Jay Laifman

Ditto. It was the fastest through R&T's slalom for a long time. But, then, I love my Boxster S with 2003 Porsche factory sport exhaust and sport cats. I even have to admit that since putting on the louder, silky exhaust, the Boxster is getting the nod more often than the 911. I'm scared of what will happen if I finally get around to the B&M sport shifter.

356wannabe

I have seen just the opposite on other sites: The Boxster is greatly admired. In addition, I have noticed that, as a general rule, Boxster owners in particular & Porsche owners in general, seem less threatened by/defensive about other makes.

However, I did a post once on the Miate net, saying that I thought the Miata's double wishbone suspension was more advanced than the Boxster's McPhearson struts. You'd have thought I said the Pope wasn'tt catholic! What an uproar!!! I had no ide how many Boxster owners visited that site or the degree of passion they had for their cars. So now, if any one asks, I just say they are both great suspensions.

pecivil

word

kb

Though not a Boxster owner (currently have a 993), I have some thoughts on this. First these are not cheap (price wise) cars. I have considered one for my wife and each time I hesitate because of perceived (on web forums) and actual engine and mechanical failures reported by many friend's I know. My problem is with the RMS, though many do not feel this is a big deal. If I am paying for quality and reliability, I am hard pressed to accept a design flaw from Porsche. There were 1 too many engine replacements at the local Porsche dealership when the 986's and 996's came out. My friend is a mechanic at our local dealer and said they had ordered up to 30 reman/replacement engines from Germany at some point. We as owners, should not view a "little RMS leak" from Porsche as acceptable just because of our passion for these cars. Many owners who were out of warranty had to come up with 6 - 9 k to get their cars back and running. I love the shape and driving feel of Boxsters but I do not like repeat visits to the dealer every couple of weeks or months. I still intend to purchase one someday soon. Prices for the 1998's are showing up on autotrader for $15 - 18k which is all I'm willing to pay if I should expect engine seizures etc. Just my .02cents. Many people have had trouble free cars so I do not say all had issues.

SD Porsche Fan

944 and Boxster owners seem to have a lot in common. Both are entry level in their respective eras. Both have performance that challenges, and sometimes exceeds, higher end models. Both have their quirky mechanical/quality issues and suffer from rapid depreciation. And both seem to struggle for respect from the 'flagship' owners.

I offered to get my wife a Boxster. She wants a 3/4 ton pickup. I guess I could use it to tow the 951 to DE and autoX events! I might get one anyways. I doubt I could justify 2 P-cars so I might have to sell my 951 to get it.

sharky47

Sell the 951 and get a 928, supposedly they are faster...........

SD Porsche Fan

So I hear!

vegasgolf98

I have both and love both. I've had no problems with either. The GT3 is better for the track and the Boxster S is more comfortable on the street, but I've put r compound tires on the Boxster and have kicked some butt on the track with cars that have 100+ more HP. Boxster is faster in the high speed turns and is more stable under braking and trail braking. The GT3 gets out of slow corners much faster than the boxster and of course if faster on the straight.

They both rock and anyone who doesn't appreciate both is a fool pure and simple.

Moogle

You have to consider that Porsche has changed alot over the years. Now a days they are controlled by the bean counters as the engineers surely wallow in at least a bit of shame.

Exclusivity has inevitably gone down, but the marque still enjoys significant prestige. Pop culture hasn't helped with the lower models' public perception.

But who cares, The boxster, cayman, cayenne are some of the best in their class. Nothing below 100k handles better than a boxster except the elise.

Ferrari is not profitable because the company's founding philosphy has never been compromised. They sell road cars to fund the racing programme, no compromises and the passion, exclusivity, and quality are there. The maintinence issues/lack of reliability are largly a myth these days. Parts are expensive, but thats part of the price of admission. Nothing is as cool as having the scuderia sheilds on the fenders and a plaque that tells you how many world championships they've won. They have a great trickle down effect from their racing ventures into their road cars.

Lamborghini and Maserati don't really count, they cater to a different niche, people who dont want either Ferrari or Porsche respectively (and in my opinion, went out of their way to be different...)

Ray S

Hmmm.......design flaws from Porsche are not exactly unique to the Boxster. You have heard of 993 SAI and worn Valve Guide problems right?

It seems to me that you have already "accepted" a potential "flaw".

What is it they say about men in glass houses........

mooty

vegas golf, ray s, and moogle and myself all have 996/986/987/gt3 or combinations there of. those who disrespect boxster really either never driven one or simply do not know how to drive. vegas' comment about the handling characteristics of GT3 vs boxster is right one.

