the ventilated seats (nice in a roadster with leather in the summer) you also have to buy climate control AND heated seats. So you're $500 option costs you $1500.

If you want to add an Ipod connection it's--only $95. But if you chose the PCM with Navi, that ipod connection jumps to $440 !

Want a 4.3 second 0-60? You'll need PDK ($3.5k) + Sport Chrono Package ($1k).

And the best---sports exhaust is $2500 just for the sound (no claims on increased power).

It adds up so fast.

i've driven several Vettes... all of them felt "cheap" and crappy. Fast yes, but "nice" NO way.

i've n ever driven a C6 though...only C5 variants. every C5 I was in felt like a tractor that was built by mattell that went really fast and was really loud.

no thanks.

oh, and buying a new Boxster S for $76k, no thanks for that either.

I'd rather buy a barely used 987 S for probably $30k..maybe splurege and get one for $35k and then save all my money and get 90% of the power/fun/handling...

i can't see paying that kind of premium for a "new" boxster when the used ones are SO much cheaper and probalby every bit as good.

The C6 is like another car vs the C5. No comparison. i am not saying they hit Porsche fit and finish but it is close IMO.

Candidly, I prefer the earlier Boxes, which could be had for a reasonable price if you stayed sane. If they were more reliable, I would have a $15K used Box to play with. Great car at a very good price.

Alas, the price of a engine is way way crazy.

my boxster is a 2000 2.7 5 speed. lots of options. M030 - love it! 18" wheels. Full leather, heated seats.... it's old, it's not an S - but it's fast enough, it corners insanely, and I bought it for $13k.

i've only got 75k miles on it - i drive it on weekends and soemtimes to work. i've only had it 6 months, and still havne't taken it to a track - but that is high on my list of things to do...

for what i paid for this car, and how good it looks, and how much fun it is to drive - I can't imagine spending $76k+ on a new one. 300hp or not.

i din't buy this box to drag people, i bought it to tear up twisty roads, and for what I paid - i think MY used 986 is a FAR bette buy than that $$$$ new one!!!!

I always wanted that yellow convertible vette but I have really soured on them. I just sat in a new C6 at the dealer and just thought it was a god awful interior. It's a shame but it does deserve last place.

I liked the original hard top TT. The convertible never looked right, now it looks like a 350 z. The BMW is yuck but the interior is nice.

And the Box....I'm impressed with the 0-60, I can't believe it's running with the vettes now. I wish I could justify droping 60 G's on one right now. Could I have 2 boxsters? Or would that be too much of a good thing...

Wow. If you were impressed with Car and Driver 0-60 numbers, wait til you read the Road and Track comparison.

They got 4.1 seconds!!!!!!! They even note that this is the current value for Carerra S cab.

Surely Porsche was aware of this and posted way too conservative numbers on the website. that just tells you that the next 911 is going to be sub 4 (probably pushing over the 400hp mark). they can't let the Boxster scoop big brother.

I spec'ed a Cayman the other day
 

and the one I wanted was $96k list. I didn't go wild with special paint or interior goodies either so I know I could have gotten the number into 6 figures. But I didn't win the lottery so that car is still available for you to order.

It's only 0-60 time that was impressive, once it goes into 3rd the corvette will still pull ahead.

Don't forget mid-engine cars always have better rear traction going from stand still and PDK just eliminates the human error factor.

Doesn't the new corvette also have launch control? Or is that just available on the ZR1?

.... I had the same opinion... so I bought one.

Should the motor blow again, I'm gonna save up and put the biggest bore Raby rebuild in there and then I'll surely get a nice article written up about the car in Car and Driver. I'll hold out for a video too!

ah right Car and Driver.... they did a Bentley whatever, Z4 (retractable hardtop), Mini CooperS, BoxsterS review.

4.1 0-60 on the PDK BoxsterS must be a screamer.
That's .2 short of super car territory and equal to the legendary 959.

4.1 is indeed impressive.

I just can't imagine owning a Porsche with an automatic in it. Takes the fun out of driving, and frankly, automatics are scary at the track. If it decides to shift at the wrong split second during hard cornering because you're near the redline, you're gonna spin out. Happens all the time at DE events I've been to with guys with tip trannies.

