993 to Boxster

[huw dolphin]

Has anyone done this? I'm thinking of it but wonder if I'll miss the 911 steering feel too much. The Boxster does appeal particularly as my 911 is proving a real cash pit as it gets older, but I recall my only drive of a Boxster S a while back left me feeling quite underwhelmed and disappointed. Is it a car that grows on you and should I give it another chance?

 

[Dapster]

If your talking about a new shape 987 Boxster S, then many people will tell you that it would give a full fat 997 S a run for it's money in terms of handling, ride and performance. Given that it's 25 grand cheaper and you can see why it's such a highly rated car. Obviously it'll be from another world compared to a 993 - much less involving, more refined, more luxurious and probably just a whole lot easier to drive and live with. Having said that Huw, what modern car is going to give you anything near the tactile treat of a 993? The Boxster is absolutely stunning - in any guise.

You'll need a long go in one before the memory of the 993 disappears, and then you'll be smitten I'm sure. The performance and cornering envelope is so much more accessible in a Boxster than in a 993 plus you have a few gig's worth of black boxes to help you out of too much trouble, while still having fun.

The running costs will be in another league as well - 20,000 miles service intervals and nothing too hideous until you are into the 40k plus bracket and talking about plug changes and the like.

Having driven many 996's and a 997 (though not a 993) I'd say that if you don't need back seats, and compared to a regular C2 or C4, the Boxster S makes more sense.

 

[z2015]

An excellent question I have been agonising over this for six months and still havent reached a conclusion! Hopefully members comments will sort me out too!

 

[huw dolphin]

very helpful response thanks dapster. glad to see i'm not the only one z!

tbh i'd probably be looking at a facelift 986 with the glass window (still can't believe porsche engineered a modern roadster and stuck a plastic window in that you have to fold by hand and can't lower on a day like today - i mean even the mx5 had glass by the mid 90's!!).

thing is you are right about the driving pleasure of the 993 - i drove mine last week after 3 week break and it was just so fabulous. but (and it's a big but) the thing costs a fortune to maintain, not just the mechanicals but the bodywork, remember it's 9 years old and things need doing, so i've just spent nearly 4k having rust on the shell put right and the scuttle, roof and rear window resprayed - it looks fab and ready for more years service but i know there are other things that will need doing next year costing big £££. now you don't buy a car like a porsche expecting it to cost buttons to run but it's always nagging in my mind that it's rather an indulgence not to mention a liability.

the other plan is to swap my other car, an s2000, for a boxster but that still leaves me with the 993 and its personal overdraft ticking away!!

 

[huw dolphin]

the rms issue is one i've looked into so i'm not blind to it maurice.

i'm surprised you say that rust is rare on 993's. obviously mine is only one but the specialists i've used, pct and ninemeister have both commented on how common rust problems are on these cars as they reach 8, 9 or 10 years old. i know they are galvanised but so were the 3.2's and having seen some of those in bits i was amazed at what rust buckets they are.

in an ideal world i'll keep the 993 and finally get the benefit of all the cash i've spent on it! and get a boxster too.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: huw dolphin

in an ideal world i'll keep the 993 and finally get the benefit of all the cash i've spent on it! and get a boxster too.

In an ideal world I did exactly that up to 2003. In 1997 I bought a Boxster and kept my 5th and final 911 (89 Speedster). By my first Boxster "S" in 2000 the "Thrill Had Gone" with regards to owning a 911. In 2003 I finally let the Speedster go to another club member who is now enjoying her as I had done for my first 12 years of ownership. I have never looked back once since making this decision. As great a car as the 993 undoubtly is a 986 "S" is that much more modern,later technology and more user friendly for day to day conditions.

Take a good long test drive and see if it ticks the right boxes for you. If you are not 100% convinced then try a 987! Another story again []

 

[huw dolphin]

thanks daro. that's reassuring and gives the other side to the coin as i've been thinking that if i go this route i would regret selling it and forget what i've seen as the downside of owning a 911.

still thinking that i could chop the honda in for a boxster instead and keep the 993 but i think mrs d would go ballistic!

 

[daro911]

[FONT=tms rmn"]
February 2005
By [FONT=tms rmn"]Robert Farago[FONT=tms rmn"]


The Porsche 987 Boxster S: the best just keeps getting better.

