Porsche must know that their concept car was a winner. How did they ended up with that ugly thing? What the hell happened?

Who wants to haul eggs, milk and kids diapers in their 'practical' Porsche?

Define the two seat sports car and its purpose on the road. Its should haul contraband, golf clubs and the passenger seat for a hooker. This goes for both sex ownership including those confused like the Olympian named B.J. :D Now when I think of it, the Boxster is sort of like the Bruce Jenner of sports cars.

You have no idea what OTHER items I might have hauled in my Boxster :D

I shrugged the Boxster off for years for no particular reason. Thought people were blowing smoke about how much fun it was. Then I drove one and it really was that good.

In many ways better than my 964 for a fraction of the price. I'm partial to the early 2.5 cars. Shorter gears, the most eager to rev, amazing sound and exhaust note, purity of design. They are the slowest of the series but the most fun (IMO).

Interior build quality isn't as bad as people make it out, only slightly behind my 80's-90's era Porsches. The Boxster's refinement, handling and modern appeal more than make up for it. Adding a hardtop transforms the car's character even further.

After 12 years with a 944, I would now take a 986 over any of the 924/944/968 range. More creature comforts, easier to work on, less maintenance, all around better.

I should mention that when I bought my Boxster it was a gift for my wife, I wasn't really into the cars, to me they looked like two front ends welded together, but she loved it and that was all that really mattered. Well through the course of selling off some of the driveway inhabitants, and my daughter wrecking my daily driver, I ended up with the Boxster as my DD. I am not a fan of convertables and the top on mine hasn't been down for a couple of years.
I found that I really like the car through a necessity of basically having t drive it every day. They really are fun cars, and I have no intentions of getting rid of it, even though I play with the idea from time to time

I had a Boxster 2.5 manual with the ROW M030 with optional 18" twists and man through fast sweepers that thing scared the **** out of me when I looked at how fast I just went through a particular coner.

I always thought the 914 looked like two rear ends welded together - maybe it's a Porsche design thing ? :D

http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/cro...914_600x0w.jpg

Boxster on a diet:
What have you done to reduce weight on the car? - Rennlist Discussion Forums

There are two different interiors for the 1st gen model...all leather and all plastic. I think the all plastic looks terrible and cheap but the leather holds up and still look good today. Which is what mine has with the terracotta interior.

As for the headlights - yeah they aren't the best but I'm driving the car...not looking at it pass me by!

That's why there are called Twin Trunks. :)



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1432587983.jpg

People die laughing when I go to the grocery store. I open the rear trunk stuff it full and open the front and put in the rest. I have lost count of how many people have asked me where the engine is. I just point to the middle and say it's right there where it belongs.

Purse pictures aside, were I to head back to the track it definitely would be in a spec boxster...

When a woman looks at a 911 they say 'that's so cool!" when they see a Boxster they say "that's so cute!"

i think the new body: 2013 up? Is as good looking as a car can get.

i just need them to drop in price a bit.

This has not been my experience... They referred to my 88 911 as cute all the time. There are very few women that give 2 cents about cars..

The Boxster perception problem is with men...

Get the stance right with the right wheel and tire pkg....a Boxster looks right...

And they want to ride in both. Or, more likely, they really don't even know the difference. They say, nice Porsche.

Absolutely, when I had my 911, it was always "cute" to the women. Think about it, tiny, big bug eyes, looks kind of like a frog.

Actually the base interiors wear like iron. The leather interior looks and smells nice, but if not taken care of will be falling apart by 100k.

I think you mean, nice Porshhhh. That or they don't even notice it, because most women are indifferent until you're driving something with real snob appeal. But hey, the 911 is more impressive to old bald car guys!

The only thing that I would really like to change on my Boxster is to add an LSD. I was also dissappointed that its pedals didn't hinge from the bottom, but that's not really functional. It's just something that I liked about my old '88.

I also like the floor hinged pedals. The thing with the Boxster I drove is that the foot box seemed tiny like I was going to mash all three pedals with one foot. I was wearing the same shoes that are comfortable to drive the 911 with.

#1 dumb idea ... selecting cars based on what a woman thinks.

in fact, basically making any decision based on what a woman thinks is poor reasoning.

That should be framed and hung on the wall of every boy as they are growing up.:D

Women are right at 50% of the population in this country. Believe it or not many women are intelligent humans with the means to buy cars and they don't need a man to make that or any decision for them

Any manufacturer that has a lot of competition for a product need the female buyers.

I do see the irony and humor in you statement however.

I am sure from a woman's perspective she is making the correct decision for herself. I think you have got a male bias going on here....

You guys need to lighten up a bit. He clearly meant that a MAN making a decision to IMPRESS a woman is always a bad idea. I don't think there was any sexist intent. Because men who make their car choices based on impressing women are idiots, because most women could care less about cars.

Anybody that buys a car and thinks, at all, about how his purchase will impress anybody, is an idiot.

Which is one reason cars like the Boxster don't get the respect they deserve. Too few people that have actually driven one, too many that care what other people think about them...

JR

the spyders are very appealing........

Yes they are!

+1

Whats even funnier, the early 911 is so dimensionally small, that even when parked to todays compact car, its called cute. Without a rear spoiler, its commonly refered to as an old VW!

As for two seater's, wifey has been wanting an Audi TT. No practical sense LOL (I'm going to get beat-up for that comment!) :D

Lukewarm is relative (but I get your drift). Porsche did sell a ton of them. The fact they were cheaper means some of them have been less well maintained too. Less power also means less street cred in the eyes of most - same issue the excellent BRZ/FR-S has (great handling, not much power, no sales)

Most of the time I prefer the 986/987 handling, despite the lesser hp. But it's not a one way street: the 911s just put the power down better than any car on earth (this side of a quattro anyway) - exiting a turn right foot on the floor in a 911 and lifting an inside front wheel is a fantastic feeling too. That is is not something the 987/987s do as well (engine in the middle and less power) and it is very noticeable on track. How do you like your cake ? Shooting out of corners or getting into them faster and changing directions like a pinball ? Both attributes are *fun*.

You often read that Porsche put smaller engines in boxsters on purpose not to cannibalize the 911 - I'm sure that's true, but to a degree... I don't know that a boxster could put down 911-like power to the road as efficiently with its lesser traction. If someone would lend me the current boxster Spyder (might be the best car they make) -I'd like to check that theory in person, thanks ;-)

Another thing that's painfully obvious to me now that I bought a beater cabrio from another brand that shall remain unnamed, is how solid and well designd a boxster body is, vs other makes's cabriolets (aka wet noodles). The boxster feels rock solid !

Pretty much all the entry-level Porsches have the same fate:
1. The posers and the elitists look down upon them.
2. Because they are entry level cars, Porsche dials out some power and handling so they don't compete head to head with the 911.
3. The bean-counters validate them and point to the financials: without entry-level cars, Porsche would not be able to financially sustain the 911 production.
4. The enthusiasts would recognize the handling characteristics of the car and praise it.
5. The track junkies would adopt the car, and modify it to the point where it can compete against a 911.
6. The masses (non-Porsche folks) are just confused about entry-level Porsches, since they spell Porsche: "n-i-n-e-e-l-e-v-e-n"
7. Years down the road, people of lesser means will be able to acquire the car, and will either water down the marque, or become a convert.

All of these have occurred on every entry-level Porsche thus car: the 912, 914, 924/944/968, and the Boxster/Cayman. (Note: the 912 to a lesser extent, given its low production numbers compared to the rest of the entry-level Porsches...)

If anyone has a right to be snobbish and look down on other Porsches, it is the owner of the 4-cyl air-cooled rear engine 356 - the first and purest Porsche! :D

-Z-man.

People want a car that stirs things inside of them when they look at it. IMO, the Boxster is so ovoid in almost every dimension that it fails to make many neurons squirt much of their stuff and I think the 996 has a similar issue. Of course, driving them is a totally different thing. As always, YMMV.

The Boxster until about 2009 still has the IMS issue similar to the 911 and its variants.
However the styling from its inception has evolved into a car that is very attractive. The Cayman coming out later was attractive to begin with. The 1997 Boxster was an ugly duckling but came out as a very competent driver.

Now buying an early Boxster as a first time Porsche was an impressive driving machine and the novice could look beyond its looks. The early 911's and on were always attractive
to begin with.

Guy

The stupid in the second part of CP's statement is strong. The car industry trains the dealer sales dept that you talk to the man but the woman makes the the decision. As a rule, the woman decides. "I wear the pants in my family but my wife tells me which is the better pair of pants to put on".

I will grant you that my wife will chose pretty over practical so when it comes to choosing something mechanical I will usually make a better choice. That said, my wife has brought up many good ideas that I never thought of. She gives wise advice and I would be a fool to not have her as a sounding board, proof reader, fact checker. To the person who won't listen to the advice of a woman "on any decision" (especially his wife) I would state that it is what you learn after you know it all that counts.

And how are you so sure of this? We are talking CP here.

Some of the best racing in the POC. Watch the video. Enough said about the Boxster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dyAWDyk9VY

Can someone explain why the 996 has "fried egg" headlights
and is said to look like a Taurus? I'm not seeing either.

This was an interesting and passionate post!

Everyone knows the oversteer liability issues of the rear engine 911,
but can you review the concept behind the advantages of the 911 ?

Are you basically saying:
rear engine weight in the back + RWD = significant rear wheel traction during acceleration.

This means the 911 can power out of a turn better than most cars?
Is this the opposite of all the supercar fail videos where the guy punches the gas while turning into an intersection and loses rear wheel traction?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jn1lUGmq1-g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The fail video is less of an indication that mid-engine cars like the Lamborghini are ill-handling, but more of an indication that idiots can buy said Lambo and do stupid things. That is all that video proves.

-Z

PS: I can post 100's of videos similar to that one, but instead of a Lambo, there's a 911 in it. Or a Boxster, or a Toyota Camry. Stupid has no preference.

FWIW, that Lambo was AWD.

JR