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Does the Exhaust button mean you can get the PSE from day one for a change!
Hot on the heels of the revised Cayman range, Porsche has wasted little of 2009 before introducing its equally refreshed Boxster line-up.
Just like the Cayman launch late last year, (CLICK HERE) to read the feature.
We've forgone the stripes but we've taken one for the team when it comes to colours "" a faintly disturbing beige exterior combined with Terracotta leather so orange you could be forgiven for thinking Porsche's upholstery department has skinned David Dickinson (for DR's US visitors, Mr D is the UK's equivalent of George Hamilton) and stitched his sun-baked hide to the interior.
Fortunately we have come up trumps in the areas that count, for our Boxster S has Sport Chrono, a diff and the 19in wheel option. Paint and hide aside I reckon that makes it the plum spec. Being a generous sort I've also forgiven Porsche the occasional be-striped aesthetic indiscretion, for we've been flown to Sicily; home of the brutal, brilliant Targa road race and scene of no less than eleven legendary outright victories for the Stuttgart marque. If you've got a drop of petrol in your veins this place is a motoring Mecca. Perhaps more importantly, if the Boxster S excels on Sicily's gnarly roads it's sure to shine on Britain's bumpy B roads.
First visual impressions are of a modest yet noticeable nip and tuck. The Boxster's face is more characterful and its rump more curvaceous, thanks largely to a new set of head and tail lights, but also due to new front wings and air intakes and a reshaped rear diffuser. The 19in rims fitted to our test car also give the Boxster S some serious attitude and more than a pinch of the Gen 2 911's presence and maturity. The Boxster's a class act and no mistake.
Once strapped in and settled behind the wheel the first few miles have me wondering whether the Boxster has got larger. It feels big and chunky at low speed, the weighty steering and firm damping giving Porsche's "˜softer' sports car a surprisingly physical feel that I don't remember in previous iterations. This impression of bulk fades with miles, but the pleasing physicality remains, reminding you that just because the Boxster has a soft top doesn't mean it's a soft option.
As ever PDK makes navigating unfamiliar urban roads a cinch. Still, I can't help missing the immediate connection a clutch pedal and gear lever foster, but I'll willingly admit to loving the way you can make effortless progress with PDK in self-shift mode. As we're fast discovering whenever we drive a PDK-equipped Porsche, Sport Chrono is an essential option. It gives you more shades of grey and reveals another layer of performance, sharpening the car's response and giving you a greater feeling of control. Ultimately it's still not as satisfying as a manual, but I have to confess that contrary to my previous belief, if you give it time PDK isn't an impermeable barrier to enjoyment or excitement.
With 310bhp, 265lb ft of torque and just 1355kgs to propel the new Boxster S feels rapid and beautifully responsive. The direct injection 3.4-litre flat-six is a peach, zinging through its expansive rev range with infectious gusto. It sounds great too; a rousing, hard-edged howl blended with a smooth, refined melody. Roof up or down it delivers a quality soundtrack and is something to be savoured whenever possible.
Outright performance is impressive. A PDK car will hit 62mph from standstill in just 5.2sec (add a tenth for manual), 100mph in 11.4sec. Given the opportunity this supremely capable sports car will knock on the door of 170mph, which is very serious pace for a £40k car.
Sicilian roads, when not subsiding, covered in landslides or lurking beneath ankle-deep standing water, are immensely challenging and hugely enjoyable. I'm not expecting the Boxster S to be quite as rewarding as I imagine the Cayman, but much to my surprise I really think I'm having more fun. With Sport Plus on and PSM off it's a blast: stable, progressive and confidence inspiring, yet more than happy to kick loose and slide when provoked thanks to the optional limited-slip differential, which hooks-up a treat.
Work the Boxster S hard through a series of transitional corners and it has wonderful poise, showing none of the edginess you'd expect of a mid-engined sports car with wide rubber and firm suspension. Indeed, the joys of Porsche's Sport and Sport Plus modes are their flexibility, in that you can enjoy the subtle incremental enhancement of throttle response, ABS and PSM thresholds while having the option of shuffling between normal and firm dampers settings, which is perfect for these wet, bumpy and changeable roads.
I suspect had we been granted the luxury of a Cayman S and a Boxster S on these roads that the more ruthlessly rapid coupe would prove fractionally quicker, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't offer quite so much entertainment along the way, for the Coupe's limits aren't quite as accessible as the Roadster's.
It's an obvious thing to say, but the Boxster S also offers the added dimension of roof down motoring. While this isn't a big lure for everyone, there's something genuinely special about driving a tactile, great sounding sports car on the right road in the right weather with the roof down. If that appeals then the Boxster S is a force to be reckoned with. It might be regarded as a less hardcore and less focussed Porsche, but make no mistake, the new Boxster S is a serious and seriously desirable drivers' car.
