2007 Porsche Boxter S review

[torres]

"The Boxster S now comes with a new six-cylinder power unit enlarged in size by 0.2 litres. Output of this 3.4-litre with VarioCam Plus valve control is 217 kW (295 bhp), 15 bhp more than on the former 3.2-litre.Benefiting from this extra power, the new Boxster S accelerates to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than its predecessor. Top speed, in turn, is up by 4 km/h to 272 km/h or 169 mph. And average fuel consumption of the S-model is 10.6 litres/100 kilometres, equal to 26.6 mpg Imp..."

A new review on the 2007 Boxter S from Porsche, with a bundle of information on the features of the car, design and performance, and lots of other details. Also available is a photo gallery and intro clip with the sports car.





You can read the whole review here: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/porsche/porsche-boxter-s-ar25885.html

[Bavarian Motorist]

No wonder it was so slow from 0-60. They had the tiptronic!

[racer_d]

I guess now the Boxster S truly is a Cayman S Convertible

What is that "thing" mounted on the right-hand-side of the center dash? A phone? If so, that thing's huge!

[dmcutter]

I vastly prefer the interior of the 986, especially with my neato-coolo carbon bits and pieces on the dash.

[Bavarian Motorist]

I like the interior. Anything more and porsche would be trying too hard to be something it's not.

[FrayAdjacent]

I really dig that interior, too. Except for that stupid phone handset thing on the right of the center console.

It also has a GLOVE BOX!!! I don't see why the 986 didn't have one. There's space behind the dash enough for at least a small one. Sure would be convenient.

I give the 987 two emphatic thumbs up!

[TriGem2k]

Originally Posted by FrayAdjacent

I really dig that interior, too. Except for that stupid phone handset thing on the right of the center console.

It also has a GLOVE BOX!!! I don't see why the 986 didn't have one. There's space behind the dash enough for at least a small one. Sure would be convenient.

I give the 987 two emphatic thumbs up!

The 986 DID have a glove box from 2003-2004.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by FrayAdjacent

It also has a GLOVE BOX!!! I don't see why the 986 didn't have one. There's space behind the dash enough for at least a small one. Sure would be convenient.

To be honest the 986 didn't need one,consider the storage space already there;the pouches behind the two seats,the small lockable cubby in the center console,the small tray under the radio and the storage compartment under the rollbars.

[wanna986]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

To be honest the 986 didn't need one,consider the storage space already there;the pouches behind the two seats,the small lockable cubby in the center console,the small tray under the radio and the storage compartment under the rollbars.

At first I thought it was a huge omission, but in practice, I don't miss it at all. Lots of nooks and crannies (sp?)

[eslai]

Originally Posted by dbth

The 2007 911 turbo has a faster 0-60 with a tip than a manual, according to Porsche.



http://www.porsche.com/usa/models/911/911-turbo/featuresandspecs/

How many of you could match the 0-60 advertised time?

That argument doesn't apply at all.

The 2007 911 turbo is faster with the tiptronic because there is no time between shifts for the turbo to spin down. The turbo stays on the boil the whole time, whereas with a manual you'd have to get the turbo to spool up again, so you're not putting down as much power after you've upshifted.

This is not applicable AT ALL to the Boxster. The Tiptronic Boxster is still going to be slower than a manual Boxster, but that's not a good reason to choose one over the other.

And geez, why are we discussing the interior of the 986 versus the 987 yet again? Is it 2005 again? To each their own, I say.

[wanna986]

You have my word I won't be discussing this again.

[SD987]

No wonder it was so slow from 0-60. They had the tiptronic!

If you read the passage, they're quoting the manual-trans time. It sounds high because it's the 0-62. Porsche's published 0-60 is 5.1 with the 3.4, vs 5.2 with the 3.2, but are generally viewed as conservative.

The graphic is a comparison that Motor Trend did between the SLK55 AMG vs. the 3.2 S. The 3.4 Cayman is spliced in for comparison, assuming that the 987 S with the 3.4 will perform similarly.

[wanna986]

Very good info.

[djomlas]

well all these little storage pieces are nice, only one is lockable, and that is important if you have a convertible, so i think its a flaw.

and wasnt a glowebox an option from the start? (and who the hell makes a gloebox a option), its like u can buy the car, but wheels are optional, if you dont select ones u get no wheels, wtf? lol

i really likes THIS picture, wow

[jinijazz]

Originally Posted by eslai

This is not applicable AT ALL to the Boxster. The Tiptronic Boxster is still going to be slower than a manual Boxster

While I enjoyed reading good postings from you, eslai, this is far from the truth
As a owner of both tip and manual, I noticed manual owners immediately underestimate or misjudge on what tip is capable of. Can't blame them since I myself hated tip for the first couple of months, before I learned how to work with it. Most manual drivers simply don't have enough experience with tips, relying on the numbers. 20 minutes test drive at dealer definately doesn't tell you anything about it.

On paper, tip LOOKS slower bacuase of torque converter load and all that. In reality, the fact that you can outshift EVERY manual Box tranny driver 99% of the time has much bigger impact. A friend of mine had 00 manual Boxster(2.7) and mine was 99 tip(2.5). Every drag race we had in our back road and track, We agreed we can't not beat experienced tiptronics driver. Funny now I got 06 manual 987 while he just got 07 997 TT Tip. So many AX champions were with tip, it's not even shocking news anymore.

So why I am back to maual? Not because it is faster(but has more potential on paper!), because it's just more fun. But never ever underestimate tiptronic.

[eslai]

I can agree with you on all of that! After reading again I see that I'm arguing the wrong points--didn't pay attention to the fact that it was a 0-60 discussion.

What I should have said is that the tip boxster probably has a slower 0-60 time than the manual does (don't know for sure, never cared to check) and that the Turbo's specs can't be used as proof to compare the two trannies on a boxster for the reasons I mentioned.

It's all irrelevant though because really, the following two things are more important:

1. On *paper* the tip is slower. Quarter-mile times that the manufacturer reports are always achieved in ways that would make any car owner cringe. I don't launch my car, I don't spin the wheels and I don't shift gears as though transmissions were cheap so yes, i could believe that the tip would be faster if you were racing someone at a stoplight.

2. Torque output within a gear should be lower on the tip so the car should *feel* slower--I can't say I've tested that myself or seen dyno charts but the tip uses a torque converter so it's going to be sapping more power than the manual tranny. This is more important to me than getting to some arbitrary line before someone else does--I want the car to be punchy and respond to throttle input in turns, etc.

And as I said before, if someone were to buy a manual simply because "it's faster", I'd say they were missing the point. I bought a manual tranny so I could have fun driving the car. Heel-toe downshifts and all that.

Thanks for the correction!

[JackG]

Originally Posted by wanna986

Lots of nooks and crannies (sp?)

No, no, no. You got it all wrong.

It's spelled crooks and nannies...

Make a note of it.

[wanna986]

Originally Posted by JackG

No, no, no. You got it all wrong.

It's spelled crooks and nannies...

Make a note of it.

That's what I thought!

[jpog]

I was looking for the glove box, too until I found the bins under the door armrests. They hold a good bit of stuff. Coming from the S2000 with its "secret compartment", are there any that the Box has that I might not be aware of. I know of all the ones mentioned.