track addiction downside
 

so, had epic vacation planned. 5000 kms. 6 mountain passes - rockies, coast range, vancouver island range, and back. GF spent 1/2 hour in the boxster and ... we're taking the truck instead.

was it the stiff suspension?
the darty driving given the aggressive front camber?
the squealing track pads?
the loud chinese exhaust?
the lack of ac (hey, at least i haven't pulled the stereo out, not that you could hear it)?
the fixed-back sport buckets with no sliders and next to no padding?

somewhere, sometime, somehow, the car crossed a line.

women. can't drive with them.

All of the above
Let her drive and you be a passenger for an hour. You may agree with her.
My wife doesn't like being a passenger, car is not very comfortable.
We did have one nice road trip down the Skyline drive, about 7 hours in the seat. Weather was nice, top down so that helped

i do agree with her. questions were more rhetorical; post was a commentary on the evolution of a track car - what makes it go fast makes it less comfortable. that there is no such thing as a 'street/track' car, just a compilation of compromises that make it not so good at either.

Track cars should be just that; running a street car on the track, or a track car on the street will always be at best a comprise that not everyone wants to make.

I think the standard Boxster is just perfect. It's great for going on a shorter vacation and it's decent on a track. It's quick and firm enough and still comfortable enough for longer trips on regular roads.
As soon as you start turning it into a race car, you move away from everyday usability.

I only have one Boxster, but if I were to build a race car, I'd get a second one. Or a 944.

Now that I have a wife and kids ... I'd want to do that trip, solo.

My wife hates all my cars, they are all short wheelbase 2 doors and 3 of the 4 are convertibles. It's the whole short wheelbase stiff suspension thing they don't get. Last summer I managed to get to take the Boxster on a 4 hour each way trip to see our daughter. We drove back with the top up and AC on even though it was 85-90 degrees and sunny and beautiful and she complained even then. Not to incriminate myself either but the 4+ hour trip only takes just over 3 hours in one of my cars, she doesn't care much for that either.
The funniest thing about women is that they complain about how we don't clean the house well but their idea of keeping a car clean is throwing a few things out of the inside and running through a car wash. Needless to say if it wasn't for me her car would never see a coat of wax or leather protectant on the seats or a carpet shampoo.

I've taken my Boxster back to stock other than the loud Chinese muffler (used to have a lowered race suspension on it) and the wife still doesn't like riding in it. And never with the top down because it messes up her hair.

Some days I wonder why I own the car. Next one will be a cushy 991 S PDK Coupe with ventilated seats and no sport muffler... maybe she will agree to another trip somewhere in the Porsche.

I bought my wife her own 993 cab -- she doesn't have to ride with me in the boxster.

I will say tho -- that when I did replace the stock S suspension with a SPB suspension,
after a couple laps on track she commented how much better it drove!

Track car or not -- since I do drive it on the street or sitting on grid in Texas -- I'm all for keeping the AC and dealing with the extra weight on track!

Mike

My wife will never admit it but I know she has never really like any of the Porsches I have owned. Even the 996, which I consider pretty GT like compared to all the other Porsches I've owned. I don't care though, they make me happy and she know it so she won't say anything.

I can sit & drive in my Boxster all day long...no back aches at all...in 15 year old "standard" seats & M030. PERFECT DESIGN!

Only drawback is the de-snorkled side intake, which quits any kind of conversation/radio @ speeds >210km/h...as screaming loud as a 917 inside....MEGA FUN for little sprints in between a longer trip. Wife loves it too, shouting "go faster, go faster" :D

I bought the boxster thinking my wife would love the convertible feature. She did not enjoy my 77 911 C3. Wrong. No interest in driving just to drive.

Mine hates riding in mine, hated it when it was stock, now hates it worse with the fixed back bucket seats... Got a Macan as a rental one time, she *loved* it. Unfortunately for her, the main family car is a Toyota FJ Cruiser with "only" 140,000 miles and I'm never getting rid of it... Maybe a Cayenne to supplement the "fleet"? although darn it if the early Cayenne doesn't have a lot of expensive failure modes as well...

She is sure to love the Miata then :D

Haha! My wife demands that we take a BMW, any BMW, vs one of the Porsche's for any driving trip!

You could hear her over the Chinese exhaust ? Whenever my wife complains I just increase the revs to drown her out lol

My wife loves going for long drives in the Boxster, top down or up, and the faster the better. The first time I took her for a spirited ride (our first date actually) she said it felt like being in a video game.

Wow, I guess I'm one of the luckiest guys on earth. My wife lives by the motto 'Life is too short to drive boring cars'. When she saw this on windscreen of my (soon to be) 986, she knew we had a car with the right P.O. (Shout out to MarkeeeVR6).

My wife and I autocrossed and rallied together through the mid 80's and 90's, had some great rides during our 10+ yr expatriation in Europe and S.E. Asia (Renault and Alfa), and returned to the US in mid 2014 to restart where we left off, picking up her new S5 cab the day after we returned and driving it out to my sister's to pick up my new to me 2005 XKR coupe. Together we completed the Bob Bondurant 3 day HPD school and had a great 1/2 day session in Las Vegas at Exotics Racing last year (with her driving a Ferrari 430 F1 and me in a McLaren 570s - she was less than a second off my best time, slow day for me, fast day for her :o )

She appreciates the capabilities of our 986 and she loves the sounds the 3.2 produces. However, her verdict after her first drive was: you don't have a chance against me on anything other than dry pavement and you're not going to beat me from a standing start to 100 mph in any case unless you really punish the 986 -but- the 986 is more direct & responsive, a much better top down car and it is a hoot to drive on our Catskill roads.

Does life get any better than this??? I don't think so :cheers:

I guess I'm lucky too. We just took a 4 hour round trip (286mi.) this morning to western PA. My great nephews 1st birthday. For me the trackable Boxster is more comfortable than her Honda SI. She likes riding in it even with only about 4" of ground clearance and pretty stiff suspension in track seats. As a matter of fact even with the road noise and exhaust drone, she slept almost the whole way home.