Would you consider the Boxster the bench mark
 

The first 986's were looked upon as the standard for roadsters, at the time, has Porsche done enough to keep it there? The new 987 has evolved, but is it still the bench mark.

well the thing with the Boxster is the price.

The S2000 is a heck of allot bang for the buck and Its rock solid reliable.

At my last autocross event I quickly got the impression that many people feel its the best option for the money; about 6 guys traded whatever they were previously driving for the s2000. It's now the most represented car in all of the local racing clubs. One guy who was a very experienced junior formula racer who traded up for the S2000 knew more about my BoxsterS than I did. He said it was the perfect sportscar but too expensive with the s2000 as an option.

As long as price matters I think the S2000 will be the bench mark for a roadster for a long time to come.

It is true that the Box S is a tad pricey when new.

However, you can get a lot of Box S in say a 2002.

So, after a couple of years, this starts to look different.

I drove a 2000S once. I was simply not impressed. It was OK, but had nothing down low.


And the ride comfort was simply dismal IMHO.

the s2000 is a fine sports car for the money, but not refined, horrible ride, cheap engine sound, and very chinzy interior...you cant compare it to a box, esp the box s, which will easily outperform it...i did a back to back test drive of the two cars last month....after driving the box s, you are ready to mortgage the house to get one...

Yes the previous geneartion s2000 had a lacking suspension but it was completely redone and and its excellent now. I guess one person's noisy engine is another persons music. The S2000 at 9,000 RPMs is something to behold.
And sometimes I wish Porsche would just buy the gearbox from Honda. It might reduce the cost and improve the car.

incidentally the most successful roadster in the history of sportscars as documented by Guiness Book of Records is the Mazda Miata.
Slap an FM Turbo on the 1.8 and your near 220 RWHP.
The poor man's Lotus Elise.

I drove a Miata on a track at a Mazda driving event last year. It felt like the shifter and clutch were connected to rubber bands. I've never driven an S2000, but I wonder how they hold up over time (I keep my sports cars around 10 years). Not as well as a Porsche, I'm sure. You get what you pay for, IMHO.

You're kidding, right? I have no immediate experience with the S2000, but I put 107,000 hard 8000RPM-shifting miles over 6 years on my Integra GS-R and it ran like the day I drove it off the lot.

It's a Honda for god's sake.

Better yet, have a look at how many NSXs with 100k+ and in great shape are for sale in Autotrader.

Honestly more money in repairs have been required on my Boxster in the last 10 months that both the Integra and my RSX needed over 7 combined years of service.

The Boxster's a great car - I love mine and I'm not getting rid of it any time soon. But the amount of Honda bashing for stupid reasons around here is just ridiculous.

Yeah I have to agree in my experience Honda=Bullet Proof (well maybe except the brakes).

I had two accords, a civic and as with my previous Mazda I never had to fix a single thing, all repairs were preventative/maitnenace, yes All cars were driven north of 100,000 miles.

Growing up my folks would never accept the idea of buying Japanese cars(yes weird I know) and boy did they pay the price (except the volvos). Switching to Japanese cars in the 90's was like night and day in terms of unscheduled repairs.
I guess the Boxster vs. S2000 is like my friend who's owned Ducatis, sure the Japanese makes are trouble free but that doesn't seem to convince him to leave the Italians.

I don't think folks are bashing Hondas here, certainly I 'm not.

I simply did not like the S2000 that I drove. I would expect it to be bulletproof, as that is what we all know about Honda.

And quick, which is it was up top in the RPM range.

Nice car, simply not a Porsche.

That I can agree with.

I guess my comment about Hondas holding up over time was misunderstood. Hondas are good cars. They're not Porsches. They're not built like Porsches. Let's take a poll here as to how many of us would take a 10-year-old Honda over a Porsche of the same age. How many of you have seen a 10-year-old Honda judged at a concours? That's what I mean about holding up over time.

You're comparing apples to oranges though. The average Honda is not cared for like the average Porsche. They're driven many more miles in worse conditions. Now, if you're asking me about a 1995 or older NSX, I have seen several and they are usually in flawless condition and wonderful mechanical shape. Ditto with gen-3 Integra Type Rs.

Mechanically speaking, if the Honda is maintained exactly how the Porsche is maintained (ie accoding to manufacturers spec) , I would expect the Honda to last much longer, and go for many more miles w/o incident. Toyota and Honda simply have a very different way of building a car.

On the other hand, if you changed the oil and filter on a Honda every 15K like you are SUPPOSED to do on a Porsche (why would anyone do this BTW?), you might get a different result.

Interesting conjecture.

Just drove an 05 S2000 this weekend.

Ok, this car is no joke. Its very much like one of those junior formula racing cars using BMW motorcycle engines: A high revving engine coupled with a 1st class gearbox, along with the fantastic rear suspension revision.
I beging to think that in a few years this will take over the mantle of best bang for the buck used sports car.
Honestly I would not change a thing. Well maybe if I could get my Boxster seats in there. :)

My two cents:

I owned a Hondal del Sol Si for ten years and put 197500 miles on it, and autocrossed it, and it was a fantastic car. Up to the end it started to need more expensive services to replace entire systems, like fixing cracked elements in the rear suspension.

I thought the Boxster would be awesome but impractical, and so I wanted the S2000. I thought I was a Honda guy for life. When the time came for the new car, though, it turned out the Boxster was the practical one. Enough people have said how awesome a performer the Boxster is so I don't need to add there, but it is also reliable, very comfortable, and very roomy.

Comparing the two cars side by side they are both incredible sportscars, I don't think you can say a bad thing about either, but very different styles. But as a daily-driving barnstormer I am happy I picked the Boxster.