Velvet951

A guy in my club is trying to tell it does. He has had 944's and has a boxster now. He is EXTREMELY fast in it both on the street and the auto x. He is a very good driver. Do you think the weight ratios and balance of that car is better, in hadling, than an 951 S? Just want some opinions.

streckfu's

I would think he's right. With the Boxster being a mid-engine design, all the weight is more centrally located while the 944/951 has most of it's weight at the ens of it's longitudinal axis (front engine and rear transaxle).

That's a stock to stock comparison. either car can be made to handle better than the other.

MM951

I heard that midengined cars get twitchy at high speed..is this true?

M758

I wish it were not true, but....

Yep a boxster will handle better than a stock 951. One of the fastest cars at our autocross is either non-stock cars or a stock boxster 2.7 or boxster S. These guys just add R compound tires to stock suspension cars and are fast.

One guy I know has the factory optional sport suspension.

But think of it this way. The boxster SHOULD handle better. Is a 20 year newer design 10 years newer in production. I be pretty pissed of the boxster did not handle better especially with a mid engine.

That said all bets are off when you start modifying the cars and for the money a you can have 951 for the street and one for the track and be better than the boxster at both.

wjk_glynn

Its only reasonable to expect the Boxster to have better handling. That's engineering progress. If it wasn't better, the engineers should have been fired!

Karl.

Kurt

Makes one wonder if Porsche still has some 951's lying around to test against any new car ideas they have.

Steve Lavigne

Hard to imagine that a car with less weight, better weight distribution, more advanced suspension design, a lower center of gravity, and a much lower polar moment of intertia wouldn't outhandle a 944.

TurboTime

You haven't mentioned anything about the chassis rigidity of the 951 versus the convertible Boxster/S. No testing done by me on cornering, but my 951 is much faster than a fellow PCAs Boxster S in the straights, and I paid far less. Still, the Boxster S is a sweet car and I'd love to have one. But, instead, I'm saving my pennies for a 993 Turbo and hope to have 3 P-cars before too long.
Maybe when the stock market rebounds more ;o)
Greg

Water944t

Could you explain this a bit? I don't see how straight line acceleration, which is a function of weight and power, has anything to do with chassis rigidity or handling.

Are you saying that because your car has a more rigid structure it goes faster? That is likely true in corners, but in a straight line it is pretty irrelevant, at least with the differences we are talking about. And even in corners it would still be primarily a function of driver skill, since the Boxster isnt exactly a soapbox derby car.

Having had the chance to try out a few different models of Boxster, i would say that the Boxster is substantially the superior car in terms of pure handling. It benefits from advances in technology, a mid-engine design, and low mass. It has a much better polar moment, which contributes to phenomenal turn-in and agility. It really is like a Miata on steroids, very very flickable. The only limit I could find in the cars was the tire compounds. Of course, i also believe that my 951 would eat a Boxsters lunch in the straights, which is more a testemonial to the power of boost than any flaw of the Boxster.

They are great cars, unfortunately/(fortunately?) I prefer a car that fits more than a driver, passenger and a briefcase. It amazes me all the time that my 951 has more interior space, ammenities, and comfort than 95% of the cars on the road today. What an incredible, timeless design. Too bad Porsche wont spruce up the 944. A front-engine alternative to the Boxster, with a 3.2L NA 6-cyl engine, maybe 250-280HP (with a 400HP potential!) and move the rear seat back 6 inches to make it functional. I would much prefer that to another useless soccermom SUV.

/me back to dreaming of automobile excellence, and in case you forgot, Porsche knows how to make fast convertables, they have lots of experience...

SimonK

Boxter = mid engine = once on the limit - I would rather be in my 951.

wjk_glynn

I think the Infinity G35 Coupe is very close to the sweet spot. It should be a few hundred pounds lighter but...

See http://65.61.16.109/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5351 for a few more comments.

Karl.

Water944t

Yeah, I worked for Nissan for a while, driven the 350Z and G35 extensively. (All 5 Z's!)

My opinion of the 350Z is: nice car, **** interior almost worse than a Neon, no space at all, good mechanicals, nice clutch.

The G35: nice car, better interior, no space, good mechanicals but less zing than the 350Z.

I will still take my 951 over either car. I do like the torque of the 3.5L, but the car is no Porsche. Not even a 16 year old Porsche.