Boxster haters poll

[89911]

If I could find a used S Boxster for a decent buck, it would be one of the only cars I would consider buying. I never understood the "chick" car thing with it either. If a "chick" likes this car, her car IQ just shot up! I consider a "chick" car a Camero, Trans AM, or some other lethargic car that is living off an old reputation and the driver has no concept that the car is not a desirable one. Getting back to the Boxster. I have never driven one, but almost every year it is the benchmark they put cars(Z3, Z4, TT, Solstice, etc) against, and it keeps remaining the favorite. Anyone quick to dismiss it as a girls car has got insecurities or is looking for a quick excuse why. My 15yo daughter wants one in the worst way for her first car. I have to find a way to pass this along to the wife somehow.

[s_wilwerding]

Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
Not seeing the engine would bug me. My 951 sucked to work on, but I think it would be a dream compared to a Boxster.

This seems to be a common misconception about Boxsters. What is it about the Boxster engine that you think would be difficult to work on? The oil and and coolant can be drained from below, the spark plugs are about the easiest to change of any car I've had, and the poly belt can easily be changed by removing a cover behind the seats. You can even pull off just the transmission to change the clutch, which is about an hour job. Heck, it's probably easier to drop a Boxster engine than a 951!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Steve, it just seems that access would be difficult due to it being hidden away under panels. I have no first hand experience with this, it sounds as if I am wrong.

[JeremyD]

Originally posted by 89911
I have never driven one, but almost every year it is the benchmark they put cars(Z3, Z4, TT, Solstice, etc) against, and it keeps remaining the favorite. Anyone quick to dismiss it as a girls car has got insecurities or is looking for a quick excuse why.

You need to drive one - especially an S - on the road is fine - your appreciation will grow - I promise - Keep the revs up and the car positively get's on it's toes and goes!

[450knotOffice]

I've driven a brand new Boxster S and we own a 2007 hard top Boxster, (er...I mean Cayman ) and can tell you that these are simply awesome cars. The handling and balance of these cars are simply in another world. I was never really a fan of these cars until I saw one in action during one of the big annual fun runs up in the Santa Monica mountains. I was in my '84 (new suspension and S03's) and about number eight in a line of cars up near the front. Two cars ahead was a guy in his Boxster. Those of us who were behind that guy were working our a$$es off trying to stay with him and he was making it look easy. I think he could've dropped us at will if he had really been trying. His car looked like it was on rails - and it was stock. I came away very impressed by that car. It is certainly no pretender's car. It's the real deal.

Our Cayman takes the game on even further.

[deanp]

"I'm about 6'3" and 210lbs and I simply don't fit comfortably in a Boxster (or a Cayman). Even with the seat all the way back, I don't seem to have a comfortable way to position my right leg. I don't think I could ever own one of these for this reason."

My right shin/knee would hit the console in our '00. I removed the CD tray using the GT3 Console delete kit and it made a HUGE difference!

[CarreraDan]

I personally like the Boxster especially the S version. I have even been considering trading my Carrera for one. Ultimatley, I would like to have both my Carrera as a weekend toy and a Boxster S as a daily driver, I think it would be the best of both worlds. Now if I could just convince the significant other she really wanted a Boxster S as a economical commuter car it would be perfect--you know I could borrow it to blow the carbon out of the engine and stuff like that.

I agree they handle like they are on rails--I played with an S one day in the mountains and I was working a whole lot harder than he was to stay with him (if I had been driving the Boxster S I would have smoked my Carrera). I hear the a/c works well too which would be a big plus where I live.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by IROC
I'm about 6'3" and 210lbs and I simply don't fit comfortably in a Boxster (or a Cayman). Even with the seat all the way back, I don't seem to have a comfortable way to position my right leg. I don't think I could ever own one of these for this reason.

A friend here at work just had his '01 Boxster S engine blow for no reason (on the street). About $15k later, he's got his car back. Yikes!!!

This grumpy old man agrees...add 30 pounds, and that's me. No way, no how, is this a comfortable ride for big guys. Besides, with the 1972 911S now gone, I have vowed to NEVER own a car that would force me to endure Portland Oregon area freeway traffic in order to have it serviced. That pretty much wipes out all the "luxury" brands for me...

[legion]

Wayne, when is your 3.8 swap going to be done?

Oh, and would you take a 951 in trade?

[911boost]

6-4, way too tall to fit in the older ones. I am trying to talk my dad into one of the new ones, they are cool.

[red-beard]

I haven't driven one. But I saw how a "chick" drove one at an autocross. That thing was only beaten by a full out race 914/6

[BeerBurner]

I've never driven one but I'd love to remedy that. A friend of a friend did offer to let me take her '02(?) Boxster out for a spin, but she brought that up at a barbecue after I had already had several beers.

BB.

