Re: Porsche Boxster: what should Porsche improve it?

......

Re: Porsche Boxster: what should Porsche improve it?

I'm afraid that I don't have firsthand experience with the Boxster, but I don't think it would hurt making it  (and the Cayman) more focused than what it is today. Make it lighter, sexier and ultimately the real small and sporty alternative to the 911.

Also; please give it a design of its own! Don't fall into the classic Porsche trap of making everything look as 911-ish as humanly possible. Make it stand out!

_____________

Re: Porsche Boxster: what should Porsche do to improve it?

I bought an old 986 Boxster a few months ago in preference to a Lotus Elise. Like many people I did this because the Boxster doesn’t seeth with anger when you drive in traffic, doesn’t leak from its roof, and doesn’t hurt to get into. Or out of.

I see the Boxster as car for people who love driving, but have to drive every day, in all weathers, in all traffic. It’s happy to burble along at tickover in top gear, but comes alive as soon as you change down a few gears and point it at a corner.

I’m sure Georg Kacher has already told us in Car Magazine that the next Boxster is moving upmarket to make way for a budget Boxster, which leaves me to fear that the next Boxster  will be larger and heavier. Porsche will make it more powerful to compensate, such that its performance stats are ever so slightly better than the current car, but still just below 911 territory. It will be objectively better in so many ways, but back-to-back with an early Boxster it will feel too civilised, too much of a cruiser, too much like an Audi. The rumoured sub-baby-Boxster-junior will be a better proposition, but hampered by low power, a heavy cost-saving all-steel body and component-sharing with unmentionable parts of the VW empire.

What Porsche should do:

(1)  Make the Boxster visually distinctive. The front end of the first Boxster looked like a 911 because it was the front end of a 911. Times are better now so there’s no reason for quite that level or parts sharing.

 (2) Keep the weight down. A more upmarket Boxster could surely have lots of composite or aluminium components. This also might be a cheaper way of keeping emissions down than a hybrid system.

 (3) Keep the suspension supple. Leave the medieval-torture sport suspension on the options list.

 (4) Also leave the 19” wheels on the options list. The Boxster should be compact and lithe and not suffer distended arches stretched over bling rims.

(5) Keep the manual gearbox. Don’t make it PDK only.

(6) Don’t give it a folding metal roof. Keep the regular soft top.

(7) … er, that’s all I can think of for now.

Re: Porsche Boxster: what should Porsche do to improve it?

Have never been a great fan of the Boxster, for me it's image is too soft . I've noticed they appeal to women far more than the 911 does, in fact the 911 seems not to appeal to women at all. Also i've known non petrol head guys to buy them which kind of says it all really. When i finally got to go out in one though, i was blown away. The driver didn't give it the full beans by any means but the sheer quality of the thing was superb.Then my temporary lodger bought an old W plate one and it was like brand new still. Very impressive.For me they need to keep the quality and toughen up the rear end styling, banishing the pointy turd look. I think its about time that real life 25MPG was attainable from at least one version of the car during urban driving.

Re: Porsche Boxster: what should Porsche do to improve it?

lokinen ; Drive a Ruf version of the Boxter/Cayman . You'll be blown away by how under powered that chassis is in all its current Porsche guises .