Kelderek

I already posted these pics at another forum, but I'm sure they are new to a lot of you

I traded in my 987 S and I can only say that Porsche has done a great job on the 981!

Build quality and styling is a huge leap forward! Everything looks more solid and "stylish" than the 987, especially the interior. The Boxster has grown up, now it has an appearance that matches the price tag!

Ride quality is improved, the car is more comfortable. That doesn't mean it's softer (it's not!), but it rides much smoother over bumps and cracks.

It's very quiet with the top up! Less road noise. The 987 can be a bit tiresome on long highway trips, the 981 appears to be a more comfortable highway cruiser.

PDK works flawlessly. I have only driven a Panamera with PDK before, but the 981 shifts faster and smoother. I think that it's a bit too eager to jump to 7th gear in auto mode, though...

The coasting function is really nice on the highway. Release the throttle gently and it will decouple the transmission and just roll with the engine idling. This works very smoothly and I found myself using it quite a few times without even having to think about it. When you really need the engine to brake for you, release the throttle quickly and it works as on every other car. You can always interrupt the coasting by pulling one of the PDK paddles and the clutch engages again. It all works very smoothly, the car anticipates what you want to do in an almost spooky manner.

Exhaust note (standard exhaust) is surprisingly different from the 987. The 981 is more "raspy" and aggressive. The PDK downshifts results in some very nice throttle blips that make nearbye pedestrians jump!

The Bose system is greatly improved! I wasn't that impressed with it on the 987 and I hesitated a bit when ticking that box for the 981. Now I'm glad I did, it sounds really nice!

Kelderek

A few more detail and interior pics:

f4 plt

Very, very nice I will get to see one here in the States later this month

Marine Blue

Wow, what a beauty! You're not kidding, the fit and finish on the Boxster has moved up dramatically.

I bet the 981 will be taking lots of sales away from the 991 Cab.

Jim 'n' SC

I am currently driving a Carrera and drove Carerra Cab with the intent of buying one, but after seeing the new Boxster I couldn't see spending $50K more to get a car that doesn't look as good. I now have a Platinum Silver Boxster on order with a mid August delivery.

jwade

Question for U Kelderek???

Love the ride! Beautiful!!

Wondering about the flaps on both sides of the roll over protection that go up and down with respect to the top operation.

Do the flaps stay in the upright position when the top is up or do they lay down as shown with top down? Also, is the top "one touch" up and down or do you have to hold the button the whole time?

Thanks

Alan Smithee

Interesting that as large as the side intake is, it is mostly black plastic, with an actual opening that doesn't look any bigger than that on the 987. Am I seeing it correctly?

Also never noticed it being 'split' in other photographs.

jwade

981's have air intakes on both sides now. You can opt to have them painted exterior color. I did.

Kelderek

The flaps stay in upright position when the top is up. In that position, they leave room for the frame of the top, so there is absolutely no room for them to fold down again... I was curious about that myself, so that was one of the things I had to check after getting the car!

The button operation is actually slightly changed compared with the 987:

To fold the top, it's "one touch" if the car is moving. When standing still, you need to hold the button.
To raise the top, you need to hold the button regardless of speed. (The 987 had a "one touch" operation at speed)
The best thing is that they got rid of the locking handle, now it's just the button. You can also operate the top with the key remote!

Llarry

Beautiful car! Thanks for posting photos, Kelderek!

Re side intakes, I specified painted side intakes for my car as well, but I think there will still be quite a bit of unpainted/black visible. The paint option looks to me to only paint a relatively narrow band around the inlet.

scycle2020

Great car!!! What other options did or did you not get. Did you get the torque vectoring or the pasm and are they worth the expense. Is the sport chrono worth the extra expense with the pdk???

Alan Smithee

Yes, as opposed to an 'exhaust' fan on the passenger side.

Which reminds me of one afternoon I was pulled over by CHP during a very, ahem, 'spirited' drive along Mulholland Highway in my Spyder. Engine off, officer walks up along the passenger side to ask for license and registration, while the fan is blowing hot air all over him. Very embarrassing. Was desperately wishing for an 'off' switch at that moment.

mzn50

Awesome-ly beautiful..I'm starting to really enjoy white...
Congratulations

TroyN

That car is gorgeous!

Dino944

The new 981S looks great! I can't wait to see one in person.

Just curious, does it have 2 center mounted brake lights? There is one toward the top of the center of the rear deck lid, but there is something clear under the retractable rear spoiler...is that also a brake light?

Thanks and congrats on your beautiful new 981S.
Best regards,
Dino