adsc4s

Pretty ballsy, also not true. There are many vehicles both stock and modified under $100K that offer the same level of performance. Looks are always subjective.

autobahnNY

If it isn't clear to ya...I mean the way the car handles with a mid engine platform in a German,Porsche way.The road and steering feel is just awesome. The Key is mid engine.Yes i do believe this,I don't know any other car out there under 100k that gives you that.Thats my opinion.

NetManiac

I find this an interesting comment. I blew past a late model Z28 all weekend at Spring Mountain Motorsports Park. Of course that was in my stock 'S'. I am also about 99% sure the one non-S out there will end up with a much better time than this very same Z28 (the results aren't posted yet). I was also 12 seconds faster than a completely stock 993. Does that mean a Boxster S is faster than a 993? Nope, it all comes down to one thing - driver ability.

A bad car in the hands of a good driver can look spectacular, as well as a good car in the hands of a bad driver can look hideous. Let me repeat myself: it all comes down to one thing - driver ability.

Helen

agreed,
but the Boxster is so easy and forgiving to drive you would have to be a very bad driver to make it look bad.

Alan Herod

Mike, It's worse, a Z-24 is a Cavalier with some limited tupperware and racing stripes, but it generally doesn't have huge exhaust tips, VTEC, or Type R stickers; however, it may have RS sticker. I think it is a Z-24 because it has half the engine, a pretty good size four, although it could be a six, but I don't really know. I believe this is so because a neighbor's teenage son had one and it sounded like a really big unbalanced four. On the positive side, the exhaust note was very well tuned. I can't remember seeing an adult driving one. Perhaps the Boxster was towing a horse trailer?

NetManiac

Yeah, I do know what a Z24 is. In fact there is one that runs in the Grand-Am Cup series and does pretty well considering it's a private entry with his girlfriend/wife crewing for him.

The reason I brought up the Z28 was to illustrate that if a Boxster and Boxster S with a good driver could take Z28 with a good driver, it would take some pretty extreme circumstances for a Boxster to loose to a Z24. I mean some really, really extreme circumstance.

Alan Herod

I can't even believe that this thread began. There is no comparison between the cars mentioned in the first post. I watched Jimmie Clark and another FI driver in Ford Cortinas beat Cobras, Corvettes, and Porsches at Mid-Ohio in the 60s. Does that mean that Ford Cortinas are faster then those other cars, it only illustrates the vast gap between good race drivers and incredible.

A lot of folks can pull along side on the highway and rev the engine in their Saturn, Nova, Cavalier, Corrola, or other, and pull away and report to their high school friends that they blew away a Porsche. The data is irrelevant and seems to be only provided to put down Boxsters. For what it was worth, I was a loyal 356 person and when the 911 came out, it wasn't a real Porsche.


Helen,

You really think the Boxster is forgiving? I hope you have PSM. Otherwise it is not forgiving at all, but will make you look good up to the very finely defined place where you may look very bad, or you will be a hero due to the save. 914s and other mid-engined cars provide the same level of transient excitement. But the good news is that when it spins, it spins very tight, sort of like a top. I have had the good fortune of instructing in a number of Boxsters and PSM can work miracles and disguise a lot of owner induced oscillations. Compared to the Boxster, our SC has a much wider band approaching departure. You better be really good or have PSM to drive at the limit on the track. When they do leave the track, they are easily destroyed, relative to the tank-like 911. Turn 9 at Summit has claimed two of the relatively low percentage of Boxsters in the upper run groups.

Ghost Rider

I'm sure they are on my old Boxster website somewhere...

Old Boxster Website

NetManiac

Alan, I couldn't agree more. I occasionally get an Eclipse or Corolla pull up beside me on the freeway (expressway to you ) thinking they are going to take me. They floor it, I don't and I'm sure there are giggles all around in their car. Me? I don't care. Well, OK there are times when I feel a certain need to prove a point. When I do I slow down at the point just before my tail lights disappear over the horizon so they can still see me a stew in their self induced misery. Probably saying to themselves "That's not a stock Boxster..."

I'd like to hear about those two Boxsters sometime. I myself have been off in turn 2 at Willow Springs, and again turn 2 at Spring Mountain. I've been off in a cloud of dust at two of the three tracks I've been to. I wonder if that's an Omen or something...

autobahnNY

I agree Alan..Its a misconception that a Boxster is so forgiving. If you are driving close to the limit,which is very high...then it take some skill.I spun twice,not fun. Sure is fun coming close though..hehe

Dan87951

So true..

Dwayne Williams

Personally I've found it very easy to drive my Boxster! I get lots of "nice Porsche" comments and quite a few "sweet car" remarks. I've never had anyone rev or try to race me. Now I get tons of "let's race" juvenile attention when I'm driving my 944 turbo.

Alan Herod

Dwayne, if the comment was intended for me, I never said it wasn't easy to drive the Boxster on the road. What's not to like? Everything works and it is fast and well balanced. What I did mean is that it is far less forgiving at the limit (without PSM).

On the other side as far as racing goes -- I have the old beaters with kids always challenging. But I have also had several more interesting challenges, one of which I could not resist because I knew the outcome.

1. While I had new dealer tags on the car, cruising with the top down, a very trick (and great sounding) pulled along side and gunned it a few times. Relatively deserted four lane with big median. (I am in Southern Maryland - Street Rods and drag racing is VERY BIG BUSINESS) He then pulled in front and slowed to below the limit, I pulled out and slowly started to pull along-side. When I was next to him he punched it a few times demonstrating probably 450-500 Bhp. I slowly pulled along side and gave him a thumbs up. He flashed a very fat roll of bills and indicated that he wanted to race, I waved that I did not. What was the point? He performed a tire smoking departure to probably 120 and slowed to allow me to pull along side. His car sounded great and I signalled my appreciation and he gave me a thumbs up. I wonder if a cop would have been watching whether they would have nabbed both of us even though I never exceded 6 over.

2. Headed south again on the same road (coming home from a weekend at the track), a brand new Z-8 with dealer tags pulled along side. Ironically we pulled next to each other at one of the few lights on the road. We both had the tops down. He was an older guy with his wife (probably) in his new car. I politely signalled my appreciation of his fine ride and he must have thought I wanted to race. He basically did not wave or gesture and proceded to do a full rev limiter launch going through at least three gears after the light changed. (By the time the light had changed we probably had 15 to 20 cars behind us.) He clearly had no idea how fast he would go through first. He was well over 100 by the time I was at 45 with the rest of the traffic.

3. Headed to the hotel (from the track), another red run group instructor pulled along side in his very trick Carrera. Nobody around. He gave me the signal on the roll and, we punched it out far enough to know, that it will require a far more serious tweaking to make a 3.2 Carrera faster accelerating then a bone stock Boxster S.

Damian in NJ

When people point out that Altima's have around the same hp (239) as I, my answer is-"it's not how fast you go, it's how you go fast." That usually gets them thinking for a while. If a car can't turn or brake, who cares if it has an extra hundred hp or two??

JeffES

Damian,
Well said. It's easy to forget that the beauty of a Porsche is the good balance of power, chassis, tires, layout, and style.
Look - if you want straight ahead power, buy a street rod - when I worked at a Chevy dealer (old college days), a bunch of us built up a bud's car (Dodge Dart) with a Lincoln V8. Scary power, and nothing could catch it in a straight line. He had it for two years, and then tried to catch me on a mountain road - and I was driving my 914/6. He was lucky to walk away with only a few scratches ( I know, I know - street racing is stupid).
Anyway - my uncle's Camaro is faster than my Boxster in a straight line, and that doesn't bother me for a second.
J