Why does Boxster get a lukewarm reception?

[WPOZZZ]

I love my 987.1 Boxster! I drive it more than the other P cars. The dog is my co-pilot and he loves it, too!

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Boxster's have oiling problems when raced hard. Correctable. (Don't know the year range and may have been mentioned previously)

Their engines are not the same as your 911. Oddball steps and tools are required to take apart and put back together. But, hey, my 81 requires a 37MM crows-foot wrench to get into, a 67 Chevy does not.

I drove one 98 Boxster in a little bit of anger. Every bit as fun as my 81. I would love to drive an early 2000's Boxster S. Betting a big step change.

Beyond that I have coin limitations.

My owners' manual cautions against running it on slicks on a race track (2003 Boxster "S") because of the oil starvation problem. Like you say, easily fixed. If were going to see much track use, but it's not, at least for now. I promised my wife I wouldn't "ruin" it as I have my pretty thoroughly track-prepped '72 911...

Spec Boxster looks like it might be a "relatively inexpensive" way to go racing. Cheaper than Spec 911, now that the price of eligible cars has climbed so high. More dignity than spec Miata, too...

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

More dignity than spec Miata, too...

Pal has a several year old GT3 Cup. Bought it used.

Was helping him at the track last weekend at VIR. Mainly lugging tires and drinking his beer. Oh, and I plugged in his cool shirt connections.

Anyhoo, he has a Miata "set up" for racing. Don't know the depth of the car's prep. It was raining Sunday morning. He has beautiful rain tires for the 911 but he is still only a fairly-experienced pup. Never rain driving.

He said "Eff it, I need to first learn in the Pinata how to drive in the rain".

[CJFusco]

My garage last night. I could get used to the whole "two Porsches" thing...

[sugarwood]

I love seeing CJ's Cayman after the repair. Glad you saved it. Great looking car.

[gduke2010]

Originally Posted by Baz

Holy Schmoly!

Haven't seen that commercial in a while. It's my favorite Porsche commercial. Thanks for posting it.

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

I love seeing CJ's Cayman after the repair. Glad you saved it. Great looking car.

Thanks! I'm very happy with the job done by Automotive Associates; it's easy to see why they're a top-rated Porsche shop.

[recycled sixtie]

The Cayman has great styling. The early Boxsters not so much.

[J-Mac]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

The Cayman has great styling. The early Boxsters not so much.

Well Boxsters were designed 20+ years ago..They were quite the thing in '97

[black_falcon]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

The Cayman has great styling. The early Boxsters not so much.

Actually I think the early Boxster's have aged very well and are the best design of the lot (although the 981 is growing on me). It's a design that doesn't photograph well, but is pretty striking in real life. Looks best with the top down and in polar silver with red leather.

[CJFusco]

Yeah, I disagree as well: I think that the 986 Boxster is actually the most handsome of the lot. The evidence that they were a big deal in 1997 is that pretty much everyone copied them! As soon as the Boxster Concept hit the show circuit, BMW and Mercedes rushed into production with its competitors (I think it was a couple of years before Audi joined the fray). I remember the knock on the Z3 and the SLK when they were first released was that the cars didn't feel completely developed, and the speculation was that they were rushed into production to compete with the Boxster. Happily for them, the Z4 and the 2nd gen SLK became much better cars.

It's ironic that the knock you hear on 996s is that they're ugly because they have Boxster headlights; I think that the Boxster is much, much better-looking than the 996.1, which looks sorta frumpy from most angles.

To me, the 987 Boxster looks much more bland than the 986, almost as though they were trying to play it safe with the design and ended up making a generic-looking car. It's not a bad-looking car, mind you, it just looks sorta "in-between"; for some reason, the 987 design looks better on the Cayman. The 981 is certainly striking-looking, but I don't love how big they're getting. I guess it's just the way of the world, considering that the newest Mini Cooper is the size of 20 years ago's small SUV.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I totally agree that the 986.1 has aged very well, and that the 987 looks better in Cayman style. The 987 Boxster lost the rear hips but they became more pronounced on the Cayman, which is a damn good looking car.

[recycled sixtie]

The Cayman and the 911 look better as coupes. I find the convertibles are not as pleasing to the eye particularly with the top up. Each one to their own though. When I first bought my 2001 Boxster I was happy to get a Porsche at a reasonable price.

Since I have owned my 2013 PRHT Miata in January I have had the top down once just to see what it felt like. I would consider a Cayman the next time round because they have the styling spot on.

[CJFusco]

I should add that the Boxster Spyder does take things to the next level, though; very desirable car.

I even swapped out my side vents ("gills") for the much-cleaner (and complimentary colors for my car) Boxster Spyder units. Aesthetically, it's made a huge difference, IMHO.

[quaz]

I will jump into this discussion. As a former hotrod early 911 owner I am on the Boxster bandwagon now. After selling my 911 I was looking for either a 996 or 997 that was unique. Problem is 99% of them are black or silver and basically bland. If you happen to find a well optioned car in an actual color move fast because they don't seem to last long. I stumbled on this 2000 Boxster S and my wife and I fell in love with it. After going for a ride in it and looking it over it took me about 10 minutes to decide to buy it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Boxster Spyder is a bucket list car for me, it is near the top of my favorite Porsche list.

Kevin, I love the look of the color matched centers! Was that factory?

[quaz]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Kevin, I love the look of the color matched centers! Was that factory?

The Areo kit and wheels were factory ordered just as you see the car. Only thing I have done to it is put an exhaust on it. I would lie and say I am not going to do anything else to it, but that isn't me. However I don't think I am going to change the looks of the car at all.

Next up on my list of todos is clutch and IMSB. Just trying to decide if I am going to do it myself or job it out.

[billh1963]

Another convert here. I used to look down on the Boxster. Now, I own two of them along with my four air cooled 911's and three 914's

Where else can you get so much Porsche sports car for so little money?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by CJFusco

I should add that the Boxster Spyder does take things to the next level, though; very desirable car.

I even swapped out my side vents ("gills") for the much-cleaner (and complimentary colors for my car) Boxster Spyder units. Aesthetically, it's made a huge difference, IMHO.

So is the Spyder side vent a direct bolt in swap for the vent on our cars? I've got an '08 Boxster S. The spyder version is just a screen, right? Have you got pics of it on your car?

How do you like the plenum and throttle body mod?

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by masraum

So is the Spyder side vent a direct bolt in swap for the vent on our cars? I've got an '08 Boxster S. The spyder version is just a screen, right? Have you got pics of it on your car?

How do you like the plenum and throttle body mod?

The Spyder vent is a direct swap for the stock unit in the Boxster and Cayman, but the mounting frame that goes on the "inside" of the vent is different. The correct frame comes in the kit that you can get from Suncoast. Suncoast Porsche Parts & Accessories Side Grille Set - Boxster Spyder



The plenum/TB upgrade is great. It's tough to say how much impact they alone had on the performance of the car, because all of the upgrades (plenum, TB, exhaust, tune) all work in tandem to make the car more responsive. Much better mid-range torque, much more direct throttle response, and I'm sure a lot more peak HP. The biggest difference in terms of performance was definitely the exhaust upgrade, followed by the tune... but whatever you plan on doing, do the tune last so that all of the upgrades are considered when the tune is programmed. This is the order I would do the upgrades:

1) Exhaust/headers
2) Plenum/TB
3) Tune.

The car is MUCH faster and more fun to drive after tackling these upgrades. It just pulls harder from low RPM and that Fabspeed exhaust note is intoxicating.