Boxster vs 951 (long comparison)

[86951]

Well I love my 951 and would never trade it but the car has been in the shop for a week now have the 90k service done. The dealer gave me a 2001 boxster to drive and I have found new respect for these cars.
This though gives a chance for a real comparison of the two. Here is what I have learned. The Boxster sounds awsome from inside the car with the topdown under full song. If you are outside the car it sounds wimpy. Nice low end makes the car feel quicker than it is. But the 951 will out run it in higher rpms.
Of course the build of the Boxster feels quality. The car feels like it is glued to the road. Of course this has the 17inch wheels with Pirelli tires and the factory sport suspension. My Turbo has 16inch with bridgestones and standard suspension so this is a handcap.
Back to the snotty driver post from last week. Some of these owners are awfull. In a week I have yet to get a wave or a flash or and other gestures. I sat at a light beside another Boxster waved to the guy and he looked away and ignored me. Rude..
Overall this is probally Porsches best bang for the buck ever (if you factor in inflation and all). But I would not give 47k for one.
Give me a 951 and put a few thousand in improvements. Then you will have a better car with about 30k in the bank.

[justin]

I would love to drive a boxter,just to see how they handle. Speaking of snotty drivers, last night I saw a boxter , and my girlfreind was with me ,the funny thing is I told her about the post that was on this board about snotty drivers and how they don't wave or anything, well I passed within probally 2 feet next to him going about 5 mph (I was turning he was sitting still)and I waved and honked he didn't even turn his head hardly. We laughed

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Drive it like you stole it........Justin

[Blackfoot]

never driven a boxster. i like their looks, and you're right, for a new porsche, it's a decent value. but i know if i ever got one i'd quickly tire of it's lack of power.

dang, i am wondering these days why 951's are so cheap when you consider the same money would get you a mid-70's, beat up & leaking 911.

[TheStig]

I hate people like that. I mean we own Porsches too and some of our cars would blow the doors off these Boxsters. My dad is looking into buying one but I would highly doubt he would let it get to his head. We bought our 1985 928S brand new off the showroom floor for $57k cash and still he waved and honked at other Porsches to show his friendliness for his fellow drivers. I came across a girl with a Boxster and she waved like crazy when she saw a Porsche come up to her....gotta admit for a girl in her late 20s she was hella hot! *sigh* if only i was 26 or somethin and not 18...968 here i come!

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1984 944
The economical way to speed. >=)

[TheStig]

people have got to learn that we are porsches too. And they are on the same liquid cooled level

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[TheStig]

hey how did you get that picture to show???? mine won't for some reason

[AMCPorsche924Powerhaus!]

hmmm its a low end car?
I thought obin had convinced me that Porsche only makes good cars with high rpm etc.

[86951]

I say it is a low rpm car because my 951 with APE stage II feels faster above 4k rpm

[1.2gees]

How'bout buy a 968 CS or with MO30, and put the rest of the money in the bank?
Ahmet

PS: I think the boxter S is an exhilarating car to drive, stock.

[Dave951M]

For an insight as to why some of the 911 guys and a lot of the Boxster guys look at us waterpumpers as they do, just look at some of the recent controversy on this board. Just compare the topics on the 911 board with ours and if you can't see the difference, maybe you never will. One of my favorite boards is the 928 one on 928s4vr. It's fun, informative, and funny without being in the same vein as Southpark humor.

I have had the opportunity to speak with several 911 owners, and the feeling I got from a couple of them was the sterotypical 944 series owner is an immature Porsche wannabe. As long as this board has periodic flame wars like the most recent ones, I can see their point. It doesn't mean that I will switch to a 911, because I don't like sliding backwards off the turns while a 951 roars past! It does mean however that I will pick and choose my Porsche friends just as carefully as my real world friends. You are known by the company you keep.

Dave951M

[Yargk]

Hey don't dis the mid-70s, beat up and leaking 911. It is a fun little money pit.

Keith
79 930

[todd951]

Dave, you should note that Boxsters and 996's are waterpumpers too

[Dave951M]

Todd- I am quite aware of that fact, but you miss my point. The average buyer of said models is a different cat than those who buy a 924/44/51. Just look at the posts about snotty Boxster drivers. Ever wonder why they are that way? Maybe, just maybe, they have something there. I have found that lurking on the 911 boards of here and Rennlist, I don't see near the level of static put up by some immature members on this one. Don't even bother flaming me because there is no defense for crudity and rank hubris (look that one up).

I am a PCA member. All of the PCA members I have met are great people, but they won't put up with, nor tolerate the garbage like can go on here from time to time. I had lunch today with a Boxster owner, really great guy and very friendly. We talked over our cars and the great drive we had through the NC mountains today. It's very nice to have an adult conversation about P-cars and not hear a four letter word or off color reference all day. Perhaps it is from poor parenting or societal environmental factors of some of the members of this board that they behave this way, but having seen both sides of the fence, I'm afraid I like the PCA approach much better. Sorry, I just like conversing with adults who don't communicate this way as compared to some on this board who can't even type without using garbage. Does that make me snobby? I don't think so. I'll still wave and flash the lights at a fellow P-car. Whether or not they want to return it, that's their choice. I will not do anything to further cement the poor image of the 944 owners in anyone else's mind. This is a bit off topic and probably belongs on another thread but it seems that few are thinking this through.

