Matt Farah Shares First Porsche 718 Boxster S Impressions

By Tony Markovich - April 13, 2016

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Matt Farah is one of the hardest-working guys in the industry, and he’s always done things the right way. At least, as far as I know. Because of that hustle, he’s now recognized by lots of large car companies as a must on the press drive lists. Most recently, the lucky bastard was invited by Porsche to drive the brand new 718 Boxsters in the sprawling countryside outside of Lisbon, Portugal.

For the “One-Take” video below, Farah got the crème de la crème Boxster S. This car has the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), the Sport Chrono package (improvements to the engine, transmission, and chassis), ceramic brakes, and the Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission. The PDK S model MSRP starts at $72,000, but Farah believes this one is closer to $80k. This is the one, essentially, that made it around the Nurburgring in 7:42, 16-seconds faster than the previous model.

And yes, it has a turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer engine. But it’s a turbo-boxer that puts out 350 horsepower and 309 lb-ft of torque, has a top speed of 177 mph, and jumps to 60 from a standstill in 4.0 seconds with the Chrono. So quitcha bitchin’.

You can watch the full video below (13 minutes) or read Farah’s full written Road & Track review, but if you don’t feel like going through the trouble, just take this quote into consideration: “Remember when the Boxster was a slow but fun car? Those days are over.”