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Does the Exhaust button mean you can get the PSE from day one for a change!
Hot on the heels of the revised Cayman range, Porsche has wasted little of 2009 before introducing its equally refreshed Boxster line-up.
Just like the Cayman launch late last year, (CLICK HERE) to read the feature.
We've forgone the stripes but we've taken one for the team when it comes to colours "" a faintly disturbing beige exterior combined with Terracotta leather so orange you could be forgiven for thinking Porsche's upholstery department has skinned David Dickinson (for DR's US visitors, Mr D is the UK's equivalent of George Hamilton) and stitched his sun-baked hide to the interior.
Fortunately we have come up trumps in the areas that count, for our Boxster S has Sport Chrono, a diff and the 19in wheel option. Paint and hide aside I reckon that makes it the plum spec. Being a generous sort I've also forgiven Porsche the occasional be-striped aesthetic indiscretion, for we've been flown to Sicily; home of the brutal, brilliant Targa road race and scene of no less than eleven legendary outright victories for the Stuttgart marque. If you've got a drop of petrol in your veins this place is a motoring Mecca. Perhaps more importantly, if the Boxster S excels on Sicily's gnarly roads it's sure to shine on Britain's bumpy B roads.
First visual impressions are of a modest yet noticeable nip and tuck. The Boxster's face is more characterful and its rump more curvaceous, thanks largely to a new set of head and tail lights, but also due to new front wings and air intakes and a reshaped rear diffuser. The 19in rims fitted to our test car also give the Boxster S some serious attitude and more than a pinch of the Gen 2 911's presence and maturity. The Boxster's a class act and no mistake.
Once strapped in and settled behind the wheel the first few miles have me wondering whether the Boxster has got larger. It feels big and chunky at low speed, the weighty steering and firm damping giving Porsche's "˜softer' sports car a surprisingly physical feel that I don't remember in previous iterations. This impression of bulk fades with miles, but the pleasing physicality remains, reminding you that just because the Boxster has a soft top doesn't mean it's a soft option.
As ever PDK makes navigating unfamiliar urban roads a cinch. Still, I can't help missing the immediate connection a clutch pedal and gear lever foster, but I'll willingly admit to loving the way you can make effortless progress with PDK in self-shift mode. As we're fast discovering whenever we drive a PDK-equipped Porsche, Sport Chrono is an essential option. It gives you more shades of grey and reveals another layer of performance, sharpening the car's response and giving you a greater feeling of control. Ultimately it's still not as satisfying as a manual, but I have to confess that contrary to my previous belief, if you give it time PDK isn't an impermeable barrier to enjoyment or excitement.
With 310bhp, 265lb ft of torque and just 1355kgs to propel the new Boxster S feels rapid and beautifully responsive. The direct injection 3.4-litre flat-six is a peach, zinging through its expansive rev range with infectious gusto. It sounds great too; a rousing, hard-edged howl blended with a smooth, refined melody. Roof up or down it delivers a quality soundtrack and is something to be savoured whenever possible.
Outright performance is impressive. A PDK car will hit 62mph from standstill in just 5.2sec (add a tenth for manual), 100mph in 11.4sec. Given the opportunity this supremely capable sports car will knock on the door of 170mph, which is very serious pace for a £40k car.
Sicilian roads, when not subsiding, covered in landslides or lurking beneath ankle-deep standing water, are immensely challenging and hugely enjoyable. I'm not expecting the Boxster S to be quite as rewarding as I imagine the Cayman, but much to my surprise I really think I'm having more fun. With Sport Plus on and PSM off it's a blast: stable, progressive and confidence inspiring, yet more than happy to kick loose and slide when provoked thanks to the optional limited-slip differential, which hooks-up a treat.
Work the Boxster S hard through a series of transitional corners and it has wonderful poise, showing none of the edginess you'd expect of a mid-engined sports car with wide rubber and firm suspension. Indeed, the joys of Porsche's Sport and Sport Plus modes are their flexibility, in that you can enjoy the subtle incremental enhancement of throttle response, ABS and PSM thresholds while having the option of shuffling between normal and firm dampers settings, which is perfect for these wet, bumpy and changeable roads.
I suspect had we been granted the luxury of a Cayman S and a Boxster S on these roads that the more ruthlessly rapid coupe would prove fractionally quicker, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't offer quite so much entertainment along the way, for the Coupe's limits aren't quite as accessible as the Roadster's.
It's an obvious thing to say, but the Boxster S also offers the added dimension of roof down motoring. While this isn't a big lure for everyone, there's something genuinely special about driving a tactile, great sounding sports car on the right road in the right weather with the roof down. If that appeals then the Boxster S is a force to be reckoned with. It might be regarded as a less hardcore and less focussed Porsche, but make no mistake, the new Boxster S is a serious and seriously desirable drivers' car.
