While the all new 911 inspired shape is clearly designed for speed and the attention of all curbside dwellers, the cabin of the all new Boxster is equally evocative. Here, Germanic style and luxury materials presents itself in a really impressive manner.
INSIDE The Boxster S
Top quality material covers everything from the seats and the A-pillars to the inner door skins and you get a sense of occasion when you ease yourself into the cabin. The test car’s baby blue paint combination tells of its intention to attract the fairer sex.
The cabin is actually more practical than you might expect, with a decent sized glovebox, door pockets, two grippy cupholders and generous legroom allow for daily usage. Get into the driver’s seat and its snug and comfortable with the driving position ready to see out front and side with ease. The leather clad steering wheel invites you to grip it. Neatly integrated into the steering now are important functions and the new ‘sports’ knob to the right.
DRIVING The Boxster S
With 6-hours of city driving done it was clear that this Porsche is a very much a practical everyday car like it previous relatives. It is very easy to doddle in heavy traffic, and when aggression and the open highway calls, it is tractable, comfortable over long distances and it will take you where you want in the city without any issue.
Porsche had to downsize their engine range to meet the needs of a new generation of buyers who will never understand what muscle car madness is all about and the requirements of new legislation in some countries in the American continent and Europe.
There is now a 2-liter for the base Boxster and for this Boxster S we are test driving, it carries a new 2.5-litre turbo tuned and high-revving engine from the VW family. There are impressive figures from this new engine with 350bhp at 2,000rpm and 420Nm of grunt from 1,900rpm.
These are the figures published and we confirmed this after a few hours behind the wheel. The 2.5-turbocharged engine feels more powerful than it claims once you cross 4,500rpm in 3rd gear and you feel the Boxster hurtling itself forward. Equally as entertaining as the performance is the accompanying soundtrack which leave little reason to use the acoustically well tuned audio system.
COVERTIBLE Top Down
Now, when you drop the cloth roof (which by the way just take seconds) you will never have any use for any of the buttons on the audio system. The delight of the soundtrack is best between 4,500 and 6,500rpm. Maximise the gear ratios in manual mode and the engine roar attracts attention more than the colour. It is truly an enjoyable drive and one that persuades you to take weekend drives to no where. When the roof is hidden away, you will still be well protected from the wind and the joy of driving this Boxster is truly enjoyed…….still….best is before 8am and after 7pm due to our hot and humid weather.
FINAL destination
Returning the Boxster to the brand guardian was difficult and proved once again that our job is simply the best most of the time and not when we are driving home from a day with a Blue Boxster S!
Porsche Boxster S 718 2.5T Specifications
Engine: Boxer 4-cylinder turbo
Capacity: 2500cc
Gearbox: 8-speed PDK
Max power: 350bhp @ 2000rpm
Max torque: 420Nm @ 1900-4500rpm
Top Speed: 285km/h
0-100 km/h: 4.2 secs
Selling Price: Check with dealer