---Please don't take this as me cracking on you, I just have to vent a bit about the stupidity that occasionally passes for entertainment and this seems to be a good opportunity.

$.10 worth
Dave951M

[This message has been edited by Dave951M (edited 05-19-2001).]

[Dave951]

Very well put, Dave!

Dave(with you all of the way)

[Rollins]

The reason is pretty simple. You can get a 944 for 3 grand. A teenager can afford that. A 911 costs a lot more, like on average 10 grand, most teenagers can't afford that. All you older guys are just gonna have to deal with the fact that teenagers are able to afford these cars and therefore buy them. Sorry but I am 18 and I don't feel any need to be all serious and act like it someone cracks a joke they are ruining the board. I am sure that most of you (when you were my age) enjoyed having fun too. Just because your sense of fun is no longer the same doesn't make either side right or wrong. But don't come down on the other for being the way you used to be. If it is such a problem that teens own and drive these cars then I guess you guys are just screwed

[This message has been edited by Rollins (edited 05-19-2001).]

[CrazySOB]

Shaun you're f***ing nuts

[lanman]

A very interesting conversation going on here! Well, here’s my two-cents:
I own a 1987, 951 (chip upgrade) and have driven the older ( 1997) boxster and a 1997, 911. The 911 (non turbo) was quicker off the blocks, but my turbo has more grunt at higher RPM’s. The 911 cornered well, but felt like you had gold bullion in the back because of the engine placement. The boxster was very nimble, which impressed me a lot, but lacked real performance and had a slightly choppy ride. I heard the new boxster fixed that! Well, here’s my first point; I though I would be disappointed getting back in the 951 after driving newer Porsches – I wasn’t! Although, it had a slightly (and I mean almost immeasurable) older feel compared to these newer machines, it was up there with them, and a cool $47,000 cheaper. So, 944’s are great cars, especially for the money!!!!

Also, a comment about boxster owners:
Drivers, who buy boxsters, since the car is not that old, probably do not work on them themselves, and purchased them as a commodity. They can go to their parties and say, “ I drive a Poorrsche!”
Most of us who own 944s, or other older Porsches are more enthusiasts (not to say a boxster owner cannot be) and therefore appreciate the car because; we fix them up when they break, tune them up to go faster, and clean them until they shine more than next door’s Ford Explorer. So, when we see another Porsche owner driving down the street, we acknowledge him/her because of this fact.
Take this for what it’s worth – good point, or absolute crap! Your choice!

[Dave951M]

Ok Rollins- here's the view from an old guy who doesn't make enough bucks to buy a new Boxster either. I have always liked the 944 series of Porsche. Because I have one going to med school soon and one undecided, a mortgage, and the other expenses of having teenagers in the house (large grocery bills come to mind here) I cannot afford anything other than a very old 911 or my favorite- the 951. I don't feel that just because the 944 series is affordable for teenagers, that they have the right to be a pain in the posterior. Call it having fun or whatever, the perspective from my point is that much of what is passing for fun today is crude, senseless, degrading to others, unfeeling, uncaring, (I'll start having to use larger words so I'll leave it there). Sure, we had "fun" too when we were that age, but we had a lot more respect for the feelings and sensibilities of other people. I have brought my sons up that way, and I hope as a parent it took. Both are Eagle Scouts, get outstanding grades, and are courteous to adults. As a result, doors that you find closed to you as a "normal" teenager today are open to them. Are we the rich "snobs" that buy the Pcar to brag at parties? Not hardly, I can't afford one, nor do I hang out at parties. I prefer to be working with my son's Scout troop, my daughter's school, helping with the church, going rock climbing, spending time with others of a like mind. There is no defense for the "Southpark" mentality.

Dave951M

[AMCPorsche924Powerhaus!]

Remember this, the only way you'll ever keep up with a 911 is if you have a turbo on the car.
Any car can go fast with a turbo, 3500 pound cars can go fast, you just have to intercool it and up the boost, and you go fast.
So that is why I consider turbos cheating, because really, any car can go fast with a turbo on it, so saying a 951 can do as good as a 911 SC is sorta shoddy if your comparing a turbo to a non turbo.
A stock volvo 760 turbo wagon (4 cyl small displacement engine, not a 6 cyl) can go as fast/faster than a 931 (faster than the factory 931 spec time, but the same time as teh 931 without emmisions and tuned special)
This is a family car wagon (wagons are even heavier) thats about 3400-3600 pounds, has all the emmissions crap on it, and it isn't as if it has excessive boost or anything its stock.
So i mean any turbo can go fast.
Now if you were comparing a 930 to a 951, I would be with ya all the way.

[This message has been edited by AMCPorsche924Powerhaus! (edited 05-20-2001).]

[Blackfoot]

i want to read boxter/944/951 comparisons in this thread, not the demented views of an immature antagonist. take it somewhere else, like email, please.