RMS is really not a prob. the early cars sure. but later on RMS is done underwarranty and if your engine (where it connects to the RMS) is out of spec, you get a new motor. i had 8 M96 motored cars, only one had RMS once. of course, my food had 2 m96 cars and had a total of 10RMS. but i think thats an anamoly. i persoanlly know of over 100 m96 cars amonst my friends, only 3 had RMS issues.

older 911's are just as bad. my father SC has self disintetragting rubber center clutch. 964 had leak that took 6 years to fix. 993 had CEL/SAI (far more $$$ to fix than RMS), all of these cars had premature valve guide wear....

exclusivity? if that's the reason, buy a gallardo, lotus, ferrari.... i want a mass produced model. the more they make, the cheapers the parts. for those who REALLY drive the **** out of there car, this is important. 10 sets of rotor, 10 sets of MPSC, 12 sets of pads and occasionally needing new body panels... i want mass produced cars to help lower the price. now if they made 10,000 GT3, i would not cringe so much every time i put it on the track and having to think how much money i am chewing up this season.

500

Porsche and Ferrari are often talked about together, but for the most part, they really don't compete. The MSRP of the cheapest Ferrari (F430) is in the neighbourhood of where the most expensive regular production Porsche (997 Turbo with lots of options) is - assuming you can get a F430 for anything close to MSRP.

As much as I like Ferrari, I think you have to accept that it is not about founding philosopy not being compromised... Ferrari is the boutique brand for Fiat and does not really need to make money and can focus on limited production with high exclusivity. There is no way they could survive as an independent manufacturer and maintain the involvement in F1 the way they do without Fiat behind them. Porsche could occupy a somewhat similar position if they were owned by VAG or Mercedes. But instead, for better or worse, they choose to survive as an independent and as such have to actually make money. Boxsters, Cayennes etc. are all evidence of this. Porsche can't just choose to focus on "founding philosophies" and make GT2s and GT3s. Having said that, I think Boxsters are still pretty brilliant cars and live up to the Porsche name. I really doubt Ferrari could make a better 60K sports car.

perfectlap

"Porsche with Pantys" was the Tony Soprano quote. I remember thinking "Yeah in the passenger seat!"
I've lost count how many comments from random women I've gotten in this car. One attractive blonde pulled over when I was pulling out of a parking spot and said "I just want to tell you have the sexiest car I have ever seen" (PSYCHO!! Just kidding). The funny thing is the only girl not impressed with the Boxster is girl I'm dating! She's from Brazil and doesn't know Porsche from Peugeot. Anyhow I never bought the car because I was trying to impress dollybirds. if I wanted to do that I would have gotten a Beemer or a Merc! I was looking for a sports car not quicker picker upper. But's its been a nice surprise! Also lost count of the number of guys who have told me I'm driving their dream car. After owning the BoxsterS I've learned Porsche is a big deal to allot of folks, and allot of people seem to think my car costs a heck of allot more than it is.
Now as far as lacking respect. I don't think there is a community of car owners more judgmental within their own flock as the Porsche community. I think this is mostly due to the fact that the average (non Autocross/track club-Porsche owner I have met knows very little about their car. Easy to understand because I knew almost nothing about my the BoxsterS before I purchased it. And I'm part of that very small % of Porsche owners who has participated in High Performance Driving Instruction/Autocross, etc.
I don't think the average Porsche owner could tell you that the Boxster has a boxer engine and it's amidship and that its the same car as teh 911 from the seats forward (basically). True sports car enthusiasts among the Porsche fraternity seem to be a small small percentage.
True Sports car DRIVERS among the fraternity is even smaller.

As far as entry level, I had a loan check compliments of the bank big enough to put me into any Non GT3/GT2/Trubo 911 or any year BoxsterS (CaymanS wasn't out yet, pheeww). I didn't hesitate in buying my BoxsterS after the test drive (poor rookie salesman). I didn't view it as the affordable Porsche at all because it aint cheap, it's parts cost just as much as any 996 and the labor rate is the same $140 per hora. A very expensive car to maintain when you look at the other excellent options like the S2000. Its the roadster of the Porsche brand and maybe the best 'practical' roadster made today if moolah is not a consdieration. Its cheaper but not cheaper to make. in the end All Sub $100K drop tops get the chick car stigma (because they looove them so much), always have always will.

deliriousga

Buy a 928. Then it seems like the Boxster is the most respected car in the world.

perfectlap

really? that's surprising.
Growing up seeing Tony Montana in Scar Face and Tom Cruise in that movie, I always thought the 928 and 944 were the best looking, very modern and forward. The 911 seemed like a glorified VW to me.
I still think the 928 is the best looking Porsche (well depending on the wheels).