As I guided the revised Boxster S onto the off-ramp at a not-inconsiderable speed, I instantly concluded that Porsche's engineers have switched from coffee to amphetamines. While the previous Boxster S would have sasheed through the ½ mile curve with sure-footed ease, the updated version wanted to chew up the tarmac and spit it out. The snarls and howls bouncing off the stone walls flanking the roadway left no doubt that the more "evolved" car likes living life on the edge. There was only one thing for it: go "˜round again.

The second time through the corner, I held the Boxster S in second gear and mashed the gas. The car added speed like a boulder rolling downhill; the transition from bottom end torque shove to Variocam assisted accelerative thrust was as seamless and powerful as gravity itself. The Boxster's variable-ratio steering rack and [optional] 19" wheels responded to the smallest steering input with a fencer's speed, a surgeon's precision and a Rottweiler's tenacity. The resulting line through the ramp's radius wasn't pretty, but it was very, very quick. Oh yeah, and fun.
[FONT=tms rmn"]
911 drivers be advised: this is more fun to drive

Truth be told, the Boxster S is more fun to drive than a 911. Shock horror! The baby Boxster is a better whip than big brother Carrera? C'mon, it's a no-brainer. With its mid-mounted engine, the Boxster can pivot on its axis like a wind vane. With its aft-of-the-axle powerplant, the 911's handling prowess is a triumph of engineering over inertia. Even so, it's more than simple weight distribution that makes the Boxster S a better steer than a 911. It's sensuality.
[FONT=tms rmn"]
I've already mentioned the sound. (The noise blowing through the Boxster S' twin pipes is so violent that mothers pushing baby carriages give you the finger as you amble by.) And I've highlighted the joys of hanging out in VarioCam-land. (The Boxster S sprints to sixty in a scarcely credible 5.2 seconds, races from to the ton in 12 and tops out at an entirely respectable 167mph.) But what really separates the Boxster from the 911-- or any other sports car you can name-- is its handling.

A clean design gets a bit beefier-- no if's ands or butts about it.

When it comes to the twisty bits, the Boxster S serves up a smorgasbord of physical delights. Give it some through your favorite corner and you can literally feel the car coming alive beneath you, changing from understeer to oversteer to neutrality on command. Every surface imperfection, every change in camber or adhesion, is telegraphed through the steering wheel and chassis. With PSM on, the Boxster S is one of those rare cars that can literally teach you how to drive-- and drive fast-- without slamming into something solid. With PSM off, you will believe a man can slide.

Unlike the venerable 911 Carrera, the Boxster S delivers these automotive ecstasies at relatively sane speeds. In other words, you don't have to be a hero to be a hero. That said, the Boxster S recently bested the Ferrari Enzo through Road and Track's test course, becoming the world's fastest slalom-meister. No unmodified, street-legal, US passenger car corners more quickly than the new Boxster S.

Understeer, oversteer or just go 'round.

Strangely enough, this accomplishment (and the German roadster's astounding real world poise) doesn't reflect a major departure from the previous car's technology. The new-for-'05 Boxster S still has McPherson struts on all four corners, with longitudinal and transverse control arms. It's still powered by a 3.2-liter flat six. True to the brand's creed, the improvements enabling the extra speed and fluency all come from adjustments to the Boxster's basic righteousness: a few more horses, a deeper breathing air intake system, longer shocks, stiffer wheel mounts, a lighter, stronger suspension, a slightly wider stance, etc.

In practice, the difference between the "old" Boxster and the latest iteration is the difference between owning a pair of prescription sunglasses and wearing them. Everything about the new car is sharper. The way it lunges down the road, digs in during a corner, wags its tail when provoked, snaps back on-line, sheds speed and changes direction all create a driving experience only slightly less visceral than a purpose-built track car. Anyone who still believes that Porsche has gone soft will highlight and delete their opinion after their first mile in this, this, animal.

Teeny tiny buttons are a necessary evil.

Of course, Porsche would have you believe the Boxster S is also a civilized daily driver. They proudly point to the Audi-fied interior, with its higher quality materials and switchgear. Well, I'm not buying it. Sure, when the first, woefully underpowered Boxster came out, it cried out for luxury fitments to match its premium price. But what we have now is something entirely different: the finest handling sports car money can buy. To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, driving's not everything; it's the only thing.