I own one of those highly modified 928S' myself.

 

the best porsches to autocross with in my book is a modded 914 (engine swaped). will wipe the crap of a boxster. this is assuming both driver have the same skill and time on that track. Well ask Mark R. about his 85 928 turbo. on 3 psi he put down like 370rwhp. and now he's running 5.8. psi. now take that info and put into the prespective that the holbert car which m21sniper mention only dyno'ed at 329 rwhp. Granted his car only weights in at 2,600 lbs but the 85 in fully race trim could be the same.

 

BECAUSE FEMALES LIKE THEM BETTER AND YOU CAN FIT A BOWLING BALL IN THE REAR TRUNK OR FOLDING GOLF CLUBS IF THEY EVER MAKE THEM! Did I mention the handling?

 

Obviously never put clubs in trunk...The trunk fits two walking bags, however you must take the woods out of the bag and voila no need for folding clubs.

I am not a golfer, but my son is and he does carry his clubs in his Boxster.

 

I would guess that you would consider buying a Boxster for the same reason I am. Its twenty years newer.

I love my 87 951, its a great car. Its fast-ish, it handles nicely, you can take it to a DE without any worries, and it looks nice. But in reality it needs a lot more attention on a constant basis than I want to give any car.

Taking into consideration that you can now purchase a Boxster starting around 15k, and you can sell a nice 951 for around 10-12k. Handling and speed being equal for the most part, I'd say that the extra 5-10k spent is well worth the 20+ years of engineering advancement and added reliability.

 

$30 to fill a Boxster? I wish!

Try $105 - that's what it cost me to fill my S at UK prices yesterday.

Still fun to drive though ...

 

I am actually thinking about selling my 951 for a boxster but i am not sure i want to do it either. Recently the car is having alot of work being done with is a 2.8L motor and a full repaint which is show quality not including all the new parts done in maintenace etc and mods.. I am not sure if i am going to miss the feeling of a 400+rwhp vehicle and going to a boxster. I love the styling of both and insurance is very cheap on the 951. I don't believe i will have any problems with leaks etc.. because everything is being addressed and if it looks worn it is being replaced.

 

I'm finding myself in the same situation. I have been offered an 01 Boxster with 58K miles, 18" rims, litronic lights and PSM for $19K. I currently have an 88 951 with about 100K miles. The 951 has the Turbo Cup Suspension, KMR camber plates, B&B exhaust, Weltmeister swaybars, 17" cup rims, and Recaro SRD's.....decisions, decisions. By the way I have logged about 400 miles on the 951 in the last three years.

 

let me know if he wants to trade . What i should do is test drive on before even making decision that i want to do that.

 

Hello all. I am actually almost in this same boat, except I am defintly keeping the 951. Having driven both, I still like the 951 more, because it is a more raw feeling car, and I think the exhaust note (with my sfr exhaust no doubt) is one of hte nicest I have ever heard. that in mind, I am still looking for a boxster to have fun in on my drive to work every day, and am planning on trading in the charger (not a bad car by any means, but just not as fun as a porsche)

 

Here is my quick tale....

I had an 86 951 that was modded out. (401rwhp, w/952 engine, etc). I had the suspension updated with Konis, coil-overs in the front etc. I went through a similar thought process, I was tired of old seals, maintenance. and I found that I could only truly use the cars potential on the track. (I did make a mistake. My mechanic told me the truth when informed me, I could either build a track car (which is not good on a road), or a road car which is not good on a track. You build a car that is half and half you have a car that is not dominant on the track or ffun on the street...)

Anyway, I sold it and got a 2003 350Z. The car was fun, reliable, had great AC, ABS, traction control, etc. I could utilize it on the street (where I drove it 99% of the time). However the car had tire wear issues and we figured out that we were spending an average of 100/month on tires.

So, we got rid of the Z and got a 2005 Acura TL A-spec. (A fun family practical car). Anyway, I went out and got a 911SC.

The SC is the quintessential porsche, but I have gotten fatter and less willing to deal with the rawness of it, so I started looking at Boxsters (boy that is a long road to get to my point!!)

I am entertaining the thought of a 986 because I live in Florida and want working AC, like ABS, and the idea of parts that arent over 20 years old.

I can tell you that all of the boxsters I have driven were not in the same league as my 951.5 (granted it was modified), but even when stock it was quicker I honestly felt handled better (of course you drive a car you know more effectively than one you dont).

I also have an opinion (and this is where I am sure I will anger some, and I know it has been discussed ad nauseum), but I wonder if the Boxster is a "ladies" car... I will pause now because I am sure people may be ticked.....not that I care what others think, but when I mention it and my wife say, "Isn't that a girly Porsche", well that stinks....

The other thought that some may not agree with is......I think the 996 and 986 were the Toyota-ish versions of the Porsche mark. THere is no doubt that the 993 was a Porsche engineered product, and now the 997 and new boxster are better, but the 986 seemed so sterile or....well you know, Toyota-ish....not that that is a bad thing, just an observation.

One of the reasons I love my Porsches is the fact that they ooze engineering and. well let the designers figure out how to make the solution look pretty. The 986 seemed like it was designed by commitee....

However, I am still considering it, so what does that tell you. It's a great car.

In summary.....I am in the same boat, and do not know what to do.

 

(heh! -I'm in Lake Mary/Heathrow too!)

Well, my wife thinks that the Boxster is a nice, girly car too... so I'll keep the 951S, and she can have a Boxster. -That way, if I feel like my aging bones need cushioning a little, I can borrow the Boxster and she can play with the spitfire nature of the turbo if she wants to...

Of course, we're keeping 'boring' cars also...

The 951S is new to me, but a close friend has a Boxster S, and I've taken that up to Daytona speedway with him. I'd say that they're a good bet. The 951 is not my only car, so I'm not in deepest, darkest doo-doo if it needs work. The Boxster is the natural choice if reliability is more of a critical factor, but even a stock 951S is a kick in the ***, till it gets to tight cornering and handling, then the Boxster kicks it very smartly.

-I think that the Boxster might be more of a snap-oversteer candidate for the unwise & unwary, but that's just an intuition that I've not been able (or willing)to probe to the extent of proving the point!

Keith

 

I have 944 Turbo S. It is stock I have had it since 1997. It now has 127k miles on it. Very nice car, but no perfect by any means.

A few years ago I considered a Boxster. Seemed nice, but I did not want to give up the extra hp of the 951 and spend more money on the boxster.

Then came the S. Hmm... 258 hp vs 247 hp. Yep the Boxster S is a nice car. However still too expensive. So I have waited.

In the mean time I began racing 944 NA a stripped out 2440lbs fun little car. This car is faster than most boxster I see at the track. To fair I don't see many (or any boxster race cars however). Anyway I have had lots of fun with that.

Now my 951 is just getting older. The boxster still is an open car. I am not really into covertables so I simple wrote it off. Now along comes the cayman S. Now that is one NICE CAR.

However the same old problem is $$$$$$$$. Way too much $$$ for what you get. So instead I have plans to rebuild the motor on my 951 to "reset" new type condition and go through the suspension to retun to "new" condtition. I can do the work myself so costs will be limited and If I add a chip I will have a car that is quite close in performance to a Cayman S. Clearly the Cayman S is faster, but on back roads this extra speed won't really help much and my racing experience has given me some farily strong driving skills. I figure that short of another race car driver in the Cayman S my 944 Turbo S with chip would hold its own just fine. Considering that swapping the 944 Turbo S for the cayman S would cost me some 50k+... I think that is very fair trade off.

Like I said I may get beat on track with 10/10ths vs 10/10ths, but I am banking on MY skills taking my 10/10th beyond his inspite of the car. Sounds like bragging, but very few folks really can push a car hard unless they have done some racing or have lots of track experience.

So... why should one get a Boxster vs 944 Turbo?

Boxster = newer and more "trendy"
Boxster= newer and less likely for little crap to break - so if you can't or don't want to wrench yourself boxster ownership may be less costly
Boxster = open... Not many 944's came in convertable
Boxster = Mid engine, while the balance of 944 is nice mid engine is special
Boxster = Sound of the flat 6 six is pretty nice.

Of course their are many reasons to stay with the 944 Turbo as well, but there two forums to discuss all that.