Of course, the PDK may be much better. I've never driven one of those on a track.

I'd probably get a PDK if it had real paddle shifters. I'm sure it's faster on the track than a manual. The old torque converter slushboxes don't seem to hold a candle to PDK. Even a good driver with a manual is slower than PDK. I would at least like to try it out. Randall I think the PDK will hold the gear in manual mode and bounce off the limiter just like a stick so it gives the driver more control than the old tiptronic.

I just test drove a Boxster s with PDK. Believe me, this is unlike any automanual you've ever experienced. the shifts are so rapid there is no loss of momentum between gear changes (up or down)--and I do mean none. This must explain the surprisingly fast 0-60 times of 4.1sec. If you had ear plugs in you would swear it had a CVT transmission---you really can't feel the gear changes. On down shifting it revmatches so again, no change in momentum. During cornering I had no reason to use manual mode--the tranny picked the right gear always even after a hard braking before turn-in..I don't know how it does it. (you don't want to use the buttons anyway as they are useless while turning the wheel).
The car didn't have Sport Chrono which supposedly does an even better job on Sport mode--I can't see how it could much better. My wife has a MY08 GTI with DSG which I first thought was impressive. PDK makes it feel like an old slushbox. I do love manual trannies for the fun factor, but I was sold on PDK. Since the gear selection and power delivery was perfect, I could have more fun keeping my hands on the wheel and carving up corners. I plan to order one near the end of the year when my dealer gives me his latest allocation status. And I can't wait to hear how it does in autocrossing (which I don't do, but just curious).

The only apprehension I have is the lack history with this tranny. I can just see the forums in 6 months talking about some catostrophic issue with PDK that Porsche is fixing for next model year or whatever. But then, life is short...

Doesn't PDK use the bizzarely anti-intuitive same side forward and back shifting vs the customary left and right side paddle conifg? Jack Villeneuve had that weird one hand set up on his BAR F1 car. Mayne he's on the Porsche slush box development team! LOL

Yes it does. But I think it's a bit subjective and depends on your prior experience--esp if you've never used such a tranny before. At first it was odd. But I got used it and was able to click off shifts without thinking. In fact, I was started using my right thumb to upshift and left index finger to down shift! I think the lack of paddles is more of a problem then the forward up/back down situation because you can only use them while hands are at 10 and 2. Now, in that position, the buttons are incredibly ergonomic as your fingers fit into them perfectly. But I think it's unacceptable not having nice large paddles (a la ferrari) that cover a wide arc. My wifes GTI DSG tranny uses the same forward up/back down for the console shift lever, so I think that made it more natural for me (even tho the GTI steering paddles are right up, left down). Maybe the porsche arrangement is designed to cover both right and left handed people? does a lefty find right up, left down unintuitive? dunno.

Due to the button arrangement, I bet 99% of the time people will just leave it in auto mode until the aftermarket paddle fix is out or porsche fixes it themselves. So if you're unhappy enough that you don't get to use clutch and work the gates, you'll probably be even less so since you won't enjoy clicking your own gears. I hope Porsche has already started the development work on paddles, otherwise we wont see it for a few years. Still I plan to get one and hope there is a Porsche or aftermarket fix. There is already an aftermarket one out for the 911:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/03/all-thumbs-no-problem-gemballa-f1-steering-wheel-for-porsche-9/

My $0.02

forgot to mention, I know one of the service techs at my Porsche dealer. He said last month was record sales month!

I guess people figure they can't make any money anyway these days so you may as well dump it in a porsche. If this is happening at other dealerships it's gonna make price negotiations much harder.

A while back I drove a C2S with the PDK and sport chrono, and I was amazed. For autocrossing, the PDK would be brilliant. In Sport-Plus mode, it seemed like the tranny/computer wouldn't let the car go under 4000RPM. Under braking, it just popped off the gears, 3-2-1. Under acceleration, it did the same, but at redline...and the shifts were freaking violent. As fast as that car is, and as fast as things come up in AX, the PDK will be the tranny to have: It does what we all wish we could do, perfectly, every time.
As for taking the "fun" out of driving, the car was sooooo fast, I was quite happy to keep both hands on the wheel at all times and stay focused on what was happening ahead of me.