[speeder]

Originally posted by s_wilwerding
This seems to be a common misconception about Boxsters. What is it about the Boxster engine that you think would be difficult to work on? The oil and and coolant can be drained from below, the spark plugs are about the easiest to change of any car I've had, and the poly belt can easily be changed by removing a cover behind the seats. You can even pull off just the transmission to change the clutch, which is about an hour job. Heck, it's probably easier to drop a Boxster engine than a 951!

I agree. Boxsters and 996 cars are incredibly easy to work on, even more so than older 911s. (Which are also easy to work on).

I don't have experience w/ newer MB or Audi cars, but Porsches are clean and easy machines to work on. Normal maintenance items like plugs/oil&filter/brakes/clutch are as easy as any car ever made.

As for room inside, Boxsters are limited in seat travel like most all mid-engine sports cars. My 996 would fit the incredible Hulk w/ the seat all the way back.

[dd74]

Practically every new car Porsche offers is faster and handles better than anything we can currently do with our own cars with the parts available to us - some of which have obviously not gone through the length of R&D that Porsche puts their vehicles and parts through. So, yes, I bet the new cars are, at the very least, as good as our cars, and more than likely better.

So that leaves the "purist" aspect, though at some point, being a purist who drives an low tech, inefficient car compared to readily available newer models, has to at some point get old hat.

[the]

Originally posted by dd74

So that leaves the "purist" aspect, though at some point, being a purist who drives an low tech, inefficient car compared to readily available newer models, has to at some point get old hat.

I wonder about that. Will it get to be old? Or are most of us bonded for life to the cars we lusted after when we were in our teens and 20s?

I keep waiting for my tastes to update. I try to be open to that. But it's just not happening.

I was at a big Porsche gathering recently, there were rows and rows of Caymen (Caymen? Caymans?), Boxsters, 996, 997. Sure they are nice cars. But they just don't catch my interest, really at all. I'd look at the inside of one Cayman for 10 seconds just to see what's currently going on, but then pretty much just pass all of them.

Even the 997. Nice car, for sure. But doesn't get my heart pumping even a beat faster. Even the vaunted 997RS. Looks nice in pictures, but kind of a big, bloated cartoon caricature in real life. (It does have some neat touches, though). An 80s Carrera next to it looks tiny.

But a really nice clean 80s Turbo, or even nice clean SC or Carrera, always catches my eye. Any MFI 911, too.

Wonder if it will ever change.

[Aerkuld]

Originally posted by dd74
Practically every new car Porsche offers is faster and handles better than anything we can currently do with our own cars with the parts available to us - some of which have obviously not gone through the length of R&D that Porsche puts their vehicles and parts through. So, yes, I bet the new cars are, at the very least, as good as our cars, and more than likely better.

So that leaves the "purist" aspect, though at some point, being a purist who drives an low tech, inefficient car compared to readily available newer models, has to at some point get old hat.

I have to admit that I see where you are coming from on that. But I wouldn't want to REPLACE my '87 with the 996 as a weekend car, nor would I want to use the '87 as a daily driver. Horses for courses and all that.
Incidentally, I would have loved to get a Cayman or Boxster S except I needed some rear seat space. Instead I'm trying to convince my girlfriend to change her SLK.

[futuresoptions]

I think the boxter gets a bad rap from the styling of its front end. It just looks to girly, and does not look very aggressive. That being said I would probably buy one but I would have to put one of the after market front ends on it to make it look more aggressive looking. Being mid engined it probably handles closesly to a 914, which I happen to love, and the flat six probably gets it going down the road pretty good. I guess in a way it really is like a 914. You have to do a little personal changes to it, to make it look more like a Porsche should.

[Hugh R]

Uh, the A/C works pretty well on them right? Seriously, I can't believe I own a car that cost in the $40K range in 1984 that has such suck ass A/C. Hell, my wife's toyota corolla in 1984 had A/C that would freeze you out. Don't the Boxsters have like 30 or more HP than my 911.

You have to put it in perspective. I was driving my DB4 through the Angeles Crest Highway following an Acura and having a hard time keeping up with it, and then I thought every part of that car was designed on a computer, and not one part on the DB4 was designed on a computer. Technology is everything.

[the]

Originally posted by Hugh R
Seriously, I can't believe I own a car that cost in the $40K range in 1984 that has such suck ass A/C.

I've had a couple of carreras, although they were admittedly G50 cars, but I think the AC system is pretty much the same on all Carreras. My AC worked very well in both of them, got quite cold even on very hot days when I traveled about. Sure, it sometimes took 10 minutes to really cool down, but it would always get there.

Just the stock systems, no mods.

[island911]

Originally posted by Dantilla
...

Why is there no option of: "Driven one and like it"? No place for me to vote.

+1

that was a long time ago for me, and they appear to be much improved